Chapter 362: Ghost Castle of the Ultra-Deep Sea (2)
#1st entrance ceremony: <Belongings inspection>
The induction ceremony consists of three procedures.
Until it started, the prisoners didn't realize the seriousness of the situation.
The belongings inspection was a matter of course, and the second and third health checks and baths were unexpected luxuries.
As a result, the prisoners were generally happy.
"What kind of an idiot would bring a weapon into a place like this?"
"I'm not hiding anything, so I'll be fine."
"Oh, I just want to take a bath."
But Vikir didn't believe a word of what was written in the protocol.
'For those who were dragged to the Nouvelle Vague, they are naive.'
The prisoners do not lose their smiles even as they are dragged away tied up in rows next to them. How long can their expressions be maintained?
Soon, the prisoners, including Vikir, were led by the guards out into the open square.
Only then did their faces change.
"...?"
"What, you said you were going to check our belongings?"
"Then why are you taking us to this cliff...?"
The scene in front of them was quite a sight.
Sheer cliffs. And then, far off in the distance, almost a dot, another cliff.
And sharply sharpened blades were connected between cliffs.
...And there was more.
On top of the giant blade bridge connecting cliff to cliff, giant iron balls that could have been used for demolition in a construction site were swinging from side to side like clockwork.
"What the hell is this? You don't want me to cross this, do you?"
"We're on a ridge!"
"What are those iron balls!"
The prisoners' faces turned white at the horrific sight before them.
'I see.'
Vikir nodded.
The Nouvelle Vague's word of mouth is no ordinary thing.
It would be disguised in everyday words, but the reality would be horrific and brutal.
... just like right now.
Sereung-
Finally, the guards showed their true colors.
They stabbed the prisoners in the back with knives, clubs, spears, and tridents.
They were going to kill them if they didn't get on the blade bridge.
In the end, the prisoners cried and put their feet on the blade.
They had to walk barefoot over hundreds of meters of blades.
If they lost their balance for even a moment, they would fall to the bottom of an unknown cliff.
One of the prisoners shakily asked.
"What happens if I fall off that cliff?"
"...I'll leave it to your imagination."
Lieutenant Garm, who was leading the prisoners, replied in a bureaucratic tone.
Next, the prisoners stood in a line and began to walk on the sharp blade.
The razor-sharp blades dug into their bare feet with each step.
Each cut would be deeper and deeper under the weight of their bodies.
The cold blade cut and cut at the soles of the prisoners' feet.
"Kkeuaaaagh!"
The prisoner, who was spewing out blood and falling to his knees, fell straight in front of the blade and his entire body was broken into pieces.
hududug- hududug- hududug-
Red blood and flesh rained down.
Seeing the prisoner in front of them fall to his death in an instant, the other prisoners became even more nervous and stood on their toes.
They strained their big and little toes, holding on to the blade with their toes and walking slowly.
That was how the prisoners were able to move.
..., but it was really just a way to get around.
buung-
A giant iron ball passed in front of the prisoner's eyes.
The balls traveled across the bridge in sections, each with a tremendous amount of weight and speed.
If you were hit even once, your entire body would be crushed like fish meat and you would be thrown off the cliff.
"Haha- idiots, there's no way we're going to get hit by these balls!"
A prisoner was crawling like a cockroach, holding onto the blade with both hands and feet.
His hands and feet were already covered in blood, but he was still crawling quite steadily on his legs.
The giant iron ball was passing over his head, so he was in no danger.
...At first glance, that was the case.
But there was something the prisoner didn't realize, and that was the ball's material.
buung-
The iron ball flew by and then came back.
As it approached, the prisoner ducked his head.
The idea was to let it pass safely over his head.
But.
"...huh?"
The prisoner suddenly felt his right hand fly up of its own accord.
snap!
His right hand was suddenly snatched out of thin air and caught on the swinging iron ball.
"Hii!? Magnet!"
That's right. Each of the iron balls passing over the blade bridge had a powerful magnetic force.
The prisoner, whose fingers were embedded with iron cores, felt his right hand being held in place by a powerful magnet.
And then.
...ppuug! udeudeug!
The prisoner saw the iron core in his finger tear through the flesh, pull out, and attach itself to the iron ball.
"Aaaah!"
The prisoner screamed as his fingers were ripped from his body and he lost his balance.
The toes and fingers that had been gripping the blade's legs gave way, and he fell backwards onto the blade, splitting his body vertically and sending him falling down the cliff.
Similar things were happening one after another on the blade bridge.
The swinging iron ball sucked everything in.
Poof!
A prisoner with a file knife hidden in his anus was torn apart in a horrific mauling.
Another prisoner, with shards of the blade embedded in old wounds, fell to the ground beneath the blade's bridge, grievously wounded.
The same was generally true of those who wore prosthetic arms or legs.
There were also quite a few prisoners who had fallen off the cliff in agony as the iron ball, with its powerful magnetic force, snapped like a rope with each swing.
Those who hadn't yet made it onto the bridge could only shudder in terror.
"What the hell, what is this, what is the word of mouth, this is just a dog's death, isn't it a de facto execution?"
Lieutenant Garm next to him shook his head.
"No, it's not. There's a 'Nouvelle Vague' execution, and it's a lot worse than this, and there's a prisoner over there who's doing just fine."
"...what?"
At those words, all the prisoners turned their heads.
The blade bridge, precarious, and the magnetic iron balls running over it.
In the middle of it all, there was a man walking casually.
It was Vikir.
'It's a good thing Beelzebub and Decarabia didn't get caught in the magnets.'
Vikir was simply walking barefoot on the ridge.
His calluses, hardened by years of training, could push back a blade of this size without the need for mana.
It wasn't too difficult to make it to the other cliff, as long as he kept out of the way of the occasional iron ball.
"...What's that monster?"
"Yay! I'm going too!"
"Even a little kid like that is going, so you can't be scared!"
The other prisoners were also encouraged by Vikir's propaganda and started to ride the small bridge.
#2nd entrance ceremony: <Medical Examination>
After the first round of checking their belongings, the number of candidates had decreased.
However, they were not wiped out as they had traveled to the deep sea.
However, there were quite a few people whose bodies were covered in bruises and blood.
"Okay, next up is the medical examination."
Lieutenant Garm opened his mouth, but none of the prisoners now believed him.
And sure enough, the prisoners were trapped like lab mice in a narrow valley.
"What the hell are we supposed to do here?"
"Huh? Uh-huh! Up there! Up there!"
"Something's falling!"
One by one, the prisoners looked up.
One by one, they looked up and saw something like black snow falling down.
Up close, they were spheres that looked like rubber balls, a little smaller than an adult fist and bouncy to the touch.
As soon as they hit the ground, they revealed themselves.
The rounded body stretched out to reveal an elongated oval shape.
The all-black body twitched, and sharp, nail-like teeth protruded from what appeared to be a head.
"Ew!? Leeches!"
Screams erupted from the prisoners.
Countless leeches were raining down on the prisoners' heads.
These tiny little vampires were clinging to the prisoners' bodies, sucking out whatever they could, and it didn't look like they were just drawing blood.
"Huh? This isn't blood...."
"It's bones, it's bones!"
"They suck skin, these bastards!"
Screams of horror erupted from among the prisoners.
What the leeches sucked varied.
Some leeches sucked blood, as they were supposed to, some sucked bones, and some sucked skin.
As the prisoners languished in the leech swamp, the guards scribbled on charts.
"Number 12, bone density normal..."
"Number 36, low blood volume, we're going to have to speed this up."
"No. 43, skin condition good, no impairment to work."
"Report to Lieutenant Colonel 'Black Tongue'."
Health checks are what leeches are made of.
The fact that leeches are aggressively attacking means that there is no major problem with the prey's body.
Just like that.
swiiiiig-
The leeches clinging to one of the prisoners suddenly became paralyzed and started screaming in pain.
"kkeuleug! kkeuleug! kkeuleug!""
Sakkuth De Leviathan.
A wicked man whom even the poisonous Leviathan had banished for having a mental problem.
The leeches that clung to his body, sucking blood, bone, and skin, stiffened and fell away.
Perhaps the blood or marrow contained poison.
'...That's a lot of trouble.'
Vikir thought to himself as he stood quietly by the leeches, giving them what they had to give, and watched Sakkuth laugh nonchalantly in the distance.
'It's a good thing he's a troublemaker.'
If Vikir was careful, he might be able to use Sakkuth to his advantage.
#3rd entrance ceremony: <Bath>
The prisoners, who had crawled out of the leeches' swamp, lay exhausted on the floor.
Their bone density, muscle density, and blood reserves had decreased, and they were hanging on for dear life.
...The only thing left to do is to take a bath.
But none of the men had the look of anticipation on their faces.
The survivors were dragged into an empty, circular plaza, where they found something unpleasant.
It was a mass of skeletons.
The skeletal remains of human beings were rolling around, and upon closer inspection, there were many strange features.
"Are those little holes in the bones caved in?"
"Burned or melted."
"What the hell... are they going to do again."
The prisoners looked around anxiously.
And then, once again, a terrible surprise struck them.
chwaaaaaag-
Boiling, yellowish groundwater burst from the ceiling.
The acrid smell seemed to contain a lot of sulfur.
"Kyaaghh!"
The prisoners scrambled to avoid the sulfur raining down from above.
But the bubbling sulfur soaked everywhere, fairly evenly.
Pushishishisik-
With tiny holes piercing all over his body, the prisoner finally collapsed to the ground.
The prisoners, who had been lying around a moment before, quickly rush over and crawl under the dead man's body.
This was to avoid a shower of sulfur.
"Hey, give me my umbrella!"
"Shut up! He's been my friend since we were on earth!"
"Give it to me! It's mine!"
The prisoners fiercely argued with each other, tearing at the dead prisoner's body.
In the meantime, the dead prisoner's body was torn apart and turned into countless umbrellas.
Finally, the hours-long shower of sulfurous water ended.
Through the thick cloud of stale steam, gas masked guards entered the room.
Lieutenant Garm Nord looked around and nodded.
"All prisoners are disinfected, we will proceed with floor assignments now."
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