The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-417

Chapter 417: End game (9)

…Rumble!

The clash between Vikir and Orca destroyed everything around them.

It was an equal end for everything, whether it was touched by human hands or not.

Mountains, hills, outer walls, watchtowers, embankments, bridges… everything collapsed.

And the solitary cells were among them.

Crash-

Every single one of the solitary cells collapsed.

Crash- Boom!

With each collapse of the solitary cells, mummified bodies with only bones left emerged.

…Only one person came out alive, Marquis Sade.

The only human who couldn’t be imprisoned even by the harsh environment of Level Nine.

There were even rumors that Nouvellebag existed solely to imprison Marquis Sade, highlighting his tremendous presence.

…Shiver!

Vikir took a step back, feeling a chilling sensation all over his body.

It felt like countless snakes were licking his entire body.

Even though their eyes didn’t meet, just looking at him gave this feeling.

‘…I should have realized as soon as I heard the name Angagoumang.’

As suspected before, the true identity of ‘Old Man Angagoumang’ was Marquis Sade.

A war maniac who incited 47 families to stage a coup in the past, a madman who wanted to return to a war era where only the strong survived.

He was free again.

“Hahaha- it’s been a while since I’ve moved my body.”

Marquis Sade moved his skinny arms around.

Every time his joints twisted, there was a dull noise like something breaking.

At that moment.

“…Grandfather.”

Professor Sadi, standing nearby, called Marquis Sade.

Her voice was slightly trembling, unlike her usual self.

Sade and Sadi. The two, who were grandfather and granddaughter, faced each other.

“Sadi? Oh my, you’ve grown so much. You’ve become quite the sorceress while I wasn’t around, huh?”

“Hahaha- I worked hard to rescue you, grandfather. You’re proud of me, right?”

“Of course. Come here and hug your grandpa.”

With that, Sadi, covered in blood, staggered and hugged Marquis Sade.

Marquis Sade also stroked Sadi’s head with a warm smile.

“Thank you for staying alive, dear.”

“I’m glad you’re safe, grandfather.”

“It looks like our family, which seemed to have ended, will have bright days ahead.”

“Oh? I’m not planning to meet any men, though?”

“I meant that I plan to meet a woman soon. You’ll have a new grandmother.”

Sadi and Marquis Sade laughed and chatted pleasantly.

The atmosphere was so relaxed and peaceful that it felt like they were at a quiet café terrace on a late morning.

But that peaceful atmosphere was quickly shattered.

“So, you’ve finally crawled out, Angagoumang.”

Orca growled in a voice like boiling molten metal.

Marquis Sade turned his head to meet Orca’s gaze with a bored expression.

“Long time no see, old orca. You live long for someone who never dies.”

“You have no right to speak.”

Orca immediately grabbed his club.

And with all his might, he swung it towards Marquis Sade.

“How cruel, to bully an old man without a weapon. Truly, how heartless.”

Marquis Sade chuckled and picked up a whip from the ground.

“Granddaughter, let me borrow this whip.”

And then…

Bang- Crack!

He swung it to meet Orca’s incoming club.

The heavy metal at the end of Orca’s club clashed with the weighted end of Marquis Sade’s whip.

…Boom!

The explosion was so loud, it was hard to believe it came from metal clashing against metal.

Sparks and fragments of aura scattered in all directions, transforming the already desolate ground even further.

Boom! Crash! Rumble! Bang! Boom! Rumble…

Each clash between the club and the whip caused the ground to break, reattach, twist, compact, and then break again, shatter, and crumble.

Amazingly, the power and spirit that Marquis Sade exuded were not at all inferior to Orca’s.

Who would even think that he had been locked in Nouvellebag’s solitary confinement on the ninth floor for decades?

“…”

Orca lowered his stance, gripping his trembling arm.

Marquis Sade looked down on him and began to speak.

“…Yes, I remember that day. It’s been over forty years now.”

‘The 47 people Incident.’

An unprecedented event that occurred shortly after the empire had unified.

It was led by 47 individuals, each the head of a family, hence it was also called ‘The 47 people Incident.’

They rebelled against the empire, almost reaching the emperor and coming close to beheading him.

The official reason was that they coveted the throne, but…

“I never cared about the throne. Hahaha-”

Marquis Sade’s reason for rebelling was purely one thing.

‘Amusement.’

After the empire’s unification, the large-scale wars that killed hundreds of thousands daily, and the bloody battles with powerful opponents had all disappeared.

Even those with power could no longer wield it freely, and avenging injustices as one pleased was no longer possible.

Everything had to be done according to laws and rules, peacefully and without bloodshed.

Marquis Sade hated this change intensely.

He longed for the days of war, slaughter, plunder, revenge, and the fierce clashes of power.

The era where only the strong survived and proved the value of their lives through endless blood and violence.

“I loved those times, those people… hahaha…”

Having lived his entire life in that era, Marquis Sade could not adapt to the boring, monotonous times he faced in his twilight years.

In fact, he never intended to adapt.

“Anyway, that’s why I started the incident. It was fun for a while. But it’s obvious what would happen afterward. Another boring world must have come. I can tell just by looking at the rookies who come here. They’ve all been softened by peace and laziness.”

Marquis Sade shook his head in disgust.

“So I thought, perhaps it’s better to take a rest in the solitary cell of Nouvellebag. To clear my mind and organize my thoughts.”

“…Why have you crawled out now, after all this time?”

Orca asked.

Marquis Sade looked at Orca with an intrigued gaze.

“Well, I’ve heard that the surface has become quite interesting lately.”

“…”

Orca’s already stern expression hardened even more.

This was something he desperately wanted to keep hidden.

The current state of the surface world, that was something he absolutely could not let Marquis Sade discover.

Orca had seen the world before returning to Nouvellebag. He had seen how the surface had changed.

And Marquis Sade saw it too, through Orca’s eyes. He saw the transformed world.

A world filled with things that Marquis Sade would love, that would more than pique his interest—they would drive him wild.

War, slaughter, massacre, blood, violence—a world of survival of the fittest where only the strong lived.

Similar to the most intense days of the Warring States era.

A new era of great turmoil, comparable to the peak of the Warring States period, was approaching.

“Hahaha! My blood is boiling even in my old age. I feel like going on an outing for the first time in a while. Will you help me, dear?”

“Of course, Grandfather. I’ll take you to the surface.”

Marquis Sade smiled at his granddaughter Sadi, speaking with a hint of laughter in his voice.

Though their conversation seemed like a tender moment between grandfather and granddaughter, there was an unmistakable sense of terrifying madness in their smiles.

At that moment…

…Thud!

Orca slammed his club into the ground.

“You will not leave. Not ever.”

Hatred dripped from Orca’s eyes as he glared at the criminals.

“You are the scourge of society. Preventing the chaos and disorder your existence brings, and protecting the innocent from your terror, is my fucking duty. Even if it costs me my life, you will not leave this place.”

“Hahaha, my friend, do you really think you would be able to stop me?”

Orca and Marquis Sade squared off again, their tension palpable.

“You won’t get out. Never. Ever.”

“Hahaha, and this time, there’s no Winston to assist you.”

Orca lifted his heavy club.

Marquis Sade took a stance, coiling his whip as if preparing for a sword draw technique.

Crack- Crack-crack-

As their fierce energies clashed, the surrounding air and ground shattered like glass.

Meanwhile, on the edge of this vortex of chaos, Aiyen asked Vikir,

“What should we do? Should we take this chance to escape?”

“…No. This might actually be the perfect timing.”

Vikir shook his head.

Perhaps they could benefit from the battle between these two.

‘Timing. We need to time it right.’

The confrontation between Orca and Marquis Sade was indeed terrifying.

Just by glaring and emitting their auras, they were distorting the terrain. What would happen when they truly unleashed their power?

…That outcome was starting to unfold in real-time.

Boom!

Orca kicked off the ground and surged forward.

Marquis Sade, laughing, also took a step forward.

Orca charged like an enraged orca whale, while Marquis Sade flew in like a wraith, both gripping their formidable power, aiming to decide the battle with a single blow.

…Flash!

Orca channeled all his aura into the tip of his club.

A dark, tsunami-like force surged towards Marquis Sade.

Rumble, rumble…

Marquis Sade coiled his whip tightly.

He unleashed the aura that had been restrained by the BDSM shackles, causing it to spin.

Swish, swish…

A sword-drawing technique. The explosive force and momentum of a single decisive strike were realized with the whip.

Just then.

“Now!”

Vikir leaped into the fray.

Crash! Boom!

Baskerville’s 8th Style. A black sun fell between Orca and Marquis Sade.

“…!?”

“…!?”

Both Orca and Marquis Sade were taken aback as their duel suddenly turned into a three-way battle, but they couldn’t retract their life-risking strikes.

Soon, the dark tsunami from Orca’s club, the slashing snake from Marquis Sade’s whip, and Vikir’s black sun converged on a single point.

And ahead of them all, someone moved swiftly.

“Honey! Catch!”

It was Aiyen.

She extended both hands with all her might towards the blue sphere, “Poseidon,” right in front of her!

Boom!

A violent explosion erupted at the roots, shaking the ground.

Crack!

Poseidon was uprooted. It detached from the ground like an onion with roots and rolled down the slope.

Heading straight towards the point where Orca, Marquis Sade, and Vikir’s strikes converged!

Simultaneously…

…Flash!

A blinding light and a tremendous roar burst forth.

Aiyen barely managed to cover her ears.

Vikir felt his eardrums rupture, blood flowing.

“Ugh!?”

“Argh!?”

Even D’ordume and Souare, who were watching, clutched their ears and collapsed from the deafening explosion.

At that moment…

…! …! …!

Poseidon, hit by three different shockwaves, began to change.

Crack-

The sound of a shell breaking.

…It was the sound of something hatching.