Balak.
A warrior tribe of the Red and Black Mountains.
Along with Ironblooded Swordsman Baskerville, they wielded great influence throughout the Western Continent.
Aiyen is the chieftain of the Balak and a warrior unrivaled among her people.
The daughter of Chieftain Aquila and the young blood who succeeded her, she possessed the talents and qualities to become a Graduator at just 17 years of age.
Ordinarily, she would have been gone when the Red Death swept through the jungle, but the butterfly effect created by Vikir changed the future.
'... But even so, I never thought I'd see you here again.'
Vikir's mouth was half open at the unexpected outcome.
Then Aiyen smirked and nudged Vikir in the side with an elbow.
"I knew you'd be here."
"...."
"Though I didn't realize you were still wearing the leash."
She smiled wickedly at the worn choker around Vikir's neck.
Meanwhile, Bikir looked back at Souare, who was rolling to the ground in a heap of rocks.
Surely it was Aiyen who had kicked Souare in the head just a moment ago.
"What happened?"
"What, are you asking why I'm here, or how did I get so strong in such a short time?"
"... Both."
Aiyen pointed a thumb behind him as Vikir asked.
"We can talk about the details as we go, aren't we in a hurry?"
"...."
Aiyen was right.
Vikir quickly assessed the situation and left.
Aiyen knocked out two guards who stood in their way and took their bows and arrows from them.
Then she followed Vikir and spoke in a low voice.
"I, too, have been in the Hell Tree."
"...!"
Vikir remembered when he had fought Amdusias so many years ago.
The tips of Amdusias's horns bore the unmistakable marks of arrows.
And Ahul, whom he had met in the Hell Tree, had said the same thing.
'I'm worried about what happened to the other tribe members. Especially my brother and the tribal leader... We were able to survive at least by falling here. if... If those who couldn't come here suffered even more misery… … '
Amdusias, the Worldview Absorber, raided the Balak's territory and imprisoned them in the Hell Tree.
Did that mean that Aiyen was in the same Abyss Tower that Vikir had entered?
But Aiyen shook her head.
"The Hell Tree I was in was a different entity. He called it a 'prototype'."
Vikir knew immediately what that meant.
Vikir's Hell Tree was a modified version of the one that made survival a little easier for the challengers in the Tower.
Aiyen, however, had entered an earlier version of the Hell Tree.
Into an object that was discarded because its survival rate was too low for those who attempted it, and alone!
"I survived in there by killing fairies and demons and eating candy. Perhaps because it was an object with many errors, clearing it was impossible, they said I would just have to stay trapped in that tower forever. That's what the Demonic Dragon I defeated on the top floor said."
Vikir looked genuinely surprised.
Even if it was a different version of the Hell Tree, a Demonic Dragon was usually a strong demon.
After challenging the tower several times, Aiyen succeeded in hunting down such a Demonic Dragon.
"There's a reason why you became a comeback champion when I wasn't looking."
"Hehehe-but I was only able to get out of the tower because my Husby defeated Amdusias in the end."
Frustrated that no matter how many times she cleared the tower, she couldn't get out, Aiyen suddenly realized that she could get out of the tower.
Only later did she realize that it was because Vikir had cleared the Hell Tree in the Imperial Academy and defeated the tower's master, Amdusias.
"After that, I left the Western Continent and traveled to the Central Continent. However, I found that the place had already been wiped out?"
Aiyen's testimony is remarkable.
One day, countless gates suddenly appeared in the night sky, pouring out fire and demons.
Demons rampaged everywhere, and fire rained down.
The Gate of Hell had opened.
There were four ominous signs that the end of the world was approaching.
"...Wait a minute. Four things, not 10?"
Vikir asked, and Aiyen nodded.
"Endless darkness, hailstorms of fire, swarms of flies and frogs. Four things, right?"
"...Hmm. I see I've eliminated six of the ten, so the number of plagues is down to four."
Vikir nodded.
Originally, there were supposed to be six more plagues on earth.
The waters turning to blood, the herds boiling over, the livestock and animals being slaughtered, the locust storms drying up all the food, the first born dying that year.
But all these things did not happen.
Vikir had already removed the causes of these disasters.
'But the four remaining Ten Corpses are enough to destroy the world.'
It's just a matter of time. It would take a little longer for the world to be completely destroyed, but the four great demons were steadily bringing destruction to earth.
Even at this very moment.
'Perhaps soon, the Gates of Destruction will be fully opened. Before that happens, I must eliminate them once and for all....'
As if reading Vikir's thoughts, Aiyen spoke in an angry voice.
"So, as soon as I went to the Imperial Capital, I went to see Cindy Wendy."
"...!"
Vikir's eyes lit up.
Cindy Wendy was one of Vikir's henchmen, someone he could trust no matter what.
Vikir had given her a number of instructions before entering the Nouvelle Vague, and if Aiyen met her, things would go smoothly.
"Cindy Wendy was trusted because she had traded with Balak for so long. That's where I heard the story of my Husby. That she was falsely accused and imprisoned."
"Not falsely accused, but, well, go on."
"So I thought I'd take care of the things you left unfinished."
Aiyen's eyes glowed with a searing light.
"Pedro of Don Quixote, Isolde of Usher, and Thomas of Leviathan. And their masters, Pasamonte of Don Quixote, Madeline of Usher, and Hobbes of Leviathan. I tried to assassinate them all."
Listening to her, Vikir understood what had been written in the newspaper clippings he had once obtained from a prisoner.
[Inside…] … palace guard, raiding…
-The Usher family… a mysterious attack… heavy damage… authorities have identified one suspect… the victim, Madeline… seriously injured, but not life-threatening…
The [sole] victim of a series of attacks on…
-Don Quixote Family… another mystery… attack… Count Pasamonte… minor injuries… authorities have identified one suspect… believed to be the same…
[Exclusive] Suspected assassin arrested…
-Leviathan Family… Attack on Patriarch Hobbs… Blamed on the recent surge in demonic activity… Mysterious gates and strange dungeons popping up all over the Leviathan Family estate… An empire-wide investigation has been launched… The Night Hounds… A suspicious organization… A citywide scare…
The Ushers, Don Quixote, and the Leviathans have been attacked, and there is only one man left standing.
And that was Aiyen.
"You could have just waited to meet me. I was planning to get out of here soon anyway."
"That's what I was counting on. There's no better welcome home gift than an enemy's head or raw liver. I am also a woman with a mood."
"...."
Aiyen seemed genuinely depressed that she hadn't been able to rip the heads off the rest of the Ten Corpses.
Vikir comforted her.
"You were brave to go in alone, that's all that matters."
"It is. It's nothing compared to the Demonic Dragon I fought in the Hell Tree, or the entire daylily colony in the River of Flow."
"So what happened?"
"Well. I failed, to put it mildly. I tried to march into Leviathan Family and rip out patriarch's head... but he was much stronger than I expected, so I was captured and brought down here to Nouvelle Vague."
"I see. His name is Flauros. A demon with great power, you probably wouldn't have been able to do it alone. Didn't Cindy Wendy stop you?"
"She didn't. I wasn't alone."
"...?"
The words left out a lot, but it was clear how much Aiyen must have prepared, how much she must have thought about, in order to get her revenge.
"Thanks."
"Ehem. That's all you need to know. Be good to me."
Then.
"Bastards!"
A large man stood in the way of Vikir and Aiyen.
Lt. Colonel Bastille. He was wielding a broken greatsword, blocking their path downstairs.
"I don't know what you're up to, but you're not getting through!"
He knew he couldn't stop the duo that had sent D'Ordume and Souare away with just his strength.
So Lt. Colonel Bastille slammed his greatsword down on the ground.
kwakwang! jjeojeojeojeojeog-
It was meant to cause an earthquake and collapse the passage. Even if it meant sacrificing his own life.
"...."
Vikir frowned at the unexpected obstacle.
Boulders were falling from above, and the floor was deeply cracked.
But.
hwiiiiiikk-
Aiyen smiled meaningfully and whistled.
Then something amazing happened.
Aiyen's hair burst into flames, and a giant wolf was summoned into a body of flames.
Seeing the wolf's face, Vikir cried out in delight.
"Vakira!"
Vakira the Wolf. The one who once had roamed the jungle with Vikir.
Aiyen laughed bitterly.
"I'm grateful he stayed by my side after his lifespan was up. We made a contract for redemption in the Hell Tree."
The fire wolf summoned by Aiyen immediately struck Lt. Colonel Bastille with its forepaws, sending him flying.
peong-
With a loud shockwave, Lieutenant Colonel Bastille's body was sent flying into the distance.
[Kung!]
Vakira leaped across the crack in the floor that had opened just moments before, carrying Aiyen and Vikir on his back.
"That's a lot of speed."
Vikir shuddered at Vakira's speed.
He hadn't expected the creature that had lost its hind legs during Madame's attack to be able to run this fast.
Then, as if on cue, Aiyen asked.
"But isn't the 5th floor the gulper eel kennel? Why are you heading to the 10th floor instead of the 5th floor?"
" ...that."
Vikir whispered in Aiyen's ear and told her what was coming next.
"...I'm surprised. Was this all planned from the beginning, even your imprisonment here?"
"Of course. So far, it's going according to plan."
Vikir nodded at Aiyen's question.
Indeed, so far, everything had gone well.
D'Ordume and Souare had been knocked out, and even Lt. Colonel Bastille, who was supposed to be in charge of the guards, had fallen.
Prisoners of all levels were on a rampage, led by a handful of extraordinary prisoners from Level 9, and the guards seemed to be getting pushed back.
...But life is always unpredictable. Things don't always go as planned.
kwang!
A loud noise from nowhere pounded the ceiling.
jjeojeojeojeojeojeog-
The enormous Gate of Good and Evil suddenly began to open.
ting- teoeong! teong! ttudug! ttududug! ppagag!
The chains supporting the Gate snapped with a loud crash, and the massive pulleys made of cast iron were crushed by the unexplained force.
"Who, who, who opened the Gate of Good and Evil!"
Lt. Colonel Bastille shouted in horror as he emerged from the crack in the ground, but there was no answer.
sswaaaaaa! puswisisisisisig-
A cold shower of water rained down from above, cooling the heated battlefield.
All the prisoners and guards who had been fighting tooth and nail looked up in surprise.
And there they saw only one old man.
Opening the Gate of Good and Evil with only the strength of his arms, he slowly pushed himself into the Nouvelle Vague.
…Thud!
The old man hit the ground.
And the complexions of all the prisoners began to turn blue at the sight of the old man's wrinkled face, his tightly pressed lips, his white, stiff beard, and his knife-like wrinkled uniform.
The symbol of the Nouvelle Vague.
The one who reigns in fear of all the prisoners, who holds the power over all the guards.
The prison Warden 'Orca Montreuil-sur-Mer Javert' fell in the middle of the battlefield.