End game (1)

Abysmal.

It was the best word to describe the current situation in Nouvelle Vague.

Just a few hours, minutes, or seconds ago, everything was normal.

The guards were controlling the prisoners with their weapons, and the prisoners were languishing under the weight of dreadful restraints that drained their mana and strength.

Then, at a moment that no one remembers clearly, just a few seconds ago.

Thud.

The handcuffs, shackles, and cages that had held the prisoners' wrists, ankles, and entire bodies were gone.

It happened simultaneously throughout the vast Nouvelle Vague.

"...?"

Both the guards and the prisoners were stunned into silence.

They had no idea what had just happened.

Why is this happening now? Is something wrong with my eyes? Is it a small accident? Is it something that only happened to me? A small anomaly that only happened in this area?

... But it soon became clear that it was not.

All the handcuffs, shackles, and cages in the entire Nouvelle Vague were gone.

The cuffs that threatened to crush their wrists, the shackles that threatened to snap their ankles, the cages that made it impossible for them to go outside.

All the restraints that had held them down for what seemed like eons were gone.

It was as if all the hardships and adversity had been a dream.

The prisoners felt mana flowing through their bodies.

Strength returned.

Desire and anger, long forgotten and thoroughly castrated, ignited in their hearts.

The first to adjust to the new reality were the prisoners who were in the midst of their entrance ceremony.

"Huh? What is this? My mana is flowing!"

"BDISSEM's handcuffs are off!"

"Kiyasuuuu! I don't know what it is, but it's great!"

"Die, you bastards!"

The prisoners on the blade bridge suddenly turned around and began to pounce on the guards.

The other prisoners rose to their feet as well.

"Aaahhhh! Kill all the guards first!"

"Beat them to death! Kill them all!"

"Set them on fire! Burn them all!"

"Open the Gate of Good and Evil! Let's get out of here!"

"Fifth floor! There's an gulper eel on the fifth floor! Let's take the eels and get out!"

They had been living like worms for so long that their freedom was short-lived, and they quickly returned to their old savagery.

Nature never changes.

...Just then.

kwakwang!

With a tremendous crash, the prisoners at the induction hall fell to their deaths.

ku-gugugugugu...

In the midst of the bloody scene, in the midst of a thick cloud of sulfur, two wardens picked themselves up.

D'Ordume. And Souare.

They each had a prisoner lying on the ground, hands and feet covered in blood.

Shake-

D'Ordume said, tossing the prisoner's body in his hands.

"Get your heads out of your asses. This is ten thousand meters deep. You won't make it out of here anyway. We may be outnumbered right now, but reinforcements will be coming from the ground soon. What will you do then?"

He was right.

Even if the prisoners rioted and somehow overpowered the guards, they wouldn't be able to get out of here.

Even if they were freed, there would be no way out of the 10,000-meter deep trench, and as soon as Brigadier General Flubber abandoned the waterproofing, the place would be flooded.

By this time, Souare, who was beside him, had brushed off the corpses stuck to the back of her heels.

"Hohoho- I'll give you a chance now. If you stand by this side and help suppress the riot, I'll let you become a sucker shark. I'll cut your workload and give you a reduced sentence. We'll even make you a junior guard, of course, first come first served~."

The momentum exuded by the two wardens was overwhelming.

Within seconds of their appearance, they had beaten dozens of prisoners to a bloody pulp.

Furthermore, behind their backs stood the Gate of Good and Evil, a gigantic wall that was intimidating to look at.

Gulp.

From among the prisoners came those who swallowed dry saliva.

If they voluntarily submitted themselves now, their lives would be much easier in the future.

Not only will the labor be easier, but the quality of the food will be incomparably better.

Since they won't be able to open that Gate of Good and Evil..., wouldn't it be better to stick to the guards' side and help suppress it and score points?

Everyone was thinking the same thing.

They finally let out their pent-up anger and hatred, but there must be a heavy and harsh price to pay for the brief moment of exaltation and freedom.

"...."

"...."

"...."

As the excitement wore off, reason returned.

The prisoners slowly began to realize the reality of their situation.

After all, it is impossible to cross the Gate of Good and Evil.

The prisoners at Nouvelle Vague knew this from years of experience.

D'Ordume and Souare, seeing the momentum of the prisoners, which had been so fiery just moments before, cool down, realized that the situation might be easier to calm down than they thought.

But.

"The key! Here's the key to the front door!"

An unidentified shout came from somewhere.

At the same time, something was flung into the middle of the battlefield.

A sword sculpture with an impressive white lower part of the blade, a black middle part, a reddish upper part, and a spiral embossed pattern.

…peog!

It flew and lodged in the high ceiling in full view of all the prisoners.

A few knowledgeable prisoners opened their eyes wide.

"Is that the key to the main entrance?"

It looked like the horns of a unicorn, and it was a fragment of Orwell's Sword of Winter!

It was a legendary sword that only those who have attained the highest level of mastery are allowed to wield it, and it once belonged to Winston, the principal of Colosseo Academy.

D'Ordume and Souare's eyes widened at the sight of it.

" ... a key!?"

"It's the key to the Gate of Good and Evil! Why is it here...!?"

A long time ago, Winston, the principal of Colosseo Academy, and Orca, the warden of Nouvelle Vague, worked together to capture a prisoner.

To commemorate that imprisonment, they gave each other two keys, one for the ocean floor and one for the surface, but why is one of them here now?

"Who put the key in here!"

Souare scanned the area with sharp eyes, but there was no way she could identify a single culprit in a scene that had already been torn apart by a prisoner riot.

D'Ordume shouted at the prisoners in disbelief.

"I don't know why the key is here, but it doesn't change anything, and there's no way you can get out of here once you've unlocked the Gate of Good and Evil...!"

But D'Ordume didn't get to finish his sentence.

Waaaaaaaah!

A huge roar rushed in, drowning out D'Ordume's voice.

Things don't always work out so calmly and rationally.

The prisoners' eyes, which had paused for a moment at the confirmation of the key's existence, flipped once more.

Collective madness. As long as it has an excuse to ignite, it explodes regardless of whether it is valid or not, whether small or large.

"It's the key, it's the key!"

"That will open the Gate of Good and Evil!"

"Aaaahhhhhh! That thing will take us to the surface!"

"If you have the key, that's it! Kill them all!"

They were now attaching sanctity to a tool called a 'key'.

D'Ordume said in disbelief.

"Hey! Wake up! That key is only half a key! And opening the Gate of Good and Evil will only let the water rush in! Use common sense! What do you think you're capable of in these deep seas...!"

"Hey, hey, man. Stop it, do you think they have the intelligence to think of that shit?"

Souare stepped forward in annoyance.

She kicked one of the charging Level 1 prisoners to death with her heel, then pulled out the sledgehammer on her back.

…BANG!

A large prisoner who had been charging like a wild boar lost his head to Souare's sledgehammer.

The battle had begun.

The elite guards who had gathered to control the news of the incident launched a merciless killing spree.

"No need to look the other way!"

"Kill them outright!"

"They are the ones who couldn't even eat a bowl of blood porridge anyway!"

The prisoners who had come up from the lower floors, even if they had regained their strength, their bodies were still weakened by the harsh labor and poor food.

No matter how crazy and outnumbered they were, they couldn't pull off a coup once the guards regained their senses.

Moreover, the presence of the two wardens, rampaging like wagons in front of a line of elite guards, was overwhelming.

kuleuleuleuleuleug! kwakwakwakwakwang!

The axe blades on D'Ordume's forearms created a vortex of aura that minced nearby prisoners like fish meat.

kkulleong… kkuleuleuleug… bugeulbugeulbugeul-

The ground beneath Souare's feet melted away, and soon became a boiling lava that engulfed the prisoners around her.

Starting from the two who stood at the forefront of the guard camp, numerous prisoners were being torn apart.

Even the largest of men were crushed, and those who moved the fastest were caught and killed.

The two Colonels, intent on becoming the next head warden of Nouvelle Vague, were turning everything in their path to pulp.

One against a hundred. A thousand at a time. Ten Thousand Enemies

A long trail of killing centered on where D'Ordume and Souare stood.

A bloodbath.

No prisoner had ever crossed it before.

Naturally, the morale of the guards behind the two wardens was high.

"It's the Colonels!"

"The symbol of the Nouvelle Vague! The backbone of the fighting force!"

"They really are heroes, fighting for the position of next head warden!"

"We can do it, all the prisoners are welcome to come as many times as they want!"

The guards who were holding the induction ceremony, or who had almost suppressed the prisoners' coup from the lower floors, were cheering with a hundred times of courage.

...However.

From far below came the voice of a terrified guard.

"Le, Level 9! Level 9, the prisoners from the 9th floor are coming up, ahhhhhhh!"

It was a report that brought a chill to the already heated atmosphere of the guards' camp.