Chapter 47: Master of Hellscape Island (1)
Benner Island, called Hellscape Island, originally had no name.
It was devoid of monsters or humans, a pristine, untouched land.
Yet, there was one being, neither animal nor human—
Gaiard, a vampire who had lived for centuries and claimed the island as his own.
No one knew when Gaiard first came here or when he was born.
It was considered a natural phenomenon, and Gaiard himself never left the island.
This Gaiard was granted the human surname ‘Lecan’ and the title of count.
At his death, an eternal seal was etched upon his body.
What had happened to him?
What was his relationship with the kingdom?
Amid such uncertainties, one thing was clear.
The reawakened Red Count harbored hostility, intent on annihilating everything before him.
“First, I’ll discipline this snake.”
In response, the Hydra, quickly regenerating its severed head, grew excited.
Its nine distinct heads glared at Gaiard, preparing to attack.
“Saaak!!!”
The current and former masters of Hellscape Island faced off.
Gaiard casually swung his sword.
‘That said, I need to gauge the gap between us.’
A blood-red sword aura emanated from Gaiard’s blade.
It flew fiercely, striking the Hydra’s neck.
―Fizzle!
The aura failed to pierce the beast’s hide and dissipated.
‘As expected.’
Gaiard’s attack was cleanly blocked.
The initiative shifted to the Hydra.
One of its nine heads, the fire head, spewed flames.
―Roar!
The blaze was so intense it seemed the Hydra’s mouth was a volcano.
Gaiard raised a barrier, but it was too thin to block the heat.
‘Ugh, this thing hasn’t just idled away the years.’
Enduring his burning skin, he escaped upward.
But the steel head, already waiting, charged to ram him.
A force that could shatter a body on contact.
Gaiard vanished, leaving an afterimage.
Instead of Gaiard, blood droplets floated toward the abandoned fortress.
The blade head extended its neck to catch them before they escaped.
―Boom!!!
It hit the barrier, and the enraged Hydra thrashed against it for a while.
―Bang! Bang!
Meanwhile, the blood droplets entered the pit in the fortress, coalescing.
Gaiard returned to his original form.
‘Trembling after using so little power? I’m practically a husk.’
Escaping the Hydra’s mouth had drained him.
He could barely transform again, let alone exert power.
His death centuries ago and Ernst’s seal had weakened him this much.
‘While that little snake grew so strong. Why is it here, anyway?’
While the Hydra had grown powerful, he had withered like a corpse.
In his current state, he’d lose a hundred times in a hundred fights.
Gaiard rubbed his face, lamenting his condition.
Then he glanced at Lina’s corpse beside him.
‘Right. I need blood. I’ve starved too long.’
A vampire’s strength came from blood.
But Gaiard, forced into slumber for centuries, hadn’t consumed any.
He was nearly a mummy now, with less than a tenth of his prime strength.
‘At least I can avoid clashing with that thing. Humiliatingly, thanks to the mage who sealed me.’
The current Hydra was strong enough to challenge even his prime self.
So, instead of fighting it, he aimed to absorb enough strength to escape the island.
‘There are humans here, so there must be traffic. If I’m lucky, I’ll drink fresh human blood. If not, monster blood will do.’
Gaiard Lecan decided to bide his time, gathering strength to move.
***
Benner Island, Hellscape Island, had few wild animals.
With no one cultivating crops, there was little food for humans.
Thus, during Executor training, food was periodically delivered by supply ships.
The only notable danger near Hellscape Island was the Ghost Ship, and even that was rare.
Sea voyages were inherently perilous, Ghost Ship or not.
―Crash!
Like now, when a ship hit a reef.
―Groan.
“Aaagh! The ship’s sinking!”
“Hold on tight!”
The supply ship bound for Hellscape Island sank in the middle of the sea after hitting a reef.
Neither the Academy sending the ship nor those awaiting supplies on Benner Island knew of this.
“Why hasn’t the food arrived?”
“Beats me.”
Nell and I, who had gone to meet the ship, spent the day staring at the sea before returning.
“Let’s go. Must not be today.”
Sea travel was unpredictable, so delays were possible.
But we realized it wasn’t coming at all three days later.
“It’s an emergency. At this rate, we’ll run out of food in three days. We can’t send a ship ourselves, so we’re completely isolated. The Academy might send another ship since this one didn’t return, but…”
The Head Instructor gathered the instructors, his face grave.
The others shared his concern.
“What do we do?”
“The best we can do is ration meals.”
“That’s probably our only option. We’ll lead by example…”
Listening quietly, I offered a suggestion.
“I’d like to propose a way to address this.”
“What is it? Speak.”
“If we’re in a dire situation where we need to reduce mouths to feed, let’s make it part of training.”
Mentioning training in a crisis meeting made Everhart’s eyebrow twitch.
“What do you mean?”
“Starve the cadets.”
The instructors murmured.
“That lunatic.”
“He was a cadet once; how can he say that so easily…”
The reaction was, unsurprisingly, negative.
Starving cadets when even adults should sacrifice?
But I didn’t back down and explained my harsh proposal.
“I’m not saying just starve them.”
“Then what?”
“Think of the mental conditioning we did when we arrived. This is similar. We’ve done hunting training, but we need to prepare for extreme situations. In war, stranded in enemy territory, is there a guarantee of food?”
“Go on.”
“Probably not. Most would have to fight through starvation. So, they need to get used to it.”
This came from my own harrowing experience.
In a war against a desert kingdom in the continent’s south, I nearly starved.
Trapped in barren land with my unit, we faced burial alive.
Recalling that time still sent shivers down my spine.
Conversely, it was an experience money couldn’t buy.
I wanted the cadets to feel that.
“Overcoming pain in extreme conditions with inner strength and will—that’s a quality the kingdom’s top Executors should have.”
“What would you call this training?”
The Executor course never starved cadets, even with restricted meals.
A training with no food at all was unheard of.
“Endurance training.”
“Endurance training…”
Perhaps convinced by my explanation, Everhart nodded seriously.
The instructors split, some supporting me.
“Might work?”
“Talk’s cheap.”
“Why not? We’re not doing it.”
Everhart raised a hand to silence the room.
After a heavy pause, he decided.
“Fine. Endurance training doesn’t sound bad.”
Thus, the cadets faced another bolt from the blue.
Thanks to me, again.
‘Phew, almost starved myself.’
My plan to train the cadets while securing my own meals worked perfectly.
“Evan, one question. When should this endurance training start?”
“Now.”
“Of course…”
Everhart let out a hollow laugh.
He might’ve seen through my motives.
But since the training’s purpose was valid, he was willing to overlook any ulterior intent.
“Let’s go. Time to implement endurance training.”
After the meeting, the instructors headed to the clearing where the cadets waited.
They delivered the shocking news.
“…For this reason, we’ll conduct endurance training for a week. Take it to heart!”
The cadets were too stunned to scream.
Except for Jack, they all glared at me in the corner.
‘Kill him.’
‘I really want to kill him.’
‘That bastard.’
Only Jack bit his lip, holding back curses.
‘Stay calm. The young master has a plan.’
But contrary to his thoughts, I had none.
‘I’m hungry. Should I ask for extra meat later?’
In that moment, despite being in the same place, our thoughts diverged.
Everhart broke the tense silence.
“If you understand, training starts now.”
“Ugh!”
“What’s with those voices? Already out of energy?”
“Ugh!!!”
Thus began another day at Bentram Fortress.
As I wasn’t part of the training team, I prepared to hunt monsters with Nell.
“Instructor?”
“Hm?”
“A sudden thought—how did those guys who tried to kill me, Viper or whatever, get here?”
The Viper gang, nearly forgotten, resurfaced in my mind, sparking curiosity.
“By ship, I’d guess. It’s a remote island.”
“Then somewhere on this island, there’s the ship they came on, right?”
At my question, Nell went silent for a moment.
Then his eyes lit up.
“You’re right! There must be a ship.”
“If it’s docked somewhere and intact, we could send someone to solve the food issue quickly.”
“Exactly. We can’t waste time. We need to find that ship.”
Monster hunting wasn’t the priority.
Other instructors could handle that.
Finding a ship was more urgent.
Nell trusted my hypothesis and aimed to locate it.
“Should I tell the Head Instructor?”
“No, I’ll do it. Who should go?”
“Huh? Isn’t it obviously me?”
Exploring the island could be dangerous, so Nell excluded me.
But I thought I had to go.
“Right…”
“I’ll gear up and be back!”
Excited to explore the island, I eagerly grabbed my weapons.