Chapter 542: Split World!
Chapter 542
A portal snapped wide open in a distant world and a group of students stepped out with frowns on their faces.
Luckily, they weren’t teleported far from each other, as every single person was accounted for, and they all stood still, scanning the strange place they had come into.
The world stretched beneath a sky split in two. One half was drenched in a golden glow of eternal daylight, while the other half was swallowed by a heavy curtain of night.
Where the light touched, the land shimmered with rolling plains and sparkling rivers. Warmth fed the stubborn patches of vegetation that clung to life across the soil. But beyond the line where the two skies met, darkness stretched endlessly. The ground there was cold, cracked, and faintly illuminated by a pale, ghostly moon.
This balance of day and night was seamless, yet profoundly unnatural.
On the night side, creatures roamed freely, their forms barely visible as shadows crept and slithered in the black mist. The air carried a tense weight, thick with the unsettling feeling that this world was alive, watching and waiting.
The students stood in the daylight half, where glistening rivers, meadows, and even a small shed could be seen just a few meters away. But the other side remained an abyss of uncertainty. None of them could tell what truly awaited them there.
"It’s obvious that the beasts we are to hunt are on the other side," Grey suddenly said, his voice calm but sharp, as he turned to Finral and the others.
"Uhm... what’s the plan?" Liam asked nervously, his throat dry as he tried to peer into the darkness but found no end to it.
"What’s the plan?" Finral repeated with a scowl. "We hunt, doofus!"
"I know we are here to hunt," Liam muttered quickly, "but I don’t know why... I just don’t want to step into that creepy side. In fact, this whole world feels too damn creepy." He gulped hard, his hands trembling slightly.
"My gauntlets are cracked, and that’s what I’m worried about," Ray sighed, staring at his bruised hands, when suddenly Grey facepalmed.
"I almost forgot," Grey murmured under his breath. He turned around, reaching into his pendant, and pulled out a pair of red and black gauntlets. Without hesitation, he handed them over to Ray.
"Huh? What are these?" Ray asked, puzzled as his eyes darted across the strange design.
"Don’t ask me questions because I’m not going to answer you," Grey said firmly. "I’m giving these to you. If you ever find yourself in immense danger, something you can’t punch your way out of, charge them with your Ki, smear your blood on them, and wait for it to take effect."
Ray accepted the gauntlets reluctantly, his face creasing into a deeper frown. "Huh?" His confusion was plain, but Grey didn’t bother to repeat himself.
"Where’s my own special weapon?" Liam grumbled with a pout, clearly irritated.
"Can we go and hunt already?" Finral muttered in frustration, staring at the bickering duo with clenched fists.
"You all can go together. I work alone," Grey replied calmly. Before they could protest, his figure blurred, vanishing from their sight.
Without hesitation, he charged into the dark half of the world, the side shrouded in eternal night. Aside from the direct descendants and a handful of red and yellow bands, no one else had moved yet. But Grey’s sudden decision to go alone shifted the tension in the air.
’I have an hour to hunt those beasts, and that’s more than enough for me,’ he thought, a grin tugging at his lips as faint sparks of lightning danced briefly across his fingers.
His speed carried him deeper into the abyss, the golden glow behind him fading as his silhouette disappeared into perpetual darkness.
"Like for real, what’s bro even feeling like?!" Finral thundered in anger, his voice echoing as Grey’s presence completely vanished from sight.
The group stood in silence for a moment, the invisible line between day and night looming before them like a barrier.
Ray, however, wasn’t focused on Grey anymore. His gaze lingered on the pair of gauntlets resting heavily in his hands. Something about them felt unusual, almost alive, and for the first time, he wondered if Grey had handed him more than just a weapon.
’I can feel an energy flowing in this weapon, but I can’t seem to understand what it is. Being so close to Stage Three, I don’t think I would really need to use whatever Grey claims this gauntlet can do, right? Which brings me to the thought... when the hell am I going to finally breakthrough to the next stage?!’ Ray thought with an inward sigh, clenching the weapon in his hand.
"I think we should get a move on now," Ray said, noticing that the others who were hesitant earlier were already pushing themselves toward the darkness. Reluctance or not, they had no choice.
"I really don’t want to go!" Liam almost cried out, his voice trembling as he saw the rest leaving.
"Then stay there," Finral snapped, his scowl sharp as ever. "Don’t blame us when a beast creeps up on you."
Hearing those words, Liam’s heart skipped a beat, fear jolting his nerves.
"On second thought, wait up!" he shouted, quickly bolting forward to catch up with them.
The moment they crossed into the dark half of the world, they realized the obsidian shadows weren’t just illusions. The heavy mist clung to their skin, and none of them could see more than a meter ahead.
It was suffocating, as though they had been dropped into an endless night. The silence was broken only by their own footsteps, and Liam gulped so loudly it echoed.
"Ho...how are we supposed to hunt in these conditions?" he asked in horror, unsheathing his sword and looking around with wild eyes.
"This is going to be a problem now," Finral sighed, his hand tightening firmly around his blade.
"You think?" Liam shot back, his nerves fraying at the edges.
"When the academy said ten beasts in an hour, I thought it was overkill," Ray muttered grimly, slipping the gauntlets onto his fists. The weight of them was strange, yet oddly reassuring. "But now I know it’s intentional. This whole setup is to cut down the number of participants for the tournament."
GROWL!
The guttural sound tore through the darkness, deep and primal. The trio spun around instantly, their hearts almost leaping out of their chests.
From the shadows, something emerged.
The beast in front of them towered like a moving mountain, taller than a yeti with bulk that seemed unnatural for any living thing. Its entire frame was draped in coarse, matted fur the color of ash and soil, allowing it to vanish perfectly into the darkness.
Massive tusks jutted from either side of its face, curving upward like the horns of some ancient war beast, sharp enough to split stone or impale prey whole. Its glowing eyes burned with a dim, crimson light, locking on to the three students with predatory hunger.
Its long arms scraped the ground, ending in claws thick as daggers. Across its back, ridges of hardened bone rose like jagged armor, completing a silhouette that was as terrifying as it was monstrous. The air grew heavier the closer it stepped, each sound of its breath rattling like a growl from the depths of the underworld.
"Uhm... and we’re supposed to hunt ten of these? Alright... rest in peace to me," Liam muttered, his face pale as he swallowed hard, gripping his sword with trembling hands.