Chapter 40
The moment they entered the sulfur valley...
The smell of rotten eggs and corpses filled the air.
Mist covered the valley floor.
Yellow smoke constantly leaked from cracks in the rocks.
Both boys wrapped wet cloth tightly over their noses and mouths.
"Shallow breaths."
Theron warned him.
"If you feel dizzy, tell me immediately."
"...I already feel dizzy."
"That's the smell."
"Endure it."
The deeper they went...
The warmer the soil became beneath their feet.
Bubbling mud pits opened between rocks like mouths in the darkness.
There was almost no true sound inside the windless valley.
Only low hissing from leaking gas...
And the occasional pop of a mud bubble.
Theron understood why patrols avoided this place.
Then...
They saw it.
A vast cluster of dark-red leaves.
Even in the darkness...
It was impossible to miss.
"...All of this is Red Flame Herb?"
"Yes."
Theron looked across the field.
"It needs geothermal heat."
"This is the only place on the island where it grows in this quantity."
"There's a ridiculous amount."
"Pull the roots too."
Theron knelt.
"Don't waste even one leaf."
The two worked without speaking.
Each root they pulled released another sharp smell.
Slowly...
The sacks became heavier.
One sack filled.
Then a second.
While working on the third...
Isaac suddenly staggered sideways.
"...Uh."
His vision spun.
Theron immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him onto a rock.
"I told you to say something."
"I was... about to."
"Every thirty minutes, go up to the edge and breathe fresh air."
Theron stared at him.
"Carrying an unconscious idiot out will take longer."
After that...
They followed a strict rhythm.
Harvest.
Climb.
Breathe.
Return.
Harvest again.
When they finally tied the fourth sack...
Isaac stood and threw one over his shoulder.
Then his foot suddenly sank.
"...!"
The ground collapsed.
A bubbling mud pit opened beneath him.
In that instant...
GRAB!
Theron's hand caught the back of Isaac's clothes.
Half a heartbeat later...
The ground where Isaac had been standing slid into the boiling mud.
Blub.
"..."
"...Fuck."
Isaac stared.
"I almost died."
"Watch the sack."
Theron answered.
"It's worth more than your life."
Isaac turned.
"That actually hurts a little if you're serious."
"Half serious."
"You bastard..."
The two finally returned to the training facility after the stars had shifted far across the sky.
They buried all four sacks behind the supply warehouse.
Soil.
Old wooden boards.
Nothing visible above.
"...Thinking there are four hundred lives buried under here feels strange."
Theron wiped dirt from his hands.
"They're not buried."
He looked down.
"They're planted."
Isaac stared.
"...Sometimes your way of speaking is really annoying."
Theron lowered his voice.
"One day left."
Everything they had planned...
Would be decided within that time.
The training facility was busy from morning.
Dormitories were swept and cleaned.
Even small stones were removed from the parade ground.
"The Inspection Delegation might bring real meat, right?"
"Ah..."
"Please."
"I just want to eat until my stomach hurts once in my life."
Children buzzed with excitement.
Theron walked among them...
Counting time.
Sunset.
Lights-out.
First patrol rotation.
Then...
These children would learn what had been buried inside their hearts all along.
One night.
A gamble involving four hundred hearts...
With less than one night to complete it.
That evening...
After lights-out...
The first patrol passed.
Ten shadows gathered behind the supply warehouse.
Theron.
Isaac.
And the leaders of Sections One through Ten.
"I'll start with why I called you here."
Theron spoke.
"You all know the island's old story."
"Anyone who escapes..."
"Dies without wounds while clutching their chest."
Every leader's expression stiffened.
No trainee had escaped hearing that story.
"It's not a curse."
Theron looked at them.
"It's a brand carved into your hearts."
"...A brand?"
"Death Sigil."
Theron explained everything.
As he continued...
Faces darkened.
Then...
"You're saying that's real?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
Several immediately denied it.
But...
"..."
The atmosphere continued growing heavier.
Because of everything Theron had already shown them...
The chances of this being another truth were far too high.
Roud finally asked,
"Is that really true?"
"You can check for yourself."
Theron's eyes moved across the leaders.
"Every one of you is at Two-Star."
"Move your mana and trace the surface of your heart."
"You'll feel it."
The leaders swallowed.
Yet none of them actually attempted it.
They already believed him.
"...Those fucking bastards."
Someone spat the words through clenched teeth.
That single sentence represented everyone there.
Fists trembled.
Anger spread rapidly between them.
Theron did not wait for that anger to calm.
Anger was not something to calm right now.
It was something to use.
"But there is a way to remove it."
Every eye turned toward him.
"...How?"
"Red Flame Herb."
Theron explained.
"You chew it."
"Use mana to control the heat."
"Then burn away the Death Sigil."
His voice sharpened.
"That's why I told everyone to reach Two-Star."
Their eyes widened.
Those fifteen nights of brutal cultivation...
Had all existed for this one purpose.
"The operation starts tonight."
Theron looked at every leader.
"Everyone."
"...Everyone?"
"All four hundred?"
"Yes."
"Return to your sections."
"Divide into groups."
"Five people at a time."
"Once one person succeeds..."
"They help restrain the next."
"Isaac will explain the patrol routes."
One leader asked,
"What about people who haven't reached Two-Star?"
"They try anyway."
Theron's expression did not change.
"No exceptions."
"We're not sitting here wearing collars until we die."
Then...
Theron revealed the final part.
"And tomorrow..."
His voice became colder.
"We steal the ship carrying the Inspection Delegation."
"...!"
Several trainees nearly screamed.
Hands immediately covered mouths.
Eyes widened.
One leader stammered.
"A-Are you serious...?"
"Yes."
Theron looked at them.
"Even if we remain here..."
"Training will eventually kill most of us."
"I confirmed it in the Head Instructor's records."
"...Damn."
Their minds spun.
But they could not easily doubt him.
Everyone knew Theron entered and left Berton's office as a Special Trainee.
Surprisingly...
The chaos settled quickly.
Roud spoke first.
"So what do we do?"
At that question...
The others' eyes turned cold.
Every one of them focused on Theron.
"First..."
Theron spoke.
"I'll help each of you remove your Death Sigil."
"Then you return to your sections."
"And help the rest."
"That's the first thing."
Everyone nodded.
"And after that..."
Theron continued explaining.
The leaders listened silently.
Then nodded again.
That night...
The dormitories of Hell Island looked ordinary from outside.
But beneath blankets...
Crunch. Crunch.
The sound of bitter leaves being chewed continued quietly.
"Mmph!"
Bodies bent like bows.
Hands beside them grabbed their shoulders.
A scream about to escape...
Was crushed beneath another trainee's palm.
Sweat-soaked bodies shook beneath blankets.
Then...
After some time...
"...Gone."
A wet whisper.
"...It's really gone."
When one person finished...
That person covered the mouth of the next.
Hands that had experienced the heat personally...
Knew exactly where to hold.
One by one...
Hearts without collars increased.
Every dormitory moved at a different pace.
Section Four's tall leader went first.
His calm example visibly reduced the trembling of those who followed.
In Section One...
Roud had to suppress everyone's anger the moment they learned the truth.
"Quiet."
His voice was fierce.
"I'm just as angry."
"That's exactly why..."
"You need to stay quiet."
Breaths mixed with sobbing disappeared beneath blankets.
Then chewing began again.
Every time a patrol lamp passed between dormitories...
All sound stopped.
When the light disappeared...
The process resumed.
There were dangers.
Long past midnight...
The door of Section Three's dormitory suddenly opened.
"What was that sound?"
A patrol instructor's lamp moved between the beds.
In one corner...
A trainee beneath a blanket groaned weakly.
"Our guy ate something bad during the day."
The Section Three leader answered casually.
"He's been sick all night."
The instructor frowned and stared toward the bed.
Then clicked his tongue.
"If anyone dies the day before inspection..."
"Your head comes off first."
"Understood."
The door closed.
Footsteps faded.
Only after they disappeared...
Did the hearts of nearly forty trainees begin beating normally again.
Under the blanket...
The trainee who had stopped halfway through burning his Sigil gritted his teeth.
The heat had not yet faded.
He had to finish.
Before that night ended...
His heart became light too.
When Section Five's turn came...
Miro accepted the Red Flame Herb with trembling hands.
"Slowly."
Theron sat beside him.
"Exactly as you learned."
Miro nodded.
He placed the leaves into his mouth.
Crunch.
Heat exploded.
His small body bent.
Perka covered his mouth.
Tears filled Miro's eyes.
But he fought the ball of fire inside him.
I survived that night...!
Then...
This heat was nothing.
Snap. Snap.
The parasite inside his heart finally burned into ash.
"Haaah... Haaah..."
Miro looked toward Theron with wet eyes.
"...Gone."
"Theron..."
"Mine is gone too."
"Yeah."
Theron ruffled the boy's damp hair once.
"You did well."
That night...
Thirty-nine of Section Five's forty-two hearts became free.
The children who burned away their leashes remained silent for a long time.
Each kept one hand over their chest.
Theron did not ask what they were thinking.
But not every heart became light.
"...Sorry."
In a corner of Section Two...
One boy sobbed.
"Sorry..."
The heat he had caught...
Had torn through the mana net and scattered.
It burned through his body like a fever and eventually disappeared.
The spiderweb around his heart remained.
"It's my fault..."
"I wasn't good enough..."
"There's nothing to apologize for."
Theron approached and knelt beside him.
"The heat inside Red Flame Herb remains for about two days after harvesting."
"If you cross the wall before then..."
"You get another chance."
The boy looked up.
"...Can I really cross?"
"More than fifty people did it in fifteen days."
Theron's gaze softened slightly.
"Why couldn't one more do it in two?"
The boy wiped his tears and nodded.
The trainees who had already burned away their Sigils silently rubbed his back.
Just before dawn...
Isaac handed Theron the updated list behind the supply warehouse.
"Three hundred nineteen."
The page was covered in circles.
"More than twenty of the people who weren't even close to the wall..."
"Forced their way through the heat and still managed to burn it."
Isaac looked almost stunned.
"At first I thought we wouldn't even reach one hundred."
Theron looked at the list.
"Now fewer than one hundred remain."
Still...
There were hearts carrying collars.
Isaac touched one corner of the page.
"It's strange."
"We saved three hundred nineteen."
"I should be happy."
"But..."
His expression darkened.
"I can't stop thinking about the ones who failed."
"That's normal."
Theron answered calmly.
"Once they stop becoming numbers and start becoming names..."
"It always feels like that."
They were faces Theron had seen every night.
He knew where they struggled.
How they looked while sitting before the wall.
"Two days remain."
Theron's eyes hardened.
"We push until the very last one."
"...Yeah."
Isaac folded the list and placed it inside his clothes.
Then...
Dong. Dong.
The guard tower bell split the dawn.
Both boys immediately looked toward the sea.
The horizon was brightening.
And on that horizon...
A single dark point had appeared.
Still tiny.
No larger than a fingernail.
But no one could misunderstand what it was.
A ship.
Sails spread wide.
Children began emerging from the dormitories.
One by one, they looked toward the sea.
The only bridge capable of carrying them away from Hell Island.
"...It's here."
Theron's eyes narrowed.
The final card in a gamble involving nearly four hundred lives...
Was approaching Hell Island from beyond the horizon.
