Chapter 364: Castle of the deep sea (2)

#Entrance Procedure Stage 1: [Belongings inspection]

The entrance procedure consists of three stages. Until it began, the prisoners hadn’t quite grasped the seriousness of the situation. Belongings inspection seemed routine enough, and the subsequent health check and bath in stages 2 and 3 didn’t seem like luxuries to expect. Thus, the prisoners were generally relaxed.

“Who’s the fool trying to smuggle weapons into a place like this?”

“I don’t have anything hidden, so nothing to worry about.”

“Ah, I wish we could hurry up and take a bath.”

However, Vikir didn’t trust the words written in the entrance plan at all. ‘They’re surprisingly innocent for those brought to Nouvellebag.’

Even as they were being dragged along like tied-up fish, the prisoners maintained their smiles. How long could their expressions last?

Finally, Vikir and the other prisoners, led by the guards, emerged into a wide square. Then the expressions of the prisoners changed.

“…Huh?”

“What? Wasn’t it a Belongings inspection?”

“But why this cliff…?”

The scenery spread out before them was quite spectacular. A cliff that seemed to have been carved out. And in the far distance, another cliff appeared as a mere dot. And sharp guillotine blades were connecting the cliffs.

…And that wasn’t all. Above the giant blade bridge connecting the cliffs, there were huge iron pendulums, reminiscent of demolition tools, swinging left and right like pendulum clocks.

“W-What is this? Are they telling us to cross here?”

“These are guillotine blades!”

“And what are those iron pendulums for?”

In front of such a terrifying sight, the prisoners turned pale.

“As expected.”

Vikir nodded his head. The entrance to Nouvellebag was anything but ordinary. It might be disguised in everyday terms, but there was no doubt that the reality would be terrible and cruel.

…Just like now.

Thud!

Finally, the guards revealed their true colors. They stabbed the prisoners’ backs with knives, clubs, spears, and tridents. It seemed they would kill them if they didn’t step onto the blade bridge.

In the end, the prisoners reluctantly stepped onto the blades, tears in their eyes.

They had to walk barefoot on the blade bridge spanning hundreds of meters. If they lost balance for even a moment, they would fall into the abyss below.

One prisoner, trembling, asked, “What happens if we fall down there?”

“…Let your imagination do the work.”

The guard leading the prisoners replied in a bureaucratic tone.

Eventually, the prisoners lined up and started walking on the guillotine blades. The extremely sharp edges cut into their bare feet with each step. With each cut, the weight of the prisoners made the cuts deeper. The cold blades gradually cut through the prisoners’ soles until they were finally severed.

“AHHHHHHh!”

Spurting blood, the maimed prisoner collapsed in front of the guillotine blade, his body convulsing violently.

Thud-thud-thud…

His crimson blood and flesh fell downward. Seeing another prisoner brutally maimed in an instant, the rest tensed even more, gripping their toes tightly.

Using the strength of their big and little toes, they clung to the guillotine blades and slowly walked forward. That was the only way they could move.

…But it was merely a way to move.

Thud!

A huge iron pendulum passed before one prisoner’s eyes. These pendulums, moving segment by segment along the legs, boasted immense weight and speed. If hit even once, the body would be thrown under the cliff like minced meat.

“Haha! You fools. There’s no chance of getting hit like this!”

One prisoner crawled forward, gripping the blade with all four limbs like a cockroach. Despite his hands and feet being covered in blood, he managed to crawl quite steadily along the blade bridge. As the massive iron pendulum passed over him, the danger seemed minimal.

…At least on the surface.

However, what the prisoner failed to see was the material of the pendulum.

Thud!

The pendulum passed once and then returned.

As it approached, the prisoner instinctively lowered his head, hoping to pass safely underneath.

But…

“…Huh?”

In an instant, the prisoner felt his right hand involuntarily rise.

Clang!

Suddenly, his hand was drawn upward into the air. It was as if a magnet was pulling it.

“Eek! It’s magnetic!”

Indeed, each of the iron pendulums passing over the blade bridge was magnetized. The prisoner, whose finger had been impaled with an iron core, felt his hand move involuntarily due to the strong magnetism.

And then…

…Snap! Crunch!

He had to witness firsthand as the iron core, impaled in his finger, tore through his flesh and was pulled out, sticking to the pendulum.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

The prisoner whose finger had been unexpectedly torn off screamed before losing his balance. As the tension released from his toes and fingers gripping the blade, he collapsed onto the guillotine blade. His body twisted grotesquely, and then, vertically split as he fell off the cliff.

Similar incidents were happening all over the blade bridge.

The swinging iron pendulums consumed everything.

Swoosh!

A prisoner, who had hidden a sharpened knife in his butt, was gruesomely torn apart by the magnet.

Another prisoner, with blade fragments embedded in old wounds, also fell below, suffering severe injuries.

Those who had prosthetics or peg legs faced similar fates.

Moreover, due to the swaying caused by the powerful magnets, several prisoners slipped and fell under the cliff.

Those who hadn’t yet ascended the bridge trembled in fear.

“W-What is this? What kind of entrance procedure is this? This is simply death! Isn’t this practically an execution?!”

At this, the guard nearby shook his head.

“That’s not the case. The ‘execution method of Nouvellebag’ is completely different and much more horrifying. Besides, look, some prisoners are doing fine over there.”

“…What?”

All the prisoners turned their heads.

Between the precarious blade bridge and the magnetized iron pendulums, there was someone calmly walking.

It was Vikir.

‘Beelzebub and Decarabia are lucky not to be affected by the magnets.’

Vikir was simply walking barefoot on the guillotine. His calloused feet from years of training could easily withstand such blades.

As long as he avoided the occasional clumsily flying pendulum, reaching the opposite cliff wasn’t too difficult.

“…What’s with that monster?”

“I’m going too!”

“If that kid can do it, then so can we!”

Encouraged by Vikir’s example, other prisoners began to venture onto the blade bridge.

#Entrance Procedure Stage 2: [Health check]

As the first stage of possession inspection ended, the number of prisoners designated for the entrance procedure noticeably decreased. Despite their condition after the journey, none of them perished entirely. However, there were quite a few covered in blood from head to toe.

“Now, onto the Health check.”

Although the guard spoke, none of the prisoners believed him anymore.

Then, unsurprisingly, the prisoners found themselves trapped in a narrow valley, like experimental rats.

“What is this? What are we supposed to do here?”

“Huh? Up there! Above!”

“Something’s falling!”

One by one, the prisoners looked up.

They saw black, round objects raining down like hail.

Upon closer inspection, these objects resembled rubber balls, slightly smaller than an adult fist, with a bouncy texture.

As they hit the ground, their true form unfolded.

Their round bodies stretched out into elongated ovals. Black all over, sharp teeth protruded from what appeared to be their heads.

“Aaaargh! Leeches!”

Screams erupted among the prisoners as countless tiny leeches rained down upon them. These small, sinister parasites latched onto the prisoners’ bodies, sucking on them relentlessly, not just blood, but seemingly anything they could find.

“What? These aren’t sucking blood…they’re sucking bones!”

“They’re sucking the flesh off us!”

Terrified cries echoed among the prisoners as they realized the horrors of the leeches’ feeding.

The leeches’ feeding varied. Some sucked blood as expected, while others targeted bones or flesh.

As the prisoners struggled in the swamp of leeches, the guards meticulously noted various observations in their charts.

“No. 12, bone density normal…”

“No. 36, low blood volume, need to speed up the process.”

“No. 43, skin condition good. No hindrance to work.”

“Report to Lieutenant Black Tongue about the medical progress.”

The Health check was merely a means for the leeches to satisfy their appetite. The fact that the leeches actively targeted the prisoners meant that there were no significant issues with their physical condition.

Then, suddenly…

Krgh! Krghh!

The leeches attached to one prisoner all began to show symptoms of paralysis, writhing in agony.

“Urk! Urk! Urk!”

Sakkuth de Reviadon, the notorious criminal who caused Red Death plague.

Perhaps there was poison in their blood or marrow.

“…There are quite a few problematic elements.”

Watching silently as he entrusted himself to the leeches, Vikir looked at the distant Sakkuth, who was smiling casually.

“Having many problematic elements is a good thing.”

He wondered if he could make good use of that guy if he played his cards right.

#Entrance Procedure Stage 3: [Bathing]

The prisoners, who crawled out of the leech swamp, collapsed on the ground in a state of utter exhaustion. With their bone density and muscle mass depleted, they were barely clinging to life.

…Now, only ‘bathing’ remained as the final gateway.

But no one wore the hopeful expressions they had before the entrance procedure began.

The survivors were led into the empty circular plaza, where they encountered something unsettling.

Countless skeletons littered the area.

Human bones rolled around, and upon closer inspection, many peculiarities were noted.

“There are small holes in the bones.”

“They seem to have been burnt or corroded.”

“What the heck…what are they planning now?”

The prisoners glanced around anxiously.

And once again, horrifying events unfolded before them.

Sssscream!

Boiling yellow groundwater erupted from the ceiling.

A pungent smell filled the air, indicating a high concentration of sulfur.

“Aaaargh!”

The prisoners scrambled to avoid the sulfur raining down from above, but the bubbling sulfur covered everything evenly.

Hiss…

A prisoner finally collapsed to the ground with small burn holes all over his body.

Immediately, the prisoners who had been bustling moments ago rushed over and crawled under the dead prisoner’s body to avoid the sulfur shower.

“Hey, give it here! That’s my umbrella!”

“Shut up! This guy was my friend since we were on the surface!”

“It’s mine! Give it!”

The prisoners fiercely argued while tearing apart the dead prisoner’s body. In the midst of it all, the corpse was torn into countless umbrellas.

Eventually, after hours of sulfur shower, it came to an end.

Through the dense, yellowish steam, guards in gas masks entered.

Captain Garam Nord, nodded after surveying the area.

“All prisoners have been disinfected. Now, we’ll proceed with floor assignments.”