The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-408

Chapter 408: Escape (6)

…BANG!

The triple-layered steel door was completely smashed to pieces.

Now, all that remained was a lattice-like iron mesh made of BDISSEM.

On the bed beyond that mesh, Lieutenant Colonel BDISSEM sprang up with a startled expression.

“What the? What’s all this commotion?”

She had apparently fully recovered from the previous incident, looking like a young girl.

BDISSEM frowned as she saw Vikir striding in through the broken door.

Her gaze settled on the rank insignia on Vikir’s uniform.

“What the? How dare a mere captain enter my room like this? Are you out of your mind?”

But when Vikir removed his hat and revealed his face, BDISSEM’s expression turned pale.

…BOOM!

The mattress on the bed exploded.

She jerked violently and quickly stood up from the bed.

“You, you bastard!? Didn’t you escape from prison?”

But that was just her wishful thinking.

It was merely an excuse she made up without checking properly to avoid reprimand.

The conversation she had with D’Ordume that day flashed through her mind.

‘Where did the fugitive go?’

‘He, he’s dead!’

‘…Dead? Then where is the body?’

‘…He rode a gulper eel into the deep sea.’

‘Then he isn’t dead, is he?’

‘He’s as good as dead! He had no idea what the circulating currents leading to the surface were. He must have gotten caught in a trap current. He’d be stuck in the deep sea forever.’

‘…Forever? That doesn’t sound very certain.’

‘He’s gone! He’s definitely gone! I’m sure! I saw him riding the balloon eel out through the hole in the wall before I passed out!’

‘…You’re sure you saw his end?’

‘Yes, yes! What do you take me for! And no matter what, I’m still a higher rank than you… don’t look at me like that!’

Of course, BDISSEM had passed out and didn’t see what ultimately happened to Vikir.

…And this was the result.

Sweat gathered under her chin and fell like rain.

Her eyes and brows drooped, her gaze unfocused and trembling with anxiety.

BDISSEM trembled like a leaf,

She spoke with a shaky voice…

“W-w-well, whatever the case, you’re finished! I’ll call D’Ordume and Souaré right now!”

It seemed like she intended to buy time by hiding behind the BDISSEM mesh she had created.

However.

Creak!

Vikir simply touched the mesh, and it effortlessly snapped apart.

Crackling…

The stems of the plant, blackened and withered, collapsed pathetically like burnt matchsticks.

The area where Vikir touched had dried up, creating a hole in the mesh just large enough for one person to pass through.

Step- Step- Step-

Vikir walked through the large gap without hesitation.

“Ugh… Ughhh…”

BDISSEM, seemingly reliving her past fears, pressed tightly against the bed.

A hunting dog, with red eyes glowing in the darkness, advanced towards her.

“Stretch your neck.”

The reprieved death sentence was about to be carried out.

But BDISSEM wasn’t ready to accept her fate as the condemned so easily.

“Damn it! Even so, I am a Lieutenant Colonel! I won’t die so easily!”

Around BDISSEM, enormous kelp leaves began to grow.

Each one was a powerful seaweed whip with strong binding force.

Swish!

In an instant, a dense forest of kelp leaves enveloped Vikir.

“Futile effort.”

Vikir swung Beelzebub, cutting through all the kelp leaves.

But BDISSEM didn’t attack Vikir.

Instead, she surfed on the kelp leaves, sliding across the floor.

“Hohoho- If I decide to run, no one can catch me!”

BDISSEM shouted confidently.

However, Vikir showed no particular reaction to her words.

He merely posed a quiet question.

“…No one? You sure?”

And as soon as he finished speaking, something wrapped around BDISSEM’s body as she slid through the torn door.

Shhh-

It was a vine from a plant.

“…Huh?”

BDISSEM, now hanging upside down in mid-air, wore a dazed expression.

Crunch- Crackle- Snap-

The slippery kelp leaf she was riding dried up and withered in an instant.

Creep, creep, creep…

Tiny roots of an unfamiliar plant began to spread over the board that had turned into small kelp fragments.

[Bloodsoaked jade Flower]

Danger Level: S

Size: ?

**Discovery Location:** Deep in the Hellish Abyss, Blood lake of the demonic realm’

An enigmatic plant floating on the crimson surface of the Bloody Marsh at the edge of the ‘Lake of Blood’ deep within the abyss.

Even in the Bloody Marsh, where everything else sinks due to lack of buoyancy, this plant inexplicably floats.

Among all the bloodthirsty creatures and plants that inhabit the Lake of Blood, it is the most powerful and ferocious. Its insatiable hunger and greed are feared even by other monsters.

A single seed of this plant once grew into a mighty Bloodsoaked Jade flower that nearly brought humanity to extinction.

This grotesque plant, unknown in the human world, is named the ‘Bloodsoaked Jade abyss’.

Vikir had previously scattered its seeds at the entrance, and they had germinated by absorbing the moisture from Nouvelle Vague.

“Huff!?”

BDISSEM gasped, inhaling sharply in shock.

Plants from the human world were at the bottom of the food chain compared to plants from the demon world.

To the demon trees, which have adapted to the harsh and barren environment of the demon world, human world plants were nothing but weak, defenseless prey.

Thus, all plants from the human world instinctively harbor a deep fear of demon world plants.

BDISSEM was no exception.

“Ah… Ahhh…”

BDISSEM realized where the unprecedented fear she felt when Vikir first displayed his drought ability had originated.

But it was too late.

Her body was already tightly wrapped in the stems of the Blood Lotus and was being rapidly drained of moisture.

“Bloodsoaked Jade Flower is notorious among demon plants for its ferocity. In areas where they grow, all surrounding demon plants wither and die. Human world plants don’t stand a chance.”

Vikir looked up at BDISSEM, ensnared by the flower vines.

Even the robust seaweed adapted to the deep sea couldn’t withstand the Blood Lotus.

Vikir approached the dangling BDISSEM.

…Crunch!

His rough hand squeezed BDISSEM’s cheeks tightly.

“Ugh! Mm!”

As her cheek flesh was pressed between her upper and lower teeth, BDISSEM had no choice but to open her mouth.

In that moment, Vikir brought something close to her lips.

“If you don’t do exactly as I say, I’ll shove this into your mouth.”

“Huh, h-huh!?”

BDISSEM was horrified.

What cast a shadow over her eyes was a handful of seeds.

Rustle-

The seeds of Bloodsoaked Jade Flower, still ungerminated.

If these were to enter BDISSEM’s mouth and travel down to her stomach, the outcome was clear.

“Ugh… Ughhh…”

Tears of terror welled up in BDISSEM’s eyes as she imagined the horrific outcome.

“P-please spare me…”

BDISSEM mumbled through trembling lips, her face a mess of tears.

When Vikir loosened his grip slightly, her words became clearer.

“Please, let me live… I’ll do anything.”

Knowing she stood no chance against Vikir, BDISSEM had no choice but to plead.

Vikir nodded.

“Normally, killing you would be quicker.”

“Eek!”

BDISSEM’s face turned pale.

But Vikir casually waved a sharp implement.

“…However, there’s something else I want. If you do it well, you might have a chance to live.”

“What is it? What do you want?”

BDISSEM, feeling as if she had been yanked from hell to heaven, asked frantically.

Vikir continued.

“I want two things. The first is the original purpose: unlocking the cuffs, shackles, and iron bars.”

“That’s possible! But… can’t you do it yourself? You seemed to break things pretty well earlier.”

“Not just mine. I want you to unlock all the restraints of every prisoner here in Nouvellebag.”

BDISSEM’s expression froze.

Now she understood.

Why this man hadn’t escaped even after breaking free from his restraints.

No, why he had turned himself in and walked into this hellhole voluntarily.

He wasn’t just trying to break his own chains but intended to dismantle the entire system of Nouvellebag.

Shivering uncontrollably, BDISSEM avoided Vikir’s gaze, her pupils desperately darting downward.

A monstrous figure with blazing eyes loomed before her, holding her life in its grip.

The fear was so overwhelming it made her mind go blank.

She couldn’t fathom the chaos this monster intended to unleash upon Nouvellebag.

An unknown purpose. He embodied sheer, unadulterated terror.

“Don’t want to do it? Should I make it simpler?”

Vikir threatened, pushing the seed closer to her mouth, making her squirm and whimper.

“I’ll do it! I’ll do it! I’ll do it! Pleaseee!”

“Good. Now for the second thing.”

Vikir leaned close to BDISSEM’s ear and whispered the next task.

“If you wait outside the window of the 5th-floor gulper eel breeding room, a certain person will come out. That person….”

BDISSEM nodded frantically upon hearing this.

Vikir nodded back, satisfied.

“You understand what will happen if these two promises aren’t fulfilled, right?”

“…W-what will happen?”

“You’ll definitely see me again, and I’ll leave the rest to your imagination. Hahaha…”

Vikir laughed ominously. It was perhaps the first time he had ever laughed out loud in his entire life.

His laughter had a profound effect.

“Eek…”

BDISSEM’s pants turned yellow and her clothes became wet, soaked with fear.

“Now, fulfill the first promise.”

“Okay, okay. Wait a moment.”

BDISSEM squeezed her eyes shut.

…Flash!

A few seconds later, she opened them again.

“It’s done.”

The task was completed so quickly and easily it seemed almost anticlimactic.

Vikir frowned.

Was this really all there was to it?

Could the ancient systems that had sustained Nouvellebag truly be disabled in such a short time?

Had the cuffs, shackles, and iron bars that nullified mana and physical force really vanished?

“Are you sure you’re not trying to deceive…”

Just as Vikir began to voice his suspicion.

…Boom!

The ground shook with a heavy thud.

A powerful shockwave, unlike anything he had ever experienced. A brief but intense tremor.

The instincts of a seasoned hunting dog screamed at him.

‘BDISSEM’s restraints have disappeared.’

Vikir extended his senses and quickly scanned the surroundings.

Indeed, every bdissem material dried up. Even the fragments he had hidden in his pocket, and those at quite a distance, were all dead.

This meant that the cuffs, shackles, chains, and iron bars restraining the prisoners on the lower floors would also be destroyed.

“I-it’s true! I really did it! From the 1st to the 9th floor! Please, believe me!” BDISSEM cried out in a desperate voice.

The truth of her words was evident both audibly and visually.

Vikir nodded.

“…It seems so.”

While it would have been prudent to ensure BDISSEM’s demise, she still had some utility.

Night Hound turned and moved out, his hunt complete.

With this, the escape plan had entered its intermediate phase.

An unprecedented and unparalleled uprising was underway.

The collapse of Nouvellebag had just begun.