The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-420

Chapter 420: Goodbye Nouvellebag (2)

Rumble…

The Deep Sea, also known as the abyssal sea. The vast void.

Due to the pitch-black darkness, the large animals passing by can only be sensed by sounds and vibrations..

The gulper eel carrying Vikir and Aiyen shook violently before emerging in the middle of the deep sea.

Rumble…

With violent whirlpools swirling from all directions, it seemed they might have caught the wrong current, but in fact, this was the only current functioning correctly.

Unlike other currents that were stable only in the beginning, this Current No. 3021 was turbulent and unstable but ultimately the safest route.

Soon, the faint light emanating from the gulper eel’s skin began to illuminate the surroundings.

As the darkness slightly brightened, the outside of the deep sea became visible through its transparent skin.

Rumble…

Nouvellebag was completely submerged underwater.

Covered in flames and steam generated within the volcano, Nouvellebag looked as if it could explode at any moment.

It was shining probably because the Gate of Good and Evil in the ceiling of Nouvellebag was preventing the volcanic eruption.

Hence, Nouvellebag was like a champagne bottle shaken to its limit.

The moment the bottle cap at the top, the gate of Good and Evil, is destroyed, a massive explosion and upward current will occur.

The explosion and the seawater drawn into the cavity created by it will heat up from geothermal energy, expand, and create a huge fire column and a water column simultaneously.

This will start from the depths of the abyss, penetrate the seabed, soar high past the surface, and rise very high into the air.

“And this will create a powerful anomaly capable of causing abnormal weather on the surface.”

At Vikir’s words, Aiyen nodded.

She was currently holding the fishing hook and rope caught on the gulper eel’s lips, maintaining the eel’s balance.

In other words, she was acting as the coachman.

When Vikir also tried to grab the rope, the perceptive Aiyen sensed something.

“It seems like something is attached to the eel’s tail.”

“…?”

Vikir turned around.

Indeed, something was dangling from the end of the gulper eel’s tail.

Due to the darkness and strong current, it was hard to discern what it was exactly.

…But even without closely inspecting, the object was slowly approaching Vikir’s side, pulling itself along the eel’s tail.

“…!”

Vikir’s eyes widened.

The one holding onto the gulper eel’s tail was none other than Marquis Sade!

He was even carrying Sadi on his side.

Eventually, Marquis Sade grabbed the gulper eel’s body and crawled up to the mouth area, finally making his way inside.

“Phew! The water pressure almost crushed my skull. Ha ha ha… But having spent a long time in solitary confinement, I’ve gotten used to it.”

“Hello, Night Hound. Forgive my rudeness, but I’ll be hitching a ride~”

Marquis Sade laughed and jested.

Sadi, who had reverted from her demonized form, also lay laughing like a mollusk.

Since the gulper eel was large enough to carry a dozen or so people, there wouldn’t be any issues with adding Sadi and Sade.

“If you stay quiet, I’ll let you ride.”

“Oh dear. Sorry, young man. I don’t think I can stay quiet.”

At Vikir’s words, Marquis Sade shook his head with a sad expression.

The reason for his words was immediately apparent to Vikir.

“…!”

Something was fiercely pursuing the slowly drifting gulper eel.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—

A terrifying sound began to emanate from beyond the veil of pitch-black darkness.

At first, it seemed like the sound of a foghorn, but the pitch was far too high for that.

Could it be the legendary voice of a siren?

Even the eel, swimming along, twisted its body in apparent pain.

This mysterious sound wave filled the vast void of the seabed.

Vikir sensed that the entity producing the sound was drawing near.

“It seems orca is coming.”

Marquis Sade smirked.

Soon, something enormous revealed itself beyond the transparent walls of the eel’s body.

A body with a shiny black sheen and stark white spots that were visible even in the darkness.

A physique brimming with muscles, a powerful dorsal fin, and limbs exposed beneath a ragged fur coat.

Orca. He had transformed into a monstrous form and was once again blocking Vikir’s path.

“…Is he a beastman of the killer whale type?”

Vikir muttered to himself in a low voice.

Just as D’Ordume had transformed into the shape of a sea crocodile, Orca possessed a similar constitution.

He grasped the chains and club hanging from the long tail protruding from his coat with his webbed hands.

“Sade! You shall never leave this place!”

Orca’s booming voice resonated clearly even in the vast depths of the sea.

They had encountered Orca as an enemy in the middle of this boundless ocean.

The worst-case scenario everyone had feared had come true.

Marquis Sade chuckled.

“Fighting that old man underwater would be suicidal.”

“…What do you intend to do?”

“Well, I hate to say it, but I’d like to hear your thoughts.”

Marquis Sade subtly indicated his willingness to follow Vikir’s lead.

Vikir spoke firmly.

“You owe me a debt. How will you repay it?”

“Hahaha…”

Marquis Sade, silently laughing, raised three fingers.

“The Sade family repays kindness threefold and revenge three thousandfold. I owe you one life, so I should repay you with three.”

“…”

“Tell me the names of three people you want dead. Whoever they are, I will kill them for you.”

Marquis Sade added, “That is, if we can safely reach the surface,” with a wink.

Vikir quietly nodded.

Grit—

Then, Vikir tied Sadi’s whip around his waist.

He tied the other end around Marquis Sade’s waist.

“Hold on to this tightly.”

Vikir handed the middle part of the whip to Aiyen.

Sadi, who could not move due to the aftereffects of her demonization, asked.

“Are you trying to leave?”

“There’s no other way.”

Vikir said, looking into Aiyen’s eyes.

Aiyen looked back at Vikir with an uneasy gaze.

“I’d rather go out instead, husband.”

“You drive the eel. It’s safer that way.”

“I don’t want to part ways again. How will we meet again…”

“Holding onto the rope is also important.”

As Vikir spoke with a solemn tone, Aiyen bowed her head deeply.

Eventually, she raised her head, clenching her lips tightly.

“I will never. Never let go.”

“That’s all I need.”

Vikir stood up.

Then, he plunged into the depths of the sea.

The pressure at a depth of 10,000 meters in the abyss was beyond imagination.

Even Vikir’s body, fortified by the protection of the Styx River and the stats of the Abyss tree, could hardly withstand it.

“Now I understand why demons couldn’t probe this place until the latter part of the War.”

The pressure felt like one’s entire body being crushed by sheer existence alone.

It resembled hundreds of elephants standing on top of an egg.

‘No wonder Marquis Sade asked for help.’

Vikir glanced briefly to the side.

Marquis Sade, tying the whip around his waist, seemed to be exaggerating as if he couldn’t breathe.

Just then.

Whoosh—

Invisible pressure began to distort the front.

A tidal wave. If it were on the surface, it would have surged to a tremendous height, but since it was underwater, it was entirely invisible.

Crash!

With a deafening sound, the view was swept away.

An orca-shaped form passed by in front of him.

Splat! Thud!

Instantly, the view turned red.

Vikir opened his eyes wide, but he couldn’t prevent his face from being smashed.

The impact felt like his skull would shatter like grains of sand, with his nasal bones, cheekbones, and front teeth all breaking.

It was like being struck in the center of the face by a full swing of a warhammer.

“…Is that a water ball?”

Far away, Orca was scooping up water with his wide, paddle-like hands and throwing it as if hurling a cannonball.

A concentrated water ball! It flew like a cannonball aimed at Vikir and Marquis Sade.

However.

Whish!

Vikir extended his sword, slicing through the trajectory of the flying water droplet diagonally.

Furthermore, he pinpointed Orca’s location based on the direction and angle of the water droplet.

…Flash!

Decarabia on his chest opened his eyes wide, emitting a red light.

In an instant, the surroundings brightened.

“Oh. So you can do that too?”

[You underestimate me too much.]

The radius of ten meters around Decarabia brightened.

Then, the figure of Orca directly in front became clear.

He was wearing a military uniform and a coat, holding a club in his hand.

His appearance was like a mixture of half killer whale and half human.

“Die!”

Orca swung the club in his hand.

A massive earthquake and tidal wave distorted the surrounding space.

But Vikir was confident.

‘As long as I know the direction, blocking is not a problem.’

Aura flowed out like a torrent, revealing the true form of Decarabia.

The inverted pentagram. The wall of despair.

Though it consumed a lot of mana, defense was its surest shield.

It was deflecting all of Orca’s long-range attacks.

Kugugugung!

Orca’s attacks inadvertently increased the speed of the gulper eel driven by Aiyen.

Connected by the whip, Vikir and Marquis Sade were also ascending rapidly.

“…These mfs.”

Orca eventually changed his attack strategy.

Close combat. Rushing in with the club to bludgeon them to death, the most primitive yet most effective attack method.

And that was what Vikir and Marquis Sade wanted as well.

A monstrous whale charging through the raging sea currents.

Vikir wielded Beelzebub, while Marquis Sade brandished a sword of unknown origin, facing Orca head-on.

The power of the three converged once again.

The black sun created by Vikir, the serpent-like aura drawn by Marquis Sade, and the earthquake and tidal wave generated by Orca’s club clashed fiercely in one place.

Quaquaquakwakwak!

A huge whirlpool formed in the sea.

The trajectory of the swords created by Vikir and Marquis Sade intersected with the upper part of the whirlpool, while the earthquake and tidal wave created by Orca’s club formed the lower part, colliding in the center.

…Boom! Crackle!

With the sound of thunder, shockwaves spread in all directions, tearing the surrounding sea into shreds.

As water and air rushed back into the void left by the torn waves, violent currents surged, wreaking havoc on the surrounding space.

The pressure raging in all directions crushed and pulverized everything, regardless of underwater cliffs or rocks.

“…!”

Veins bulged on Vikir’s forehead.

Amidst countless calculations and sharpened instincts crossing his mind, he judged the current situation calmly.

‘I’m going to die.’

There was absolutely no way to win.

An Orca in the sea was as good as a god.

Even underwater, it could breathe and move much faster with muscles strengthened by water.

It could emit sonar waves to scrutinize everything kilometers away and could even create tsunamis without moving, striking down enemies from afar.

Moreover, standing up to such harsh depths of the sea was as daunting a challenge as a bug facing off against a lion.

Marquis Sade seemed to feel it too as he smirked.

“Are we going to die here?”

“… ”

Even before Vikir’s regression, Marquis Sade had attempted to escape from Nouvellebag but was blocked by Orca’s hands.

Now, despite Vikir’s presence, it still seemed difficult to defy the predetermined fate.

The wheels of causality were rolling unpredictably.

Vikir was just a maggot standing in front of Orca.

Suddenly.

“…”

“…”

Vikir and Marquis Sade’s gazes met.

As if they had made a silent agreement, they moved their hands to cut the whips at their waists.

“No!”

Far away, Aiyen, who was driving the gulper eel, shouted, but it was too late.

The current surged even more violently, pushing the gulper eel upward.

Those who had to leave should leave, and those who had to stay should stay.

At the same time.

“…!”

Orca felt something.

The two men who chose to stay in the vastness of the deep sea.

The momentum of Vikir and Marquis Sade had completely changed.

Their determination not to yield any further was sharp enough to make even Orca sweat.

… And at that moment.

“!?”

The balance between the three men in the vast space of the deep sea was broken.

It was a strange event that couldn’t be explained rationally.

‘… What should I call it, luck? That was the only way to explain it.’

For Vikir, who had never experienced much luck in his entire life, it was a somewhat bewildering experience.

… To properly explain this phenomenon, we have to go back a few seconds.

Kurururuk! Kudduddudeuk!

The eruption of flames from the Volcano.

The scorching heat rose explosively, but it had been trapped and contained by the Gate of good and evil.

But now.

The moment all the chains connecting the gate to Nouvellebag were severed.

Kwa-chunk!

The Gate, already pushed to its limit, was bounced off into the void like the cap of a shaken champagne bottle.

Driven by immense pressure, the Gate of Evil, with a diameter of 70 meters, a thickness of 5 meters, and a weight of 6535 tons, made of mithril and adamantium alloy, soared into the air like the cap of a champagne bottle exploding.

And by some stroke of luck, this massive and heavy alloy lump, bouncing randomly, happened to head towards Orca, who was facing off against the nature of Nouvellebag.

.

The direction of the wheel of fate can never be predicted.

…Boom!

Suddenly, Orca, who was preparing his final attack, leaned forward and got hit on his head.

Blood gushed out with a sharp sound.

The monstrous whale, struck on the head by the unexpected impact, mercilessly sank into the current like trash.

“…Huh?”

Sade’s mouth hung in disbelief.

…Crash!

The Gate soared into the distance, smashing a corner of the cliff and tumbling back down below.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-

With the Gate of Good and evil gone, Nouvellebag began its descent into utter ruin.

A submerged fortress.

The space between the black bricks began to glow a sickly blue.

Originally built as a stronghold deep within the volcano, now that the volcano had rekindled its activity, it was all over.

The formidable fortress, which had never shown a single flaw in its long history, now stood in a precarious position like a champagne cork teetering on the brink, its every part corroding and crumbling.

The towering column of crimson fire that burst through the Gate of Good and evil was only the beginning.

The glowing column of fire, seeming to turn blue from the bottom up, rapidly expanded in size with each successive eruption.

…! …! …! …!

An enormous explosion occurred, surpassing the audible range of humans, as if the entire ocean were being blown away.

It was the beginning of a major eruption that would easily surpass 10,000 meters deep into the abyss and stretch out for tens of kilometers into the sky.