NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: Chapter 1 Hell Hound (1)
1st Chapter
The River of Blood has finally dried up.
The war between the human realm and the demon realm, which lasted for decades, was recorded in history books as the chilling "Age of Destruction."
And on the day when the victory of the human realm was engraved in stone.
A head was hung at the main gate of the Baskerville family, known as the Iron Blood Sword Family.
Vikir. "Vikir van Baskerville."
The illegitimate child of Hugo le Baskerville, the head of the Baskerville family.
The shadow who had been staining his hands with countless blood behind the family.
He was the hound of the Baskerville family.
Chapter 1 Hell Hound (1)
Vikir.
He struggled.
His life was always a struggle.
Illegitimate child. Son of a concubine.
That's why his middle name was "van."
He wasn't even born with the family names like "la" or "le" that his half-siblings received for free, and because of that, he had to work hundreds of times harder than others.
But the end wasn't so good.
Spying, assassination, kidnapping, blackmail, smuggling... After crossing the line between life and death more than 500 times for the family, luck finally abandoned him.
At the moment of his execution, falsely accused of being a demon spy.
He thought intensely.
That he wanted to live.
That he wanted to be reborn.
* * *
Waa- Waa- Waa-
Baby cries fill a large room.
Multiple joyous events have overlapped in the Iron Blood Sword Family, the Baskerville household.
Hugo Baskerville, the Viscount and head of the family, raised his indifferent eyes to scan the children born this year.
"None of them look useful."
It was quite harsh for a father's first evaluation of his children born this year.
...Then.
Hugo's feet, which were passing by the cradles in the nursery, suddenly stopped at one point.
Vikir. Vikir van Baskerville.
An illegitimate child who originally wouldn't even qualify to be here.
Unlike the other siblings who were already 6 to 8 months old, this being had just barely reached 100 days and had only just entered this room.
The baby wasn't crying.
It was just lying still, eyes closed, as if dead.
"..."
Hugo's expression softened slightly as he looked at Vikir.
It wasn't because he was pleased that Vikir's qualities seemed superior to the other children.
It was just that if the place was going to be filled with trash anyway, a slightly less noisy piece of trash would be better.
Eventually, Hugo spoke to the dozens of wet nurses standing behind him.
"Move the children to the 'Cradle of Sword Pricks.'"
The children of the Baskerville family must be put to the test from the moment they are born until they die.
From cradle to grave.
The first test had just begun.
...What is the Cradle of Sword Pricks?
It's a unique rite of passage for the Baskerville family.
Countless swords are stuck into a round hill like a maze, and a baby is dropped in the center.
The baby becomes trapped in the maze created by the blades and wanders.
A situation where even the slightest movement causes cuts all over the body from the blades.
In this environment, the baby must crawl on the ground and pass through the maze of sword pricks to escape.
Only when they immerse themselves in the river 'Styx' that flows in a circle outside the maze do they truly become a Baskerville in the real sense.
Hugo Baskerville thought.
'The waters of the Styx are only effective for children under 1 year old. If they immerse their bodies in this river, their entire body becomes as hard as steel.'
Of course, the power of this river is not infinite.
If one baby absorbs as much power as possible, another baby will inevitably absorb relatively less of the power remaining in the river.
It's like a mother's milk supply.
The children of the Baskerville family have now been thrown into the Cradle of Sword Pricks.
Who will escape this labyrinth first and jump into the river? That will determine the future of these children.
A total of 32 children born this year, including the family's legitimate children, illegitimate children, and cousins, are competing in the center of the Cradle of Sword Pricks.
The densely packed blades forming a snail shell pattern were guiding the children onto a path as far and sharp as possible.
Waa- Waa- Waa-
Some crying loudly for their wet nurses, some already crawling nimbly, some floundering as they bleed from touching the blades, some lying down sucking their fingers with no intention of escaping yet... This is generally how the babies look.
In fact, it's a natural result given that these are babies not even a year old.
However.
"Worthless things."
Hugo Baskerville's evaluation was ruthlessly cold.
Small and weak life forms. Creatures that cannot survive without the help of others.
Hugo's gaze at these human infants was filled with contempt.
There were no exceptions, even if they were his own children.
After all, he was famous for having been an iron man from birth, known as one of the top seven swordsmen on the continent.
"How can they fight the demons of the demon realm like this? When will I be able to raise these and entrust my back to them?"
Hugo lamented as he stood high, looking at the Styx river flowing around the Cradle of Sword Pricks.
This mysterious river, flowing only in the sacred ground of the Baskerville family throughout the entire continent, had the effect of increasing mana, purifying aura, and making the whole body as tough and hard as steel just by immersing oneself in it.
If it hadn't been effective only for children under 1 year old, he would have immersed himself in it long ago.
While Hugo was looking at the river with a regretful expression.
"Oh, oh my!"
"Ah, this can't be!"
"Unbelievable!"
Exclamations of shock erupted from all around.
What could possibly shock the family's guardian knights who usually don't get agitated by ordinary events?
Hugo raised his head with a puzzled expression.
And at that moment.
"...!"
His eyes, which had been filled with a mixture of terrible boredom, contempt, impatience, and disappointment until now, lit up with a strange light.
The Cradle of Sword Pricks.
Because one child was heading straight for the Styx river, breaking through this dense forest of blades.
Rip- Tear- Splash-
The child's body is already covered in blood.
Surprisingly, the child was cutting straight through the Cradle of Sword Pricks, which was arranged in a spiral like a snail shell.
Instead of going around in circles on a relatively safe path, it was directly squeezing through the small gaps between the blades.
There were sword marks on its white and soft cheeks.
Its soft and chubby waist and arms were all cut and torn.
Its knees were all scraped, and its cute little palms were already bloody.
The child crawling over the red path of blood it created, squeezing between the countless sword pricks.
Everyone in the family was overwhelmed by the spirit emanating from this child who wasn't even 100 days old.
This was true even for Hugo le Baskerville, the head of the Iron Blood Sword Family.
Eventually, the child completely escaped the maze.
The siblings were still trapped in the center of the Cradle of Sword Pricks, unable to escape.
...Splash!
The child threw itself into the Styx river as soon as it escaped the cradle.
The river water turns red.
Hugo, unusually, moved forward and gripped the railing tightly with both hands.
The servants widened their eyes in surprise as they saw cracks forming on the marble railing.
It was the first time they had seen him, who usually maintained an emotionless attitude towards everything, become so agitated.
"The child! What about the child? What happened to my child?"
Hugo raised his voice.
The child who fell into the Styx river still hasn't come up.
Eventually, several of the family's guardian knights approached the Styx river and looked inside.
And. The knights were all terrified.
"The, the young master is drinking the river water!"
It was an answer that could make Hugo's mouth fall open as wide as a basin.