Chapter 25
"Enter one at a time in the designated order."
"Do not attempt to form a group."
"The paths inside separate automatically."
"If you pass every gate and reach the exit..."
"Another instructor will be waiting."
"As for corpses..."
"We'll collect them."
"So don't worry."
At the entrance of the Dark Moon Demon Gate...
The instructor explained the test with an unpleasant smile.
The explanation was extremely short.
Because it explained almost nothing.
Enter.
Reach the exit.
That was all.
No other passage existed nearby.
So the Dark Moon Demon Gate clearly connected to another internal section.
"One at a time."
"Enter according to trainee number."
The door opened surprisingly quietly.
Only the mechanical sounds inside hinted at what waited.
Darkness filled the entrance.
Each trainee received one small torch.
"S-so..."
"You want us to enter alone?"
"What's inside...?"
"Enter."
"If you don't..."
"I'll cut you down."
"No questions."
Several hesitated.
The Dark Demon Corps showed no sympathy.
When what waited behind you was more frightening than what waited ahead...
There wasn't much choice.
One by one...
The trainees disappeared into darkness.
Clack.
Thud.
Creeeak.
Click.
BOOM!
Every time someone entered...
Strange mechanical noises echoed.
The people waiting became increasingly nervous.
Eventually...
My turn came.
I received my weapons.
And a torch.
Then entered the quiet doorway.
The door closed behind me.
That sound felt especially unpleasant.
Swish.
I raised the torch.
A brick corridor extended forward.
No end visible.
I began walking carefully.
This has to be mechanisms.
The sounds.
The name of the place.
Everything suggested traps.
Still...
No need to panic yet.
The machine sounds were relatively far away.
Step.
After walking for some time...
I reached the end of the corridor.
Another iron door.
It was covered in strange decorations.
Abstract images.
Then I recognized them.
Stories from the Sacred Moon Scripture.
Myths I'd read during religious training.
Of course.
Religions loved decoration.
Reliefs.
Statues.
Pictures.
Architecture was part of maintaining belief.
I examined the door.
Then searched for a handle.
None.
The thick metal door was completely flat.
So this is where it begins.
If there was no handle...
The obvious answer was force.
Push it open.
But first...
I placed my ear against the wall beside it.
Tick.
Tick.
A mechanism resembling clockwork.
I'd heard similar sounds many times.
This was the sound of something timed.
If I don't open it within a certain period...
Something activates.
Then the safest choice was immediate action.
Mechanisms activating in a death trial usually meant bad things.
The door wasn't meant to be opened through brute force alone.
When I lightly pressed...
I felt narrow grooves underneath.
If I poured a huge amount of internal energy into one push...
The door would probably catch against those grooves and trigger another mechanism.
So the solution was controlled output.
Distribute the energy.
Push exactly along the groove.
From the beginning...
The trial tested judgment.
Observation.
Internal energy control.
Not bad.
Without my military experience...
I might've just tried smashing it.
I raised Formless Heaven-Breaking energy from my dantian.
A small amount entered my hands.
Most went into my legs.
I pushed from the ground.
Used minimal energy in my palms.
Precise control.
Rumble.
Clack.
The heavy iron door opened only enough for one person to pass.
Then stopped at the end of the groove.
If I'd pushed farther...
Something else would've activated.
I slipped through the gap.
The area beyond was better lit.
Braziers lined the corridor.
I no longer needed the torch.
Before walking...
I drew a dagger.
Made a small mark on the wall.
Then another near the brazier.
There could be formation arts mixed with the mechanisms.
If I had designed this place...
The worst trick would be forcing someone to walk in circles.
Small marks prevented that.
I continued making one every fixed number of steps.
For quite some time...
I never encountered one of my earlier marks.
So no loop.
But the marks revealed something else.
Distance...?
The braziers were spaced differently.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Why?
Simple.
Something hidden between them.
A small mechanism.
Start with the wall.
There was no cover except walls.
So any hidden mechanism was probably behind one.
I began feeling across the bricks.
Three had tiny holes.
Inside...
I saw reflective metal.
Triggered by stepping on the floor?
Pressure?
Or simple contact?
How advanced were mechanisms in this martial world?
Curiosity stopped me.
I moved back.
Then extended one foot and pressed the floor near the holes.
Once enough weight touched...
Fwish!
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Arrows shot from the wall.
They buried themselves in the opposite side.
Not bad.
That meant pressure detection.
Connected triggers.
Projectile launching.
Pretty sophisticated.
I became curious enough to do something I definitely shouldn't have.
I gathered internal energy into my fingers.
Then tore open the wall.
Inside...
A dense mechanical structure appeared.
Wood.
Metal.
Gears.
Springs.
Huh.
The technological development of this martial world clearly differed from the history I knew.
The device looked roughly assembled...
But the precision was too high to call it crude.
Most people would simply be surprised.
I felt something else.
Expectation.
If mechanisms this advanced existed...
Then after leaving the Dark Demon Well...
I could definitely create what I wanted.
Several more hidden traps appeared.
They weren't difficult.
Since they were pressure-triggered...
I simply avoided applying pressure.
I used a movement technique from the Black Lightning Divine Steps.
Flashing Shadow Step.
A lightness technique specialized in stealth.
I moved so lightly that the traps never activated.
Eventually...
I passed through the hidden-trap section.
Then...
"Huh."
"Now they're not even hiding them?"
Beyond another iron door...
The traps became obvious.
Floor sections dropped away.
Fire burst from walls.
Arrows flew.
Hammers swung.
Spears stabbed.
Huge stone balls rolled down corridors.
It looked like someone had personally designed this section to target me.
As though the Dark Moon Demon Gate had seen me bypassing all the hidden pressure traps and said:
Fine.
Try this.
So this is why they said no one would meet inside.
My earlier suspicion was correct.
Each iron door marked another formation change.
The next test adapted to how you solved the previous one.
You've already shown me one solution.
Now show me another.
The Dark Moon Demon Gate felt almost alive.
Fine.
I can do that.
But the solution I planned...
Probably wasn't what the designers expected.
"This should be about here."
At the end of one trap-filled corridor...
I tore open another wall.
Again...
Gears.
Mechanical components.
I stared at them.
Then gathered internal energy into my fist.
One punch should be enough.
Whoooosh!
BOOOOM!
A formation could guide me toward the correct path.
A mechanism could kill me.
But mechanisms were still machines.
If the machine annoyed me...
There was one very simple solution.
Cut the power.
And my version of cutting the power...
Was destroying the whole mechanism.
Even during modern operations...
Doing everything one step at a time wasn't always the best choice.
Efficiency mattered.
This method was simply more efficient.
CRACKLE!
GRIND!
BANG! BANG! BOOM!
The moment my internally reinforced fist smashed into the machinery...
Beautiful sounds echoed.
The traps around me began shutting down.
Unfortunately...
Not all the mechanisms were connected.
So I had to smash another wall for the next one.
Then another.
My "solution" to this section became a fist art.
The machinery wasn't very durable.
Apparently, nobody expected someone to rip open the wall and directly destroy it.
Although...
Even durable machinery might fail when hit by internal energy.
Either way...
Every time I destroyed one...
Another trap stopped.
So I calmly continued forward.
Smoke and sparks filled the path behind me.
Not my problem.
I passed the obvious trap section faster than expected.
Much faster than carefully analyzing every pattern.
Please let this be the last one.
With that small wish...
I opened the third iron door.
Part of me was also curious.
What would the next test be?
Beyond the door...
Was a space resembling a ritual chamber.
An altar stood in the center.
Light descended from above.
Behind the altar...
I saw a normal-looking door.
Immediately...
I knew.
That was the exit.
My small hope began shining.
Then...
Rustle.
Clank.
Clank.
Thud.
The Dark Moon Demon Gate had no intention of letting me leave so easily.
Shapes emerged from the shadows.
Human-shaped.
I flinched.
Fortunately...
Not actual people.
Terracotta warriors.
Figures shaped from clay like the ancient burial statues.
Normally...
I'd dismiss them as decoration.
But now...
They were scarier than humans.
Because these terracotta warriors were moving.
Red symbols covered their bodies.
Their glowing eyes focused on me.
Apparently...
The Divine Cult's ritualists and formation masters weren't satisfied with normal mechanisms.
They had brought out something like this.
Combat robots?
Every terracotta warrior carried a different weapon.
Sword.
Saber.
Spear.
Staff.
Bare fists.
Their glowing eyes were not friendly.
Their purpose was obvious.
You aren't reaching that exit easily.
Maybe this was punishment for destroying the previous section.
If you like using brute force so much...
Then go wild.
We'll give you opponents.
For a moment...
I considered going back and repairing what I'd broken.
Too late.
The iron door behind me had already closed.
Doors here always closed behind you.
"Fine."
I raised my internal energy.
"Since it's come to this, let's really go wild."
"I was curious myself."
The only path out...
Was through those terracotta warriors.
That meant the answer was simple.
Break through them.
And honestly...
I wanted to know too.
How strong had I become?
I'd survived all the Dark Demon Well training without major difficulty.
But I hadn't fought a proper opponent in a while.
Formation sparring restricted my movement.
The basic martial arts I'd been allowed to use didn't show my real abilities.
This was a good opportunity.
I gathered internal energy.
Then charged.
Black lightning flashed clearly around my feet.
