Beyond The Crimson Gate-Chapter 37: Kale’s Odyssey(1)

Space twisted and convulsed around Kale. It felt like his body was being stretched thin as massive forces from all directions threatened to crush him.

His eyes remained shut, not because he was afraid to look around him, but because he felt like his eyes would explode.

The pressure around him came to a sudden stop, and he felt himself being flung to the ground.

The force with which he landed made him bounce off a little from the ground.

Kale adjusted himself and opened his eyes. The display of his suit was flickering.

[Suit’s Helm has taken Critical Damage]

[Minor Fractures Detected]

[Internal Bruising Detected]

[Total Health Capacity: 65%]

He sighed and tried to stand. Waves of pain rolled over him and he nearly fell over.

Kale sighed before tapping a hidden button on his chest piece.

[Sedatives Released]

Three needles stabbed Kale before retracting almost immediately.

The throbbing pain that had filled him slowly faded until it became a barely noticeable dull ache.

"The military really thought of everything." He chuckled bitterly as he stood up.

He tried to take a look around, but the area around him was glitching due to his faulty helm.

Kale sighed and removed it.

Cold and unfiltered air whipped his face, and he was met with a strange scene.

He appeared to be in the middle of a clearing in a forest made of purple leaves with the sky being green.

His eyes shrank and he reluctantly came to a startling conclusion: he was in Dimension Zero!!

Kale immediately grabbed his sword, which was only a few meters away from him.

He clung to his sword. It was his only chance at survival in that strange world.

A faint rumble shook the earth and a mountain chain in the distance collapsed.

The vague outline of a turtle left the ground and soared to the skies, but before it got too far, a lightning bolt struck it down, and a cat-shaped figure swooped down from the clouds to consume it.

Kale stumbled back. If all creatures here were like that, then he was certainly going to die.

A faint humming quickly closed in on him, and Kale gripped his blade.

He closed his eyes and trusted his hearing and so he swung his sword at what he believed to be the source.

The sword met faint resistance mid-swing but it cut through immediately.

A faint buzzing left the ground to his left. He opened his eyes and looked at it.

"Is that supposed to be a bee?" Kale’s head tilted slightly. The beast he had just killed was the size of a human heart with a similar color.

It had four wings made of flesh and an antenna made of bones.

Kale’s throat burned and his eyes watered as he fought the rising bile. He wasn’t going to throw up, especially since he wasn’t sure when he would be able to eat again.

Another hum closed in on him, then another and another.

Kale adjusted his stance and tightened his grip on his sword.

The closest bee came within his reach, and he immediately went to his knees and performed an overhead swing.

His sword separated its thorax from the rest of its body, killing it on the spot.

He placed his right foot firmly on the ground, adjusted his grip on the sword so that he held it with a back grip, and rotated to the left.

The momentum of the blade allowed him to break through the exoskeleton of the next one and kill it

Kale sighed and charged forward.

_______

Ming stared at where the rift had closed. Kale had saved her but at the cost of himself.

An insectoid flew to her but Ian smashed it apart. "Ming!!!" His voice snapped her back to reality. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Kale! He sacrificed himself for me! He entered Dimension Zero!!" Her words made Ian freeze.

A loud explosion shook the island and the burning body of the Tier 3 beast started to fall.

Toby turned into a mass of flames and tried to engulf the body. Its body exploded into a multitude of smaller beasts.

Ash fell like snow as Toby’s flames burned the majority of the newly made beasts.

Without their leader, the rest of the beasts lost all form of coordination and were easily exterminated.

Some gathered and fused mid-air forming a dozen Tier 2 beasts.

The soldiers immediately retreated back into the military base.

While they were skilled, it was next to impossible for any of them to kill a Tier 2 beast.

They had fought their first battle and were victorious.

Ming and Ian stood in the common room of the base, lost in thought.

______

Kale was surrounded by dozens of beast carcasses.

Most belonged to the bee-like beast while a few were for some frog-like beasts.

Killing the Tier 1 beats had been far too easy but if he had to guess, it would be because of his battle suit.

"I wonder if the military will try to bring me back." He pondered aloud.

Kale was certain that Axel would try to ensure he came back but there was a limit to what his best friend could do.

A sharp bolt of pain shot through Kale’s arm.

His eyes trailed there and he focused on a stinger the size of a pinky nail embedded into his forearm.

He immediately grabbed it, pulled it out, and watched as black fluid oozed out of the hole.

Not only had the stinger passed through his suit easily, but it had even pierced him, most likely already injecting venom into him.

The suit hadn’t even been able to warn him because he removed the helm.

"Shit!" He cursed before he placed his lips on the hole and started to suck ferociously.

A sharp, acidic liquid filled his mouth, and he spat it out.

The black fluid was extremely dense and viscous.

Kale didn’t hesitate and continued to suck out as much venom as he could.

His lips became numb because of the venom but he continued.

’I can’t stop. I can’t die here. I can’t stop...’ Kale repeated a mantra in his head as he pushed himself to continue sucking out all venom.

He lost blood and his vision became blurry but he pushed on.

Kale slowly stood and removed his suit.

He tore his shirt and tied it around his elbow, above the wound. To slow the venom down and to reduce blood loss.

Mr. Daniel had included this in his training; it was because of him that Kale was even alive, and he would remember that.

Pushing further, Kale put the suit back on, including the helm then black spots filled his vision before he passed out.