Chapter 23: Calamity: The Red Gate

“We’re stationed in this area again today.”

“This is unavoidable. We, the soldiers, need to guard around the city. Rotation consumes too much time.”

“I know… but it’s just the two of us here.”

The soldier knitted his brow. “If we cover up all of the South Korean lands, you might be crying alone at this time.”

Hahaha–

“Well, at least it is not a remote area.” The soldier who complained about their position was glad they weren’t stationed in a place far away from the crowds.

It seemed like today would be another peaceful day for the two soldiers that patrol around the area.

Until…,

Arghh–

“H-Help…”

“He…lp…”

The voice asked for help surprised the soldiers. They quickly acted and rushed in the direction where the sound was coming.

“What happens?”

The soldiers then looked through these people’s bodies. Their bodies trembled. Blue veins appeared all over their bodies. It was visible from the parts that were not get covered by the clothes.

“Mana impact?”

They knew what it meant if these people got hurt by Mana’s impact.

There was a Portal Gate close near them!

“T-There are two people left behind… they lose consciousness because of the pain.”

Hosh, Hosh–

“I c-can’t hold a-any longer… “

The two people, who had just arrived, finally fainted. Their fingers were dirty and sore from crawling, dragging their bodies to reach the crowd.

“Call the Hunters Association! I take the Artifact suit and go to help the other civilians around the Portal Gate plus checking the circumstance.”

The other soldier nodded and immediately took out the emergency phone to call the Hunters Association.

Afterward, the soldier wearing an artifact suit arrived at the scene in a Military jeep without a cover at the top. He got out of the car and saw the two people who were lost consciousness a bit far from the Portal Gate.

The soldier approached the civilians lying on the ground to check on their condition.

“I’m glad it didn’t threaten their lives.” The soldier sighed in relief. Thus, he shifted his gaze toward the Portal Gate.

‘It’s condensed. How long has it been formed?’

The soldier tried to calculate how long the Portal Gate had already appeared. When he came toward the place, he thought it was still in the process of Mana density.

It took the soldier almost 10 minutes with the military jeep because of the terrain. Based on the distance, the people that crawl their way to reach them take approximately 40 minutes.

That makes the soldier amazed at their effort.

“But, now… Hunter Association must be aware of the Portal Gate.”

Even if one of the soldiers didn’t notify the Hunter Association, they should know the existence of a Portal Gate that had already got formed.

Trrst, Trret–

The soldier was frightened by another sound from the front of him. Then the soldier recalled the phenomenon called Mana fluctuation after looking at the Portal Gate.

“Is there another Portal Gate that will appear? Impossible!”

Suddenly, the answer appeared in front of the soldier amid his confusing thoughts.

“Holy sh*t! What the f*ck!”

The soldier uttered curse words, the Portal Gate, which had been calm just a moment ago, instantly became more vicious. Even the artifact suit couldn’t completely block the Mana impact.

The mana fluctuation of the Portal Gate turned from blue to red and shattered the surrounding ground.

“Damn it! I have a hard time breathing. It is terrible!”

The soldier hurriedly picked up the two civilians on the ground. One person was clutched on the right shoulder and put into the military jeep. Then he continued doing that with the other person.

“F*ck! What the heck?! The tier-2 Portal Gate changed to Red Gate!”

The soldier counted himself unlucky today, dragging two unconscious civilians, and there was a Red Gate on his back. He needed to go back to his comrade soldier and report about the Red Gate.

The city and the bustling crowd needed to get evacuated as soon as possible!

Yarrghh–

“Damn!”

The soldier continued to curse on the road while driving the military jeep back, running far away from the danger.

Meanwhile, the Red Gate got formed. It didn’t take a long time for it to condense. It was different from the average Portal Gate.

Zap, Zap–

Fufufu–

“What a wonderful world humans had. But not long, we will turn it into a bloodbath.”

A human-shaped body showed up in front of the Red Gate. But, her body was blurred and transparent. She wore a black robe at the back and wielded a crescent moon weapon on the right hand.

Zap, Zap–

Another thing shows up again in front of the Red Gate. This time was a beast.

Zap, Zap–

Rrggh, Rrrr–

Zap, Zap–

Another one. And another one.

In the end, countless beasts had appeared around the Red Gate.

Rrggh, Rrrr–

Fufufu–

“My dears, time to hunt. Go! Spread the fear and chaos whenever its feet go. And I shall bring the calamity in this world.”

Rrggh, Rrrr–

Tump, Gsrek–

All the beasts in the area moved and ran in all directions.

Fufufu–

“Now, where do I start?”

—- —-

Brem, Broom–

The military jeep stopped hastily.

The soldier got off the car and found his other comrade.

“Why are you in a hurry? What happens? Did the civilians die?”

The other soldier asked his comrade that come by the military jeep with sweat all over his body. Even his military uniform was wet.

“No, it’s a Red Gate.”

“What!”

The soldier trembled in fear, hearing the Red Gate.

The Portal Gate’s existed for so many years. The horror from the Red Gate was still lingering in many people’s hearts.

Suddenly, the soldier fell to his knees. He remembered his other comrades who died because of the Red Gate last year.

But the soldier, who was still sweating with worry, lifted and grabbed his fellow soldiers’ shoulders to stand up.

“Listen, bring the two civilians on the military jeep to the hospital that has a hunter healer along with the two civilians from here. Got that?!”

“But.. But.. How about you?”

“Someone needs to evacuate these people. Take this car key. Go!”

“Impossible! You can’t survive the Red Gate if you do not run now…”

The soldier who tried to stay behind at the place was furious at his comrade’s words.

“F*ck*ng sh*t! If not us, soldier. Who is the one that protects our people?! We are the last defense here!”

“We are not hunters!”

“Yes, but we are the soldiers! South Korean army that the people are proud of it. It is our job to protect everyone from a disaster, not just the hunters!”

The soldier who wanted to run away fell silent after being shouted at by his comrade.

“And did you think the hunters are the god incarnations?! They can’t just show up here in the blink of an eye. They too need time to come here.”

The soldier then halted his speech for a short time after uttering some words about the hunters.

“By the time the hunters come here, we don’t know what this place will become. How many people will turn into the prey of whatever creature that pops out from that Red Gate.”

“I-I’m sorry.” The soldier knew what he did was wrong and apologized while lowering his head.

“Get a hold of yourself and do your job! Give me the emergency phone to the Hunters Association.”

The soldier gave the phone to his friend and took the car keys. They took the two civilians to the military jeep, where the other two had already been there.

Both of the soldiers nodded their heads.

Brem, Broom–

The soldier drove a military jeep and went to the nearby hospital to bring four of the people that got hurt by the Mana impact.

The soldier that was left behind began his evacuation. He was going left and right to tell the people and yelled the warning notice.

“There’s a Red Gate nearby, about 1.3 miles away. So please take shelter and evacuate from here as soon as possible. Don’t go towards the foot of the mountain!”

The soldier then called for help from his army base and told the Hunters Association about the Red Gate appearance.

The people who heard the soldier’s announcement started to move and were busy searching for a safe place to stay.

At the moment, even though the soldier was alone. He tried his best to keep the people moving without causing turmoil in the crowd in an orderly manner.

But…,

Alone. The soldier. He was alone.

In the end, the soldier couldn’t keep the people from panicking about the situation.

Chaos broke out. People started running in all directions ignoring their surroundings.

The soldier could only do what he could do, for now. He was waiting for the reinforcement plus the Hunters Association personnel to come.

When he had called earlier, the soldier had already emphasized that he desperately needed a hunter from a nearby place to come and help to stand guard around the site.

It had already passed 30 minutes since he returned from the Red Gate. The soldier was sure that the monsters or beasts from there had made their move.

“Anyone, please help us!”