Blood Demon of the Past Life – Chapter 88

Chapter 88: Countdown （3）

The hypothesis was correct.

A powerful enemy, strong enough to threaten one’s life.

The fully charged Blood Demon Art stat.

When these two conditions were met, the situation of being pushed to the limit created a miracle called ‘Burning Time.’

Puck━!

The sword pierced through the Werewolf’s vital point.

The same action, repeated countless times, brought a different result this time.

『Strength stat increased by 1 due to the effect of Burning Time.』

A thrill ran through him.

900 days to go.

Kang San had to become as strong as possible using Burning Time.

No matter how strong he became, he wouldn’t be able to match the S-rank Dark Lord, but there was no other way to increase the probability, even if just a little. Werewolves attacked from all sides, suffocatingly. He had already defeated more than twenty, but the number still visible was enough to fill his vision.

This situation.

He didn’t avoid it.

From now on, after Burning Time was activated, Kang San had to endure and persevere, raising even a single stat.

Hook.

He dodged the attack.

Kang San was about to counterattack immediately, but he caught a glimpse of a red energy passing by his neck.

Sure enough.

Crack.

Right next to him, a Werewolf bit his neck fiercely.

Kang San barely dodged the attack, but the murderous intent, intricately intertwined, surged from all directions as if it wouldn’t allow him a moment’s respite. He moved his body frantically. If he turned his head, sharp claws would pass right in front of his face, and the simultaneous attacks from all sides left scratches on his body.

On a tightrope.

It was precarious.

Nevertheless, Kang San’s expression wasn’t one of despair.

『Agility stat increased by 1 due to the effect of Burning Time.』

『Endurance stat increased by 1 due to the effect of Burning Time.』

Every action of Kang San.

It was converted into stats.

If Kang San showed sufficient ability, the stats granted in return gave him a reason to endure. His eyes were already red. He couldn’t come to his senses as the Blood Demon Art manifested intensely, but he dealt with the enemies in a state consumed by primal instincts. A one-versus-many battle. He had to get even more used to it than now. Even against more enemies than in Yeon Gyu-seong’s test, even against an unmanageable enemy like in this isolation incident.

Kang San needed the strength to endure.

Amidst the murderous intent intertwined from all directions, Kang San held onto his sanity, which was being stained with killing intent, and focused on a single goal.

‘I have to control the murderous intent.’

Murderous intent.

He read its direction.

Like the old man who would have entered without hesitation even in a situation where the Full Sky Flower Rain was pouring down, Kang San focused on reacting to the attacks of the Werewolves striking from all sides. Stat increase and training of murderous intent. That was Kang San’s goal in the stat training center. If he saw an opening in the meantime, he would cut off a Werewolf’s head without hesitation.

『The effect of Blood Demon Art has been activated.』

『Attack power temporarily increased by 69%.』

The 23rd.

Kang San was gradually being consumed by the killing intent.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Even training has an end.

After dealing with about 30, no more appeared, and the bodies of the Werewolves scattered on the floor evaporated like magic. He couldn’t relax, though. Kang San roughly secured energy with the food provided here and prepared for a possible Werewolf attack.

‘……It’s going to be a long 900 days.’

The collapse of the training ground and the rest area.

It completely deprived him of leisure.

In a situation where battles could break out anytime and anywhere, Kang San always maintained a keen sense of awareness.

‘At this rate, I can only sleep in snatches. To rest as efficiently as possible, I need to train my killing intent further. No matter how deeply I fall asleep, I need to be able to react immediately the moment I sense murderous intent.’

He caught his breath.

His breathing stabilized.

At first, even breathing was difficult, but after the intense battle, he felt like he could breathe a little easier.

A brief moment of respite.

Kang San didn’t just focus on resting.

During the 900 days, there was something Kang San had to do.

‘Even if I can’t inform the world about the existence of the Outbreak, if I can pinpoint its location, it will be easier for me to respond. I need to find as many suspicious points as possible. If I pinpoint the location here and go outside to confirm if it’s real, I can find out the exact location before the Outbreak occurs.’

He took something out of his pocket.

It was a map he had brought with him.

Kang San unfolded the map and checked the mountains in the area marked as Pohang City, North Gyeongsang Province.

‘When the announcer informed about the Outbreak, there was definitely a mountain landscape in the scene that was briefly broadcast on the TV screen. Then, the probability that the Outbreak started in the mountains is very high. In reality, dungeons don’t usually exist on flat land. To be precise, they can be created anywhere, but the terrain that becomes bizarre due to mana is easily detected in places like flat land. Then, I need to pinpoint the mountains first.’

He examined the map.

Cheonryeongsan, Bihaksan, Bangmoksan, and so on.

He narrowed down the mountains.

In fact, if you count all the big and small mountains, and even the peaks, it was a situation where it was impossible to find with just a map and memory. Nevertheless, he checked all the locations for now. In the memories of the future, the clues that Kang San could use to pinpoint the location of the Outbreak weren’t just the scenery that looked like mountains.

‘The 17 Days of Disaster. During that time, Pohang’s borders were breached, and the surrounding areas were devastated, but the actual time when the borders collapsed wasn’t that fast. Then, it’s right to remove the locations that can be initially described as borders. If monsters poured out from near the borders, before a certain area was closed off, not only Pohang but also other areas would have already been devastated.’

Swish, swish.

He erased a few mountains.

It was just speculation.

But, following the evidence he had, he narrowed down the list to check outside.

Just the first day.

Kang San was having a difficult day.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

The first three days.

Fortunately, the Werewolves attacked in a wave and then became quiet for a while, showing a consistent pattern.

Thanks to this, he was able to rest properly.

As his stats continued to rise, at some point, even when dealing with the first Werewolf before the Blood Demon Art was activated, he felt a little more comfortable. He had already grasped the Werewolves’ attack patterns and habits. As he thought that he might be able to endure the 900 days, the Trial shattered the established pattern.

‘Murderous intent.’

Flash.

He opened his eyes.

Kang San, who had been sleeping leaning against the wall, got up from his spot and immediately grabbed his sword.

At that moment.

Kyaak.

Kwaang━!

A Werewolf barged in.

At the attack that pierced through the darkness and charged in like an arrow, Kang San frowned and belatedly raised his arm to block it.

That’s when it began.

The Werewolves surged in like a tidal wave.

As befitting the training system called Melee, no matter where he looked, the Werewolves were swarming. The voice saying that his stats were increasing due to Guardian’s Will was rather chilling. In the space densely filled with murderous intent, Kang San repeated the stabbing and slashing fight, reducing the number of enemies one by one.

Puck.

He pierced a Werewolf’s neck.

He had already figured out which parts were vulnerable, rather than the tough and hard outer skin.

But, the same was true for the Werewolves.

As he dealt with the Werewolves with repetitive patterns, at some point, they started to anticipate Kang San’s attacks and turn their heads.

Whoosh.

The sword cut through the air.

He barely managed to deal with the opponent, but a message from the Trial flashed.

‘Is this the meaning of learning?’

The message said.

The monsters share experiences to eliminate the wicked.

As Kang San’s stats increased with repetition, the monsters learned Kang San’s patterns and responded to them. The situation was already irreversible. Now that he had to endure 900 days, if the opponent responded to his pattern, Kang San had to take their breath away with faster and stronger attacks, and by constantly changing his patterns.

One, two.

The bodies piled up.

As the voice announcing the start of Burning Time rang out, Kang San’s eyes were already dyed crimson.

『The effect of Blood Demon Art has been activated.』

『Attack power temporarily increased by 75%.』

Twenty-five.

His head went numb.

He was lost in a single purpose, to kill the enemy.

Although there were no instances of Qi Deviation since the Mental Strength stat was created, Kang San didn’t intentionally suppress the boiling Blood Demon Art. There’s no safe way to become stronger. In order to activate Burning Time, he basically had to deal with more than twenty, and from then on was when he could actually become stronger.

He couldn’t miss that opportunity.

Puck━!

『The effect of Blood Demon Art has been activated.』

『Attack power temporarily increased by 78%.』

Puck.

Grrr.

『The effect of Blood Demon Art has been activated.』

『Attack power temporarily increased by 81%.』

Kill.

And kill again.

The more bodies piled up, the more Kang San was rewarded.

『Agility stat increased by 1 due to the effect of Burning Time.』

『Strength stat increased by 1 due to the effect of Burning Time.』

It wasn’t that he trusted the safety net called Guardian’s Will.

On the first day, he finished training moderately, and on the second day, he pushed himself enough to activate Guardian’s Will. If his primal instincts reached their limit. This time, there was no safety net to hold onto his sanity.

Still.

He didn’t stop.

There was something Kang San wanted to confirm.

‘The moment the Blood Demon Art’s primal instincts reach their peak. If I can’t withstand the mental shock, what will happen to me?’

He had to test it.

Before facing the S-rank Outbreak.

Kang San put his own limits on the stand.

Where was his true limit, how far could he push his strength.

It was something he had checked in the previous training, but unlike then, when he somehow managed to endure, he wanted to confirm his true limit. He felt it instinctively. As the Blood Demon Art grew. The shock that came back was stronger than before.

The moment he took the breath away from more than thirty Werewolves.

『You have fallen into Qi Deviation .』

“Huu.”

Kang San’s eyes widened at the mana that exploded like an eruption.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

His vision blurred.

There were definitely Werewolves in front of him, but when he blinked once, he saw a different scene.

“Ack!”

“Aaack!”

People were running away.

Monsters that appeared out of nowhere were slaughtering people, and at the horrific sight, a child, whose face was pale as a sheet, seemed to have his legs frozen as he looked up at the monster. He was dazed. It was surreal. The teacher who had been guiding the children just moments ago was being chewed up in the monster’s mouth, his upper and lower body torn apart.

At that moment.

“Oh, no!”

“Kang San!”

Far away.

Two men and women across the crosswalk ran over with pale faces.

They were familiar faces.

They jumped in to protect the child, and the monster, as if it was nothing, snatched the man’s torso and shoved it into its mouth. The woman screamed. As she looked back and forth between the man and the child, unable to decide what to do, the man shouted desperately.

“Run! Take San and…… Aaack!”

Crack.

The body went down the esophagus.

The woman hurriedly got up and tried to leave with the child, but suddenly the sky and the earth turned upside down.

Thud.

“Ah, ah.”

Her foot was caught.

The woman was dragged away.

Even as she was being dragged, the woman looked at the child and shouted desperately.

“……San. Run. Run, run away!”

Then he realized.

Ah.

My name is Kang San.

And those are my parents who died trying to save me.

He didn’t know if this was the truth.

Kang San didn’t remember his past.

To be precise, he didn’t remember how his parents died, whether he had forgotten because of the shock, or whether he simply couldn’t recall that moment.

The memories of that day.

They replayed before his eyes.

Even as an adult grabbed Kang San and ran, Kang San’s eyes saw his mother being brutally chewed up.

“……Ah.”

He squeezed his eyes shut.

He couldn’t face reality.

And when he opened his eyes again.

“Oh, no!”

“Kang San!”

The same situation repeated.

His parents running across the crosswalk.

The child frozen like a statue.

Kang San was there, in that space.

As he looked down at his hands with a blank stare, the sword that had been slaughtering the Werewolves until just moments ago was dripping with blood.

He wasn’t a child.

He had the power to kill monsters.

Then.

“Don’t touch my parents, you sons of bitches.”

He couldn’t just stand by and watch.

Kang San took a step.

His eyes were dyed with a thick murderous intent .