Belvoir Lodge Underground Monitoring Room

A minute ago—

The box suddenly appeared in the basement, making the atmosphere of the small group of three who were originally cooperative a little subtle.

Colin, the Duke, and Icarus, three people, six eyes, looked at the black magic box placed on the cardboard box not far away, and everyone wanted to move, but none of them moved.

“…… I remember [the judge] saying that there would be unidentified creatures around Pandora's box. Colin pushed his eyes and reminded sensibly, "Why ......"

"Waste, look at the surveillance." Icarus glanced at Colin.

Colin and the Duke subconsciously looked at the surveillance footage and saw the scene of Caesar confronting the tyrannical ape.

"Looks like Julius Caesar did us a favor." The corners of the duke's mouth curled up with a hint of sarcasm.

"yes." Icarus replied lightly, "But, it's for me, not for you." ”

By surprise, he made a move!

First, he knocked down the weakest Colin with a punch, the duke reacted and took out the pistol at his waist, but was grabbed by Icarus's wrist, she struggled to bend her elbow and hit Icarus in the abdomen, Icarus couldn't dodge, and she found an opportunity! With the other hand, he grabbed Icarus' right hand that clamped his wrist, turned around and threw Icarus out with a back fall!

Icarus slammed to the table, the desk collapsed, and all the computer equipment collapsed, crushing on top of Colin as he was about to get up.

Colin screamed and was smashed in his lumbar spine.

"You're not going to be a winner every time." The Duke pointed his pistol at Icarus.

"Hmph."

Icarus chuckled, grabbed the keyboard and knocked out the duke's pistol, then hit the duke's head with the keyboard, once, twice, three times, the duke staggered a few steps, her nose bone was broken, and her nose bleeded. Throwing away the keyboard in his hand, Icarus tore off the cable connected to the keyboard, wrapped the wire around the Duke's neck hard, tightened the thread in his hand, and increased the force.

The Duke instinctively grabbed her hands back, and Icarus pressed her against the wall, elbows against the back of her shoulders, making it impossible for her to struggle.

thread, tighten in a little bit.

The data cable of the keyboard did not have any elasticity, and the white line gradually strangled the white neck of the duke.

She coughed, a feeling of suffocation mixed with a painful sense of near-death, which made her movements wane.

At this moment, the entire basement suddenly violently moved.

Icarus took a few steps back, loosening his grip on the duke.

"Boom—"

The ceiling is collapsing!

A huge ape slammed into the basement from the collapsed ceiling, along with Caesar standing on the ape's shoulder and Arthur being held by the ape.

Colin hurriedly dodged to the side, and the storm ape smashed straight into the pile of computer equipment in the next second, its body pulled the high-voltage wires in the monitoring room, and the black high-voltage wires hung down from the broken ceiling of the basement, shaking beside the storm ape.

......Hearing the noisy sound of electricity in his ears, Caesar immediately pulled out his left arm, which was still in the eye socket of the ape, and jumped to Arthur's side along the ape's arm, pulling him out of the ape's palm.

At the moment when Caesar and Arthur dodged, the severed high-voltage power line fell on the storm ape.

Electrifying fireworks!

The ape was swept through its body by tens of millions of volts, and its body twitched a few times, and then it stopped moving.

"Nourish...... Multiply...... ......"

The remnants of the sound of electricity were still faint, the air was filled with a scorching smell, and the basement was filled with smoke, but it was calm for the time being.

Caesar was supporting her body with her broken left arm, and she was about to sit up from the ground, but suddenly someone stepped back on the ground and strangled her neck.

“？！”

Her back was pressed against her knees, and she lay on the ground, her hands pressed under her, completely unable to move. With the help of her weight advantage, the other party controlled her to maintain a lying position, and strangled her neck with a data cable, which was instantly tightened, and the data cable sank into the muscles of her neck, restricting the trachea for breathing. Caesar felt a tightness in his chest and gasped, but he couldn't speak.

"Heh, it's worthy of Julius Caesar, killing two V-level monsters in one go." Icarus' voice came from behind him, "But did you know that the historical Uss Julius Caesar did not die on the battlefield, but under a conspiracy. The same is true of your destiny. ”

Caesar was shocked.

She's been plotted!

But at the same time, lying on the ground, she also saw Pandora's box not far away, which was quietly placed on top of a pile of cardboard boxes.

She was only a few steps away, but she was now pinned to the ground and strangled by her neck.

Is she going to die at the hands of Icarus......

Caesar struggled, and the bones of his broken left arm slashed across the ground with a creepy sound.

But the man who controls her is obviously not a soft-hearted person.

Being able to slaughter the top of the blood list, this score bonus may allow him to surpass the black blade in one fell swoop and replace the black blade to win the second place in the blood list!

How could he let go of this opportunity?!

Feeling that the air in her body was running out little by little, Caesar struggled, but her face was flushed, and the data cable strangled her tracheal cartilage, as if her trachea was going to be cut off in the next moment.

"Bang-"

Just then, a gunshot rang out.

Then, the data cable that had been strangling Caesar's neck suddenly loosened.

She coughed, and then, she felt the strength on her body lighten, and when she looked back, she saw that Icarus, who had been kneeling behind her, gradually fainted a red blood stain on his chest, and he looked at her with unwilling eyes, and then fell to the ground.

Caesar kicked Icarus' body away and saw Arthur standing against the wall in the back left, his gun pointed at Icarus' body.

He saved her.

Caesar ripped off the data cable around his neck and was about to say something, when he saw a dark figure flickering behind Arthur.

"Arthur, back!"

She had just reminded him, but it was too late, Arthur was punched to the ground by the duke, she snatched Arthur's gun, stood tremblingly, loaded, and pointed the gun at Arthur, who fell to the ground.

"This is the second time, Arthur." The Duke muttered, ready to pull the trigger.

"Brush." A dagger flew from the shadows and instantly plunged into the duke's back, she made a move, turned around in shock, but was instantly shot in the head by the black blade.

"Bang!"

Splatters of blood spilled on Arthur's face, and Arthur stepped back, looking in shock at the black blade emerging from the darkness - he was tall, holding a blaster rifle in his left hand, a strip of cloth wrapped around his right shoulder to his waist, and the sound of breathing from his gas mask was a bit heavy, but it didn't prevent him from shooting cleanly. The black shoe stepped on the duke's still warm corpse, and the black blade leaned over and pulled out the dagger on the duke's back and plunged it back into his waist. He straightened up and looked condescendingly at the pale Arthur.

has experienced a vicious war, and no one is better than the other.

But now, it is time for a decisive battle.

He raised his eyes to look at Caesar a few paces away.

Caesar had already stood up, his dark red eyes meeting the black eyes of the black blade.

“……”

“……”

For a while, the two top-ranked powerhouses were silent.

"Salad ......"

At this moment, Colin, who had been unknown, was trying to quietly approach Pandora's Box, and he lowered his body along the wall and lurked forward, trying to get close to the box from behind and take advantage of the chaos.

But a small figure stood in his way.

"You can't take it." Ogar stretched out his arms to stop Colin.

"Get out of the way!" Colin shook the broken brick in his hand and threatened Ogar, "No, or I'll ......"

"Brush." A dagger grazed Caesar's cheek and plunged straight into Colin's chest.

Blackblade struck.

Suddenly there was a pain in his chest, and Colin looked down at the dagger that had been inserted into his left chest, and he trembled his hand to cover his chest, but then, he fell, at Ogar's feet.

Ogar took a few steps back, looking at the black blade not far away.

“…… So, it's still a war between the two of us. Caesar looked at the Black Blade and said lightly, "The Black Blade, I have a question for you." ”

"Say."

"Why was that knife aimed at Colin and not at me?"

"......" Blackblade didn't rush to answer, and after a few seconds of silence, he took a step forward and stood beside Arthur, looking up at her, "Well, I'll ask a question too." ”

"Say."

"The blade is going in your direction, why didn't you dodge?"

“……”

"Caesar, you are sure that I will not kill you."

"Hmph, having said that, there are many ways to solve the problem, isn't it?" Caesar replied without asking.

"Indeed."

As soon as Black Blade's words fell, the two of them suddenly started at the same time!

The black blade grabbed Arthur from the ground, drew the dagger from his waist, and pressed it against his throat. Caesar, on the other hand, flashed his figure, grabbed Ogar behind him, and strangled the little girl's neck with the data cable in his hand.

Two hostages, two strong men.

It was just a state of confrontation.

In a panic, Ogar grabbed the thread around his neck, looked at Caesar beside him, whose face was gloomy, and then looked at the black blade a few steps away, his clear eyes filled with tears.

"I, I ......"

"Caesar, why do you think that controlling this little thing will make me stop?" Blackblade's voice was low, and there were no waves in his voice.

"It's just a gamble." Caesar tightened the thread in his hand, and the data cable made Ogar feel a pain.

Blackblade's eyes narrowed, his fingertips straining, and the dagger cut through the gauze on Arthur's neck, sinking into the skin of Arthur's throat.

"What do you want to do......" Arthur struggled, but the black blade controlled his shoulders, making it difficult for him to get out.

"The key is in my hand, Caesar." Blackblade said coldly, "Even if you get Pandora's Box, it's useless. ”

“…… What key? Arthur looked at Caesar suspiciously.

"Why, didn't she tell you?" Black Blade sneered, "To open Pandora's Box, you need a key. ”

"......" Caesar pursed the corners of his mouth, his eyes a little colder, "Shut up, Black Blade." ”

"Hmph." Black Blade relaxed the strength of his hand a little and looked at Arthur who was being held hostage, "Before the game started, as a reward for the winner of the previous round of the game, the three players in the upper circle had already received an important piece of information from the [Judge] before the game started - the key to Pandora's Box was hidden on one player. Only by obtaining the key from this player can the box be opened. ”

Arthur was stunned.

He suddenly remembered the picture of Caesar's late-night visit—

……

【…… Is there something wrong with you coming to me? 】

[Think about it.] Oh, I remembered. I'm here to return the favor. 】

[Returning the favor? Little girl, you almost split me in half with an axe at the doorway. Is your definition of 'returning favors' different from normal people? 】

【…… It was an accident. You protected me in the last game, so in this game, I'll protect you. 】

[You already know the rules of the game? 】

[I don't know.] 】

[What if this game is another player slaughter battle?] 】

[Then kill you.] 】

……

Complicated thoughts, memories still clear images flashed in front of my eyes.

A speculation came to Arthur's mind and made his heart chill.

"So...... You're not here to return the favor at all. Arthur looked straight at Caesar, "You knew from the beginning that the key was on me, and you also knew that this game needed to be found in Pandora's Box to end...... The reason why you are acting with me, the reason why you protect me, is because you need me alive, and you need a living body to help you get the key to the magic box. ”

“……”

"So...... So at the very beginning of the game, Icarus attacked me, because he knew that you were not with me, and it was the best time for him to strike......" Arthur muttered, "You may have guessed that both Blackblade and Icarus would be looking for me, so you have always been by my side, and if you can kill them by the way, your blood score will skyrocket all at once." Caesar, I am like a decoy for you, luring your prey into your trap......"

"......" Caesar was silent, noncommittal.

"Exactly." Blackblade sneered, and he raised his hand and plunged the dagger into Arthur's abdomen.

Arthur bent down in pain and fell to the ground.

The black blade wrenched over him, reaching into his wound.

Cut the stomach to remove the keys.

It was already something that Arthur was familiar with, wasn't it.

"Ahem......"

Arthur vomited blood, and felt that his stomach was being pulled and painful.

He subconsciously raised his head and saw Caesar, who was a few steps away, looking at all this expressionlessly, his eyes frighteningly cold.

It was as if he had been seen through his true intentions, and she didn't bother to disguise herself as his "companion" anymore.

“……”

Cold despair, like a pair of pale hands, grabbed his heart.

A few seconds later, the Blackblade hand was stained with blood and removed the key from his abdomen.

Looking at the key that was still mixed with intestinal fluid, Arthur suddenly thought of what Colin had told him-

……

[French foie gras is actually goose's fatty liver.] 】

[The goose keeper fixes these geese in small cages, only gives them space to show their heads, and stuffs them directly into the deepest throat of the geese with an iron pipe, and pours corn feed and other feed into the tube directly into the stomach of the goose every day, so that these geese eat and gain weight all day long, and the liver of the goose will be 6 to 10 times larger than normal, and finally get delicious ...... Fatty liver. 】

……

Oh, ironically, what is the difference between him as the carrier of the key and those geese whose livers have been taken?

It doesn't matter how he feels.

The important thing is that he is alive and that his body still has value.

"Ahem......"

Arthur clutched his wound, the smell of blood surging from his esophagus up his throat, and he vomited a few more mouthfuls of blood. Blood was all over the ground, and he struggled in a pool of blood, looking embarrassed and powerless.

Holding the warm key, the Black Blade approached Caesar and Ogar step by step.

Caesar glanced at Arthur, who was lying on the ground and dying, and was silent as he looked at the Black Blade.

He still had a rifle in his hand, and she had no weapons left.

Her only bargaining chip was the hostage Ogar in her hand.

Thinking so, she tightened her rope.

Ogar was choked and his legs were weak.

"Help, save me......"

Blackblade paused and stopped two paces away.

"Please...... Help me......" Ogar looked at Blackblade almost pleadingly.

It was her only lifesaver.

"Back off." Caesar's voice rang in his ears, and Ogar was held hostage by Caesar, and retreated step by step to Pandora's box.

"Black Blade. Throw the key over and I'll let her go. ”

“……”

Blackblade was silent, no more movement.

He was thinking.

This is a deal, is it worth it?

On one side of the scale, there is the life of Ogar, and on the other side, there is the victory of the game.

Which side is heavier, exactly?

At the thought of this, Blackblade clenched his fists and clenched the key in his hand.

Victory is just around the corner, is it going to fall short?

The victory of any sub-game is related to the final blood ranking and whether he can change from second place to first place and leave this hellish world.

Is this exchange really worth it?

“……”

“…… Please, save me......" Ogar begged him almost with a cry.

Caesar tightened the line relentlessly, knowing that the three minutes were coming up, that the box was about to disappear, and that she could not allow such an opportunity to be missed.

"Ahem...... Please...... Help me......" Feeling that the oxygen in his body was running out little by little, Ojiaer coughed a few times, and his body couldn't support it......

The little girl's expression of despair coincided with a face in the depths of her memory.

Blackblade was stunned for a moment.

He remembered some forgotten memories.

It used to be such a plea......

It used to be such a desperate expression......

He used to stand in front of a little girl with his hands stained with blood......

But......

But......

"Wait!" Blackblade looked up at Caesar. Throwing out the key in his hand.

Caesar let go of the rope and pushed Ogar, who was caught by the black blade and Caesar caught the key.

The next second, she turned around and got Pandora's box.

The blood-stained key is inserted into the keyhole and the box is opened.

【Game End】

[Pandora's Box is opened]

【Holder, Caesar】

【Game Ending Achieved】