There’s a Monster Inside Me Chapter 23

There’s a Monster Inside Me

Chapter 23

WHAM! 

THWACK!

CRASH!

Everything that Geombau’s hands touched smashed against the wall and broke.

It was only natural that he was making a scene like a madman.

While Utam and Gilbo had small injuries all over their bodies, this guy named Bada Maru was bouncing around the school with his ponytail swinging!

“If I don’t chase that bastard out, I’m no man!”

BOOM!

The thick table collapsed completely.

“EEK!”

The group nearby swallowed a sigh in fear.

‘Oh my, we’re about to see a corpse at school.’

With that temper, he would never leave the new student alone. Geombau’s gang prayed for Bada Maru’s soul in advance.

***

After just a few days, I received the third challenge.

If I were an ordinary freshman, my days would have been filled with fear.

However, my daily life was rolling along well, completely unrelated to the challenges.

WHISH! WHISH! 

THUD!

The rotating blade hit the wooden pillar and returned to Gurumi’s hand.

“Good!”

I clapped my hands at how cleanly he caught it.

Soaked in sweat, Gurumi looked at me and grinned.

“So, is my form getting better?”

“Yeah! It’s quite impressive!”

I praised Gurumi generously.

“But look, there’s a problem here.”

Gurumi shared with me a problem he’d been worried about recently.

He threw his rotating blade again.

The rotating blade hit the wooden pillar it had hit earlier precisely, then hit a second pillar next to it.

“Oh!”

After hitting two targets and returning, the angle was significantly distorted, and the force had drastically decreased.

Eventually, the rotating blade crashed a few steps in front of where Gurumi was standing.

“This is the limitation of the rotating blade. It’s fine if there’s only one enemy. But it becomes troublesome with two or three.”

“Hmm.”

I understood Gurumi’s concern. The rotating blade can only hit one target at a time, and meanwhile, his body is left completely exposed to the enemies.

It was a fatal weakness.

“Gurumi, try this.”

I moved close to Gurumi.

“You’re a divine power user. Not just a hunter who simply throws rotating blades. It’s time to infuse divine power into your rotating blade.”

“Hmm, I’ve tried several times, but it’s still difficult for me.”

I pondered how to make Gurumi understand better.

“You know when you gather energy to summon clouds? Try sending that energy to the rotating blade in the same way.”

“I just talk to the clouds though, I don’t gather energy.”

At his answer, I couldn’t shake off my dumbfounded expression for a while.

Is this guy really a born talent? Saying he achieved without effort what others couldn’t do even when pulling and extracting from the bottom of their diantan.

“Anyway, this time, try to think of it as talking to the rotating blade.”

“Huh, will that work?”

“Clouds or rotating blades, they’re the same, you know?”

“The same? That can’t be…”

Even while shaking his head in doubt, Gurumi focused on the rotating blade as I instructed. Just like how he would gather clouds.

I could feel his energy gathering into the rotating blade. The deep blue energy reminiscent of the sea color swirled around, half collecting in the rotating blade and half escaping upward from his head.

It seemed he was unknowingly letting part of his energy fly away to the sky.

“Spatial formation!”

I drew out my divine power to create a barrier above his head. I made it an opaque membrane, deliberately visible.

Noticing the escaping energy, Gurumi more easily concentrated his energy into the rotating blade.

“Throw it now, just like that!”

“UNGH!”

He frowned, trying not to lose concentration.

WHISH! WHISH! WHISH!

The rotating blade shot out.

THWACK!

It hit the first pillar,

THWACK!

Then hit the second pillar too.

WHISH! WHISH! WHISH!

THUD!

Though the angle was slightly off, the rotating blade successfully returned to its place!

“Huh?”

Gurumi looked at the rotating blade in his hand with a puzzled expression.

“Oh, this feels strange. It’s like, you know what seniors talk about? That tingling feeling when you infuse a sword with sword energy. Exactly like that! If infusing divine power into a sword is sword energy, then into a rotating blade would be… rotating energy?”

Gurumi seemed very excited.

Even though he was soaked in sweat, he burned with enthusiasm as if this was just the beginning.

After repeating it about fifteen times, he reached the point where he could throw the rotating blade, hit two targets, and catch it again without difficulty.

There was just one problem.

“AAAAH, RAIN!”

The sudden downpour from the clear sky was all Gurumi’s fault.

While infusing divine power into the rotating blade, part of his energy continuously escaped skyward, and the clear sky became filled with clouds.

Now he needed training to send his energy wholly to the rotating blade.

“Maru, you go in. I need to practice more.”

If he could gather even the divine power leaking toward the sky and connect it densely, Gurumi’s rotating blade would surely become an excellent weapon.

“Alright. I’ll go in first.”

I went into the dormitory to avoid the sudden shower.

As I was walking down the corridor, Dol Jin-dallae burst out from around the corner. She was flailing about with his pupils dilated, as if startled by something.

“Jin-dallae, what’s wrong with your face?

Jin-dallae stepped back when she saw me.

“Well, it’s… I was looking for Princess Eun-deok.”

“The princess? Didn’t she say she was going to learn court etiquette this afternoon?”

Recently, Princess Eun-deok had been learning court etiquette every other day. That was the minimum condition set by Grand Duke Sudeok when he allowed Princess Eun-deok to attend the Thousand-Year School.

“Ah, right. That’s right. I forgot.”

“Is something wrong?”

When I asked because her expression seemed unusual, she waved her hands.

“No, no! Do you know where Gurumi is?”

“Yeah, he’s at the training ground.”

“I see. Got it.”

Jin-dallae disappeared as if in a hurry.

“…What’s that about, is she hungry?”

I tilted my head and entered my room without much thought.

***

Jin-dallae went straight to the training ground.

It wasn’t an official training ground, but an empty space Gurumi had found to practice his rotating blade.

“Hey, Gurumi! Come here!”

“Uh, just a moment.”

As Jin-dallae took shelter under a tree to avoid the rain, Gurumi waved his hand toward the sky to stop the rain.

The clouds that had gathered at the top of his head scattered instantly.

“Why, what’s going on?”

Gurumi read the urgency in Jin-dallae’s face.

Jin-dallae looked around and then pulled something out of her pocket.

It was a bluish envelope.

“What’s this?”

Gurumi asked with puzzled eyes.

“Open it.”

The area under Jin-dallae’s eyes was unusually shadowed. Gurumi’s complexion also turned pale as soon as he opened the letter.

“…A challenge?”

“Yes!”

The name ‘Bada Maru’ was clearly imprinted on the envelope.

Both of their brows furrowed deeply. So this is the infamous challenge!

The unofficial sanction that seniors use to bully juniors!

“Jin-dallae, absolutely don’t tell Princess Eun-deok…”

“Agreed!”

“Maru definitely seems to be planning to solve this secretly, doesn’t he?”

“That’s right!”

“Then we should…”

The two, now serious, put their heads together.

***

Geum Tae-min announced through his subordinate that he would conduct personal training outside the Thousand-Year School for a certain period.

It couldn’t be helped.

The reason was that his hair color had become dull.

This wasn’t just an external problem. It meant that the divine power flowing inside him was also being depleted.

So, he couldn’t delay.

Geum Tae-min entered his family’s secret place.

It was a place where dozens of his family’s sorcerers maintained an airtight barrier, and it was also full of the Geum family’s secret soldiers.

To enter the endlessly deep cave, one had to find the entrance that changed every moment, and no one could come and go without a special seal.

Moreover, it wasn’t even a place that belonged to this world, so one could never reach it even by traversing the entire land.

Only after traveling a full day and a half from the cave entrance could he reach the final point.

The only things that illuminated the darkness as he descended into the distant underground were sparsely embedded torches.

However, in the final chamber of the underground cave, there were no torches, not even candlesticks. Yet the chamber wasn’t dark at all. No, it was so bright that one had to squint.

The pitch-black darkness without any light source was this bright thanks to a noble being bathed in golden light from head to toe.

It appeared before Geum Tae-min.

With each flap of its massive wings, the golden color deepened, and crimson flames sparked from the edges of its feathers.

Its tail, longer and more beautiful than a peacock’s feathers, poured out a waterfall of flames.

A dazzlingly beautiful bird.

The underground prison was blinding just from the light it emitted.

“We meet again, Vermilion Bird.”

“KYAAAAA…”

The Vermilion Bird flew up toward Geum Tae-min, who was laughing sinisterly.

CLANK!

But the bird couldn’t rise even as high as a person. That was because its ankles were caught in shackles.

Its slender ankles bent as if about to break.

A thick collar was also around its long neck.

It wasn’t just simple shackles. It was a binding that completely robbed and restricted divine power.

SHING!

Geum Tae-min drew his sword.

A silver sword made from a dragon’s reverse scale gleamed brilliantly.

“Will you tell me your name, or will you die by my blade?”

Geum Tae-min repeated the question that the ancestors of the Geum family had asked for generations.

“KYAAAAK!”

The noble spirit beast that received the power of the sun answered with a fierce gaze and a tearing scream.

A defiance staking its life! It meant an unbending free will.

“That answer is quite tiresome.”

Geum Tae-min’s expression, which had been smirking, suddenly turned cold.

SWOOSH!

The rushing blade cut off one of the Vermilion Bird’s wings. Without its wing, the fire bird lost balance and tilted.

SWOOSH!

At the second sound of the wind being cut, the bright red crest that had been proudly burning above the noble divine beast’s head was sliced off.

“KAAAAK!”

As the red crest, which had been protruding high and long like a crown, rolled on the stone floor, the Vermilion Bird simply closed its eyes.

This humiliation, this shame for hundreds of years…

The immortal divine bird still did not speak its name.

RUSTLE!

The fallen firebird rose, supporting itself against the cave wall.

The bird had disappeared, and only a man remained.

The man with dazzling golden hair that flowed down below his waist was just skin and bones despite his naturally strong build.

Bright red blood flowed down his forehead.

One arm was cut off, and the sword marks all over his body were countless.

“I ask again. Tell me your name.”

Geum Tae-min’s gaze rested on the reverse scale sword.

In the clear mirror-like blade, the battered man was reflected.

The man opened his mouth.

The voice was hoarse to a terrible degree.

“Please… kill me.”

The vermilion bird, who had cried and cried for hundreds of years to escape this place, could not even remember what its original voice had sounded like.

Geum Tae-min laughed lightly.

A cold and chilling expression faced the golden man.

“If that’s your wish.”

SWOOSH!

The rushing blade pierced straight into the man’s heart.

The vermilion bird’s eyes, widened in pain and agony, met Geum Tae-min’s.

Although it was clear he would die instantly from being pierced by the dragon’s reverse scale, Geum Tae-min did not leave the vermilion bird in peace.

CRUNCH!

He twisted the blade that had stabbed the heart.

The reverse scale sword destroyed the vermilion bird’s heart. The sound of bones grinding, tendons cutting, and blood vessels bursting was vivid.

Blue tears welled up in the vermilion bird’s eyes from the indescribable agony.

For him, whose entire body was a fireball, the only blue color was his tears!

Cold tears flowed from his fiery red eyes, but they disappeared like smoke before reaching the ground.

“KKEUK, KKEUUK… KKEUEUUK….”

Though he gritted his teeth, the pain he ultimately couldn’t endure overflowed.

Only after hearing the groans gasping in agony did the reverse scale sword that had been scraping bones finally pull out.

THUD!

Golden hair rolled on the ground. The bright red flame turned to mere ashes and died out.

Watching the red bird that had been gasping in agony turn pitch black and fade away, Geum Tae-min held a sardonic smile.

He shook off the bloody water and turned around.

With each step away from the vermilion bird, Geum Tae-min’s hair, which had momentarily become dull, shone brilliantly. As if he had completely stolen the vermilion bird’s golden light.

SHING!

The reverse scale sword returned to its scabbard.

“I hope to hear that noble name of yours next time.”

Geum Tae-min walked out of the darkened cave.

He paid no attention to the man who collapsed in a pool of blood.

After all, that thing was a phoenix.

With time, a thread-like ember would ignite again from the dull gray ashes.

And in a few months, they would meet again in that form.

Unable to die, yet enduring hundreds of years of suffering over a mere name.

“How foolish!”

Geum Tae-min spat toward the ground.

At his feet, red blood formed thickly.