Chapter 2158: Chapter 2158

After the bizarre, kaleidoscopic illusions, his body slammed heavily onto the ground. Beneath him, a layer of what felt like gravel pressed sharply against his face. But the surrounding smell was strange—it was the scent of fine wood and charcoal, reminding Jenkins of winter days spent sleeping by the fireplace with his cat.

He didn't struggle to get up. Instead, he tried to comprehend the spatial shifts that left his head spinning. He had never entered the Mysterious Realms so frequently, and thus had never made so many spatial leaps in such a short time.

Previously, Jenkins had assumed he suffered from "spatial motion sickness," but that didn't seem to be the case. Instead, whenever he passed through the special portals of the Mysterious Realms, he was actively trying to understand the experience. In those fleeting moments, what his eyes perceived was different from what anyone else would see.

The growth of the World Tree allowed his body and eyes to process more information, which was why crossing the gate this time had been a completely new sensation.

"So, what am I supposed to understand?"

By the time he had fully recovered and climbed to his feet, he still didn't know what he was meant to understand, so he brushed the straw from his clothes and decided to put the matter aside for now.

He confirmed that all his luggage was still with him, then reached into his pocket and, just as he expected, pulled out another round coin. This one corresponded to [The Stranger], so the coin was blue. What he perceived as the front bore the emblem of [The Stranger], while the back had a simple square with the image of a tree in its center.

It wasn't that its passive effect against non-human races was completely gone, but it certainly lacked its original power.

"But it doesn't matter. After all, I've already found the formula for victory."

He tried using the kind of metaphor Alexia would and couldn't help but chuckle. The thought of the ladies at home instantly lifted his spirits, and the image of his well-behaved cat made him feel even better.

Picking up his bag and sword, he finally took the time to survey his surroundings.

Perhaps because the last Mysterious Realm had been so vast, this one was back to being small-scale. So small, in fact, that he could take it all in with a single glance.

He was outdoors, standing on a stretch of dark brown, scorched earth—that was the only way Jenkins could describe it. The ground was devoid of any life or fertility, just gravel mixed with soil that looked as if it had been calcined. Jenkins would have easily believed it was an ancient battlefield in the middle of a desert.

He stood at the edge of the darkness, looking ahead toward a roaring blaze. The red glow and waves of heat seemed to rush toward him.

Jenkins was quite familiar with this kind of Mysterious Realm environment—a dark world centered around fire. It seemed the last few realms had been the exceptions; this one felt like familiar territory.

But the fire was blindingly bright; he judged the intensity at its core to be nearly equal to the sun. After taking a dozen steps toward the blaze, bag in hand, he saw that its source was a massive steel forge.

The forge itself was a dull brass color, blending almost seamlessly into the dark surroundings. The raging fire within its chamber, like a captive sun, was the source of the overwhelming light he had seen from a distance.

It was a magnificent sight, utterly spectacular. The steel forge loomed over the scorched earth, and its roaring flames, punctuated by the intermittent crackle of combustion, kept the desolate, empty world from feeling truly cold and silent.

The alloy used for the forge was the Difference Engine's signature brass-colored metal. The towering structure was a clear sign of how deeply the machine had invaded this Mysterious Realm. In the previous realm, the Difference Engine had only played a small part; this time, it had likely poured a significant amount of its power into the place.

"But which Beast of Calamity will it be this time?"

He gazed at the ferocious light in the forge's chamber.

"There are certainly many that are fire-related, but I can probably rule out the earthfire worms."

Jenkins didn't believe that the highly creative and inventive Difference Engine would use the same power twice.

As he approached the enormous brass forge, he noticed a figure leaning against its base. Logically, given the intensity of the light pouring from the furnace gate, the temperature on the forge's exterior should have been hot enough to melt most metals. Yet this person was leaning against it, seemingly unaffected.

Feeling the heat waves intensify with each step, Jenkins drew closer and saw, just as he'd suspected, that the figure was not made of flesh and blood. It was half stone, half metal.

A blast of heat washed over him, making Jenkins wonder again if the forge truly held a captive sun. He stopped advancing and listened to the fearsome sounds from within the chamber, his eyes fixed on the man in the black hunting suit leaning against the furnace gate with arms crossed.

The figure straightened up. Without a word, he pointed a finger behind him. The raging inferno immediately died down, and the glow seeping through the gate diminished as the flames were extinguished.

As the sounds from the furnace chamber faded into near silence, the ambient light waned. Soon, Jenkins could barely hear anything from within, and the light escaping the forge had become so faint it illuminated only a small patch of ground before it—a stark contrast to the blinding crimson glare that had greeted his arrival.

"If I want to leave this place, what do I need to do?"

Wasting no words, he stepped into the dark red area before the furnace gate and asked his question directly.

"What you saw just now was this forge in its prime. Now, the flames in its chamber are about to die out. Your task is to reignite them, restoring the forge to the state you first saw."

The half-stone, half-metal man answered, his voice possessing a normal intonation that lacked the stiff, mechanical quality of the Difference Engine.

"And what do I use to light it?"

The area was completely barren. Besides the massive forge, there was nothing but the earth and stones at his feet. In other words, the only fuel available seemed to be Jenkins himself, his luggage, and the realm's host.

"Are the rules really just to defeat this guy and stuff him into the furnace?" Jenkins wondered. "No, it can't be that simple."

As the thought crossed Jenkins's mind, the man in the black hunting suit pointed behind him. A line of fire shot from his fingertip, sizzling as it raced across the ground and illuminating the dark, oppressive space.

The line of fire extended like a long thread, illuminating more of the surroundings as it formed hundreds of fiery red, rectangular doorframes behind Jenkins, all arranged in a staggered pattern.

The frames were empty, and he could see through them, but Jenkins knew they were gates.

"Behind each gate is a powerful warrior. Not a fictional one, but a warrior who truly existed in history. Choose a gate, step through, defeat the warrior behind it, and drag them out to be burned. You must continue until the flames in the forge are restored to the state you first witnessed. That is what you must do.

Oh, and the fire is still dying. If it goes out completely, you will never be able to leave this place. So, please act quickly."

"How many opponents do I need to defeat?"

Jenkins asked. The rules were simple enough; this seemed to be a purely combat-oriented Mysterious Realm.

"Warriors of different strengths will fuel the flames to different degrees, so I cannot give you an exact number. You can think of this world as a coliseum. Your job is to step through a gate, defeat your enemy, drag them out, and burn them to see if it's enough. If not, choose another gate and repeat the process until the task is complete."

the man in the hunting suit explained.

"So the coliseum that triggered B-06-2-4482, the [Treasure Hunter's War], was referring to a coliseum inside a Mysterious Realm... But I thought they said the cultists stole a skull from a primitive southern tribe, and that was the prototype... Don't tell me that skull was used to summon this place? What price does the Difference Engine pay to move these realms around?"

That was a question only the Difference Engine could likely answer, so Jenkins didn't dwell on it. He turned to look at the many fiery gates behind him. Not all of them were on the ground; a great many floated in the air. Every gate was identical in size, with no discernible differences.

"So, you're not the one manipulating which enemy I'll face, are you?"

Jenkins directed his question to the man in the black hunting suit. Since all the gates looked identical, he figured it was possible their contents could be manipulated.

"I will not violate the rules of the Mysterious Realm."

Having said that, he closed his eyes, refusing to look at Jenkins any longer.

"One more thing. When I go through these gates, will I meet my opponent immediately? You're not going to make me play detective and hunt for my enemy at some unknown point in time, are you?"

"The person behind the gate is waiting for your challenge. They are all heroes—or the opponents of heroes—who were already defeated in history. At the very moment of their death, they will meet you and engage in a battle to the death. If they lose, history remains unchanged; the body left behind will be an ordinary corpse, while what you drag away will be the very essence of that hero's life. If you lose, history will also remain unchanged. Your corpse, however, will be collected by me and fed to the furnace." Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novelꜰire.net

"Is it their soul that burns?"

"Of course not. What would I do with a soul? I'm not one of those filthy demons. What burns are the experiences and skills of the deceased. It will have no effect on the real world."

"I think I understand now. So, this time it's about the [Hero]. If I'm defeated by a hero or a hero's enemy, I'll lose my own qualification as a [Hero]. That's how it subverts the meaning of a savior's trial. Simple, really."

With that settled, he had to prepare for the challenges ahead to keep the fire alive.