## Chapter 233 – 233. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated Into The Baek Family
233. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated into the Baek Family
A man floating in the sky extended his palm towards me.
“Fireball.”
A ball of fire formed in front of his palm and flew towards me.
‘Damn it. I can’t even dodge it….’
Behind me was a flag representing our camp. According to the rules of the match, if this flag is destroyed, the camp is considered captured, so it must be protected at all costs.
I gripped my sword with both hands and swung the blade towards the fireball. My intention was to deflect the fireball like a baseball player hitting a baseball.
The moment the fireball touched the blade, I twisted my waist as much as possible.
I felt a heaviness in both hands, and in that instant, I felt the fireball flying back towards the man.
Boom!
The fireball exploded.
“Ugh!”
I stepped back, shaking my body roughly to quickly extinguish the flames clinging to my left arm.
My left arm was blackened up to the shoulder. There wasn’t much pain.
‘I can’t use my left arm.’
It’s not completely disabled. Just for this match.
A barrier was set up in the arena, so any body part that takes damage turns black and becomes immobile. Once the match ends, the blackened areas return to normal. It’s a kind of safety mechanism.
“You tried to deflect a fireball? How foolish.”
The man floating in the sky sneered at me.
‘I thought it would be possible since the original Kyle deflected magic in this way… Is there some special method?’
Maybe it was because I didn’t use aura.
“Those monsters should have arrived at our camp by now. Let’s finish this quickly since we don’t have much time. Fireball.”
A fireball forms in front of his hand.
I threw my sword at him. The sword, enhanced by the ‘Shooting’ trait, flew accurately towards his head.
“H-Huh!”
The man, startled, ducked his head to avoid the sword. I didn’t miss the opportunity and explosively concentrated mana in both legs to jump. I raised my right fist, preparing to smash it into his head.
“F-Fireball!”
A fireball flew right in front of me.
I didn’t waver at all. I had planned to take the hit from the start. After all, there wasn’t much pain, and I’d be fine after the match.
Bang!
The fireball exploded, and flames clung to my entire body. My fist struck the man’s head hard.
The man and I fell to the ground in a tangled mess.
When the flames disappeared, my body was blackened and I couldn’t move, and the man’s body was also blackened from the impact of falling from the air.
In conclusion, both the man and I were unable to move.
“Ugh…. You absurd bastard….”
“It’s all part of the strategy.”
I don’t know how he flew, but I protected the camp. Unless there are other team members attacking the camp, the game is already over. There’s no way they can stop Kyle and Sharnel, who went to attack the enemy camp.
And so, two minutes later.
My blackened body returned to normal. There were no injuries, and there were no scorch marks on my clothes.
-Match over! Team Red wins! Prepare for the next match!
The man who had been lying down sighed and got up.
“Geez…. How are we supposed to stop those two….”
He grumbled and returned to his camp. I understand. If I were in his position, I would have thought the same.
‘The final is a best-of-three. The second match will be held in a maze field, so I won’t be able to use the flying attack strategy I just used.’
Soon after, the second match began. Ruby cast a barrier on the flag, and I stood still, only watching the entrance to the maze.
“What do you think will happen? Will they attack like before?”
Ruby asked me. I shook my head.
“This is a maze field. They can only come straight ahead, so it’s impossible to use a surprise attack like before.”
There was nothing for us to do. We just had to wait, and Kyle and Sharnel would capture the enemy camp.
-Match over! Team Red wins! The competition is over! Team Red, please prepare for the awards ceremony!
The maze walls around us turned into mud and collapsed to the ground, turning into a flat field.
‘They released the barrier.’
Kyle and Sharnel are walking confidently towards us from the front. Academy students can’t stop them. The only one who might have a chance is Melissa.
“Kyle! Sharnel! You did a great….”
I grabbed Ruby’s shoulder as she rushed forward. Ruby looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“Yujin…?”
“……”
There was no time to answer Ruby. My eyes were fixed on the sky, and my expression was serious.
“W-What is that? A black stone…?”
A diamond-shaped black stone was floating in the sky. It was about 3 meters in size and emitting a pitch-black aura.
The Demon Stone Gate.
Also known as the Demon’s Gate, it has the power to summon creatures from the demon realm and pollute the surrounding area, gradually turning it into an environment similar to the demon realm.
‘Is that appearing now?’
The Demon Stone Gate is an object related to demons and appears in the latter half of the original story.
‘I knew the original story was twisted… but I didn’t expect it to be this much. The demon hiding in the academy must have activated the Demon Stone Gate.’
The air around the Demon Stone Gate rippled, and countless black monkey monsters with eight arms emerged. They were Eight-Armed Monkeys, one of the demon beasts that inhabit the demon realm.
You would need to be at least an Aura Expert to fight them without difficulty.
Right now, only Eight-Armed Monkeys are being summoned, but as time passes, more powerful demon beasts than the Eight-Armed Monkeys will appear.
-Emergency situation! This is an announcement to all students of Goldway Academy! Until the situation is resolved, individual actions are prohibited. Prioritize defense and survival with your companions! Our professors will do their best to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. I repeat! This is an emergency situation! The situation is….
The demon beast from the demon realm, the Eight-Armed Monkey, continues to appear through the Demon Stone Gate. The only good thing is that no demons are visible. If a demon had appeared, the situation would have been out of control. As it is now, the professors should be able to handle it.
‘No… if a demon had appeared, Priscilla would have moved. …What is Priscilla doing right now?’
I found Priscilla immediately. She was in the audience seats where the professors were sitting. She was staring intently at the Demon Stone Gate with her arms crossed.
‘Damn it. Is she not going to step in? And how did the hidden demon avoid Priscilla’s eyes to take out and activate the Demon Stone Gate?’
Frustratingly, there was nothing clear I could understand. There was too little information.
“Yujin, Ruby!”
Kyle and Sharnel approached us. Their faces were also serious.
“K-Kyle. W-What should we do?”
Ruby asked in a panic. Kyle looked at the Demon Stone Gate and the Eight-Armed Monkeys with a serious face and said.
“We can’t just stand here. Even if the professors move, the damage will only get worse. We have to go help.”
Sharnel agreed.
“Kyle is right. Those are Eight-Armed Monkeys. They’re particularly violent among demon beasts. What’s especially dangerous is that they act in groups. We need to reduce their numbers before they gather.”
“B-But… the professors said to prioritize defense and survival…. Wouldn’t it be better to stay here? There’s a barrier here too….”
For safety, it would be better to stay here. The barrier set up in the arena is so strong that it’s difficult to break unless you’re an Aura Master. Even Eight-Armed Monkeys wouldn’t be able to enter the barrier unless they went through the designated entrances.
“Ha. With my and Kyle’s power, it’s different. We need to step in to resolve the situation faster. You and Yujin should hide in a corner.”
Sharnel’s arrogant attitude remained even in this urgent situation. I felt the urge to punch her.
Kyle looked at the Demon Stone Gate that was summoning the demon beasts and asked Sharnel.
“Sharnel. That seems to be the cause… do you know what it is?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anything like that. Maybe my master would know….”
Priscilla wouldn’t know either.
The Demon Stone Gate was recently created in the demon realm.
“Yujin. Yuria…. Where are the maids?”
Kyle asked me. He seemed worried about Yuria.
“I’m leaving soon, right? The maids are out in the city to prepare for that.”
“If that didn’t appear in the city… the maids are safe.”
Kyle’s face brightened slightly.
To be honest, it’s true that Lizel and Kelly are in the city, but Yuria is currently in the academy library.
‘Yuria predicted today’s attack.’
Yuria said that from a demon’s perspective, there was no better day to attack than today. Since the demon’s goal is the forbidden grimoire in the library, the competition is a good event to draw people’s attention.
‘I thought there was a low chance of an attack.’
Currently, rumors about demons are secretly circulating in the academy. It’s an awkward situation for a demon to step out.
‘But the demon still stepped out. The goal is obviously the grimoire.’
I’m worried about Yuria. Even if it’s her, it would be difficult to face a demon alone.
“Yujin, Ruby. We’re going to move to where the professors are. You two should stay here.”
“Kyle is right. With your skills, you won’t be of any help at all. Stay here.”
Kyle and Sharnel said that and hurriedly headed towards the waiting room. They were going to use the emergency exit to get out of the barrier.
I spoke to Ruby a few tens of seconds after they left.
“Ruby. I remembered something I need to do. You stay here. If you don’t want to be alone, go to the Blue Team’s side.”
“Y-Yes? Where are you going in this situation?! There’s no safer place than here!”
“I said I have something important to do!”
I pushed away Ruby, who was trying to stop me, and ran out. My destination was, of course, the library.
•••
“Kee, keek?! Keek keek keek!”
On the way to the library, I encountered a black monkey with eight arms, an Eight-Armed Monkey.
The creature, which was over 2 meters tall, tilted its head at me and began to grin eerily.
“A monkey bastard is laughing.”
I took out the Fire Lotus Dagger from my inventory and held it in my hand.
The Eight-Armed Monkey stopped laughing and stared intently at the red blade in my hand. Greed filled its bloodshot eyes.
“Keek! Keek keek!”
The creature pointed at my sword with the index fingers of its four right hands. If I had to guess what it meant, it was telling me to hand over the sword.
I chuckled and raised my left middle finger at the Eight-Armed Monkey.
“Keek?”
The creature, which had been rolling its eyes, suddenly jumped up and started to get angry. It seemed to have roughly understood that I had insulted it.
“Keeeeeek!”
The Eight-Armed Monkey bared its claws and charged at me.
‘I don’t need to use the Flash.’
Crack.
Red electricity flowed along the blade.
I brushed past the left side of the Eight-Armed Monkey, slashing two of its arms and its flank.
“Kee keek?!”
The Eight-Armed Monkey let out a painful scream. It then charged at me again.
Crack.
When red lightning crackled from the blade, the creature flinched. It was afraid of the Red Lightning.
‘So what if it’s a demon beast? Its brain is at the level of an animal.’
I didn’t miss the opportunity. I dove into its chest and stabbed the blade deep into its chest. The enhanced Fire Lotus Dagger easily cut through the creature’s tough hide.
Crack crack crack!
Red lightning wriggled and danced on the Eight-Armed Monkey’s body. Soon after, I pulled out the blade, and the creature’s body collapsed to the ground. The smell of burning flesh filled the air from its corpse.
“Haha.”
A laugh escaped my lips.
If you only consider physical abilities, the Eight-Armed Monkey is superior to me.
However, I have an overwhelming advantage in terms of experience.
The creature, which lived in the demon realm, would not have encountered an opponent like me, while I had trained as a hunter to hunt monsters, and I had gained practical experience through the combat dolls in the ancient warrior training center.
I headed back to the library.
“Keek?!”
“Keeeeeeek!”
“Keek. Ee keek!”
More than five black monkeys glared at me with red eyes. It seemed they had smelled the blood of their comrade on my body, and they were emitting murderous intent.
“Only five? I’ll kill you all.”
I gripped the sword in reverse and lowered my body, charging towards them.
“Keeeeeeeeek!”
The creatures roared and charged at me all at once. Two were in front. Three moved to the right and left flanks.
“Tsk.”
I took a deep breath and tensed my muscles. I lowered my body as if lying on the ground and swung the sword in a semicircle.
