The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-464

Chapter 464: Infiltration Operation at the Water Supply Area (11)

The vortex of slashes raged like a giant crocodile and sweptt away the poison humans.

D'Ordume, rotating the axe blades protruding from his forearms, was crushing the poison humans under the walls into chunks of flesh.

Souaré, too, was fully demonstrating the power of the dwarves.

Earth spears erupted from below the wall, skewering the charging poison humans like kebabs in an instant.

The skill of the duo was unmatched, whether underwater or on land.

Even though only two had joined the front lines, the poison humans's offensive slightly faltered.

Orca, feeling his strength gradually return, asked, “How did you know to come here?”

“We’ll explain once this urgent situation is handled,” D'Ordume replied, smashing the head of a poison human.

Clearly, they had been through a lot.

Orca nodded. For now, the priority was to stop the poison humans trying to breach Tochka's walls.

The situation was gradually improving.

Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat!

A huge mass of green liquid started sliding down the walls of Tochka.

The green liquid soon enveloped the poison humans climbing up the walls.

Flubber, the most mysterious creature from Nouvellebag, had made its appearance.

Slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp—

Flubber devoured all the poison humans nearby and grew in size.

The poison humans trapped inside Flubber desperately struggled but only sank deeper into the bottomless slime prison.

Whoosh—

Even the mutants were mercilessly devoured by Flubber's insatiable appetite, leaving Orca in awe.

“How did that thing get here?”

This time, Souaré answered, “When its habitat was destroyed, it followed us. It was a native creature quite attached to Nouvellebag.”

“It followed you? Voluntarily? It was that loyal?”

“No, it just followed the scent of prey. It had tasted the poison humans before and seemed to like it.”

Souaré was right.

Flubber was voraciously consuming Reviadon’s poison humans, evidently finding the taste of the Red Death quite appealing.

And since these were enhanced variants with even stronger toxins, they might taste even better.

“…Glad it likes the taste.”

Orca had to admit this was fortunate.

The mutant poison humans, which had relentlessly tormented Tochka, seemed like giant candies to Flubber.

But that wasn’t all.

“Warden Orca! Give us the orders!”

“Ha ha ha! Only you can command us!”

Behind D'Ordume, Souaré, Bdissem, and Flubber, numerous figures emerged.

All wore the uniforms of Nouvellebag guards.

The Guards of Nouvellebag.

Elite all-stars who served, rather than worked, in the harsh environment 10,000 meters below the ocean.

Though questionable in character, their skills were undeniable, and they were here.

A rare smile formed on Warden Orca’s usually dry face.

He exhaled a puff of cigarette smoke and shouted, “Form suppression formations! Show those mindless dead their place!”

Prisoners belong in prison, and the dead should rest in peace.

The five pillars of Nouvellebag chuckled, gripping their weapons as well.

The guards took command of the front line, leaving the volunteer militia among Tochka refugees behind them.

“Hey—those who can’t use mana, fall back.”

“What? You brought your kid to the front? Are you insane? Fall back!”

“This battlefield is for those with nothing to lose, like us!”

These wardens had spent their lives quelling and suppressing riots.

The poison human’s formation began to collapse in no time.

When his long-serving subordinates joined the front lines, Orca, the genius of defensive warfare, truly shone.

"From now on, all positions from here on upwards will be manned by those from Nouvellebag! We will completely overhaul the system in real-time! Archers, withdraw from the battlements! Keep beating the drum but double the interval! Push all the stones on the battlements down!"

Lieutenant Captain Bastille, who always completed preparations before Orca could give orders, took command again this time.

"Archers, get off the battle stations and bring oil and gunpowder! The guards can endure much longer than the volunteer militia, hence the increased interval for drumbeats! Rolling down the stones is for engaging in full-scale combat, so drop your clubs and spears and arm yourselves with your personal weapons!"

The rest of the guards pushed forward to the front lines and began sweeping away the poison humans.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Bdissem was subduing all the surrounding poison humans and throwing them back.

The poison humans, with their strength and mana sealed, became helpless and were pierced to death by the militia's spears.

Flubber, with its ever-growing mass, continued to engulf more poison humans.

D'Ordume and Souaré were also swiftly sweeping away the poison humans.

Suddenly, Orca asked Bdissem beside him.

"By the way, was Flubber always that small? Wasn't it bigger before?"

"That's just a split-off. The main body is elsewhere."

"…Elsewhere?"

Bdissem tried to answer, but the noise from a mutated poison humans screeching above drowned out his voice.

Orca asked again.

"Wait. If you're all here... does that mean 'he' is alive too?"

Bdissem understood immediately who Orca was referring to.

"If you mean 'Black Tongue,' he didn't make it out of Nouvellebag."

"…I see."

After clicking his tongue briefly, Orca continued.

"Well, it's better that way. Such rebels only cause division within our ranks."

"Well, he hasn't completely disappeared."

"…?"

These cryptic remarks were getting more confusing.

So, is Black Tongue dead or alive?

Just as Orca decided he needed a clear answer.

…Crash!

The wall in front of them crumbled, revealing a massive mutated poison human.

It was the largest mutation they had seen, a grotesque form as if two or three mutated poison humans were merged into one body.

Its sheer size was intimidating, so large that even Flubber couldn't swallow it whole in one bite.

[Ohhhhhh...]

With its mouth wide open, it attempted to sweep the guards on the wall with a single strike.

"…Tch."

Orca was just about to raise his baton to counterattack when—

Slash!

Before that, there was an unexpected turn of events.

The mutated poison human's head caved in, and a black lightning bolt struck from above.

A whip—a thick and long lethal weapon.

It crashed down like a spear from the sky, crushing the mutated poison human's skull and sending its massive body toppling down the wall.

Boom!

A heavy tremor rose from below the wall.

Seeing the dense dust rising, Orca's expression grew even more grim.

The reason was the laughter he heard.

"Puhuhu—"

Across the parapet, an old man stood ghost-like on the battlements.

Marquis Sade.

He looked at Orca with an amused gaze, as if he found everything incredibly entertaining.

Orca growled, “I thought you ran away. Where have you been hiding to come out now?”

“Run away? Why would I? The fun is just beginning.”

“…?”

Orca furrowed his brows.

He would soon understand why Sade was so amused.

Suddenly, countless shadows began to gather beside and behind Sade.

That's right.

It wasn't just the wardens who had escaped from Nouvellebag.

“Hehe—following Marquis Sade always brings excitement.”

“What an honor to fight under Sade's banner again.”

“I can't wait to unleash myself.”

“Ah, it brings back old memories!”

The prisoners of Nouvellebag were now escapees.

With no prison to confine them and no wardens to capture them, they gathered under the name of their former master, Marquis Sade.

Each one had been involved in the infamous 47 person Incident.

Though they had avoided extermination, those who had been captivated by Marquis Sade's tumultuous life and followed him were still secretly around.

Moreover, the number of those who had admired Sade's power and notoriety in prison and chose to join him was also substantial.

The monsters of Level Nine bared their fangs at the five wardens, following Marquis Sade.

The descendants of defeated clans, who had lived in silence, gathered to vent their accumulated grievances.

Sade chuckled and said to Orca, “Honestly, how can you wage a war with greenhorns from the academy or refugees? You need troops like this to make command worthwhile.”

“…I can't believe I'm thinking the same thing as you right now.”

Orca spat out his cigarette and lit a new one, turning away from Sade.

But this was a silent message. He would defend the fortress, while Sade would lead the counterattack.

Whether Sade understood the message or not, he just chuckled.

Then, Marquis Sade raised his whip high and shouted to the escapees, “Now! Counterattack! Sweep away those fools! Push them all the way back to HELL!”

The poison humans, wearing Bdissem's cuffs, were panicking.

Those who knew the terror of those restraints best were the wardens and prisoners gathered here.

Their eyes gleamed fiercely as they gripped their weapons.

The pent-up heat was about to explode, and Marquis Sade added fuel to the fire.

“Aren’t you all thirsty!? Let’s go get a drink!”

Everyone was thirsty for water—guards, prisoners, and refugees alike.

The same fiery determination blazed in their eyes, as intense as their thirst.

The time for the counterattack had begun.