The group encountered almost no resistance along the way. Though they triggered some automatic defense mechanisms, these posed little threat to them. Neuvillette didn't even need to intervene; Lyney swiftly located and disabled each device with precision.
Still, they remained on high alert, aware that their opponents might have other tricks up their sleeves. Against such a deranged murderer, no amount of caution could be excessive.
Soon, they traversed the initial corridor and entered a vast chamber.
As soon as they entered, the group felt a chill run down their spines at the sight before them.
Countless young girls moved slowly and aimlessly like living corpses, their eyes devoid of any spark of life, their bodies bearing varying degrees of injuries.
This immediately brought to mind the recent series of missing persons cases involving young girls. While some dissolved into water before the eyes of the Fontaine authorities, the majority went uninvestigated due to insufficient manpower.
Initially, nearly everyone had assumed these girls had met the same fate. However, this place's "grand spectacle" revealed the enemy's hidden methods, sending a cold shiver down their spines.
Suddenly, one of the girls tripped and fell forward.
Due to their close proximity, a large group of bodies toppled like dominoes, one after another. Those who remained standing continued to slowly trample over the fallen bodies...
At that moment, the group understood how the injuries on the girls' bodies had occurred.
Throughout the entire ordeal, the girls showed no awareness of the group's presence, acting as if they were completely oblivious.
Neuvillette couldn't bear to witness the scene about to unfold, so he intervened to prevent further harm, while the Hydro Element slowly began to heal the girls' wounds.
Moments later, the girls slowly rose from the ground, resuming their previous actions, the only difference being the fresh wounds that now marred their bodies.
After all, Neuvillette wasn't particularly skilled in healing, and the wounds accumulated far faster than he could heal them.
The group felt a suffocating pressure in their chests. Even after witnessing the man's depravity, this scene ignited an even deeper rage within them.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like a few rats have sneaked into my territory."
"Oh, wait—I mean two rats, plus a little kitten and an otter."
The man's voice echoed in their ears, leading them to a loudspeaker.
"What have you done to these people?"
Charlotte couldn't contain herself any longer, her voice sharp with anger as she shouted at the source of the voice.
"Ha ha ha! I'm just trying to help everyone coexist peacefully!"
"See? What a harmonious scene!"
"To achieve this, I merely extracted their consciousness. What you're seeing before you are just empty shells."
"I'm telling you this so you won't hold back in the slightest."
"What do you mean by that?"
Lyney suddenly felt a chilling premonition.
"Just a friendly reminder—don't let their appearance fool you. They're actually quite warm and welcoming."
Suddenly, the four felt a slight prickling sensation on their skin, diverting their attention from the source of the sound.
To their horror, they saw that the zombie-like girls had abruptly frozen in place, their heads snapping toward them in unison. Their pitch-black pupils, seemingly devouring all light, sent a chill down their spines.
Then, an eerily identical smile spread across all the girls' faces, as if carved from a single template, sending a chill through the group.
"Go forth and welcome our 'guests'," the man commanded, his voice dripping with amusement. At his word, the girls surged toward the four like a frenzied horde, emitting guttural, animalistic growls.
"Fall back!"
Neuvillette's expression hardened as he stepped forward, lightly tapping his cane against the ground. Instantly, a shimmering azure Hydro Element Barrier materialized, separating the four from the surging horde.
Like ravenous beasts, the girls clawed frantically at the barrier with their sharp nails, but they couldn't breach its defenses.
Though they no longer feared the girls closing in, the current situation still left the group uneasy.
Their unease deepened as they observed the girls' expressions up close.
The girls' mouths hung slightly open, saliva continuously dripping from the corners of their lips. Their eyes seemed fixed in their direction, but their gazes were completely unfocused.
"Let's bypass this area directly," Neuvillette declared.
"They're just ordinary people. We don't need to prolong this confrontation."
The others nodded in agreement.
Neuvillette took a deep breath. The Hydro Element Barrier surrounding them rippled briefly, then he stepped forward, pushing the barrier ahead by the same distance. The force sent the girls tumbling to the ground in a heap.
A flicker of reluctance crossed Neuvillette's eyes. He raised his other hand, summoning a wave of water to gently flood the area, cushioning the girls' fall and preventing injuries.
"Aww, are you getting shy now?"
"Look at their enthusiasm! Can you really be so heartless as to not reciprocate?"
The man's voice echoed again, grating on everyone's nerves.
"This isn't hospitality! You bastard!" Charlotte snapped, unable to contain her anger. The scene before her, even after witnessing countless horrors as a journalist, left her utterly breathless.
Charlotte relentlessly recorded the evidence of their crimes with her Kamera, determined to expose the truth to the public—her duty as a journalist.
But today, she craved something more: to slap the man across the face with all her might.
"It seems their hospitality isn't quite to your liking, then."
"No matter. They have different ways of treating different guests."
"Especially those who are shy!"
Though the four didn't immediately grasp the man's meaning, they felt a growing unease.
Then, as they watched one of the girls pull a bomb from her robes and activate it, their eyes widened in sheer terror.
Boom!
Witnessing the carnage of blood and flesh erupt before them, the four stood speechless, their mouths agape.
The bombs weren't particularly powerful, barely affecting the Hydro Element Barrier, but they proved catastrophic for the ordinary people around them. Several died instantly, while many others suffered gruesome wounds, their blood staining the ground's flowing water crimson.
"Ha ha ha! So, how do you like our welcoming ceremony?" the man taunted. "I wonder if this... method can finally stir your bashful hearts?"
The four clenched their fists, their perception of him solidifying into that of a demon straight from Purgatory.
Meanwhile, the girls who had been knocked down by the blast slowly crawled back to their feet, regrouped, and continued to press against the Hydro Element Barrier.
"Tsk tsk, still so bashful, it seems," the man sneered. "Very well, let's try a more... passionate approach to stir your hearts!"
As his words faded, three girls standing in different locations simultaneously activated the bombs strapped to their bodies.
"No!"
Neuvillette's pupils contracted slightly as he raised his hand to stop them, but it was already too late.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three deafening explosions erupted almost simultaneously around the group, the shockwaves ringing painfully in their ears.
Yet they had no time to dwell on their physical discomfort. The horrifying scene before them crushed their spirits to the breaking point.
"No. 6!"
A surge of incandescent fury coursed through Neuvillette. The overwhelming aura he now radiated made it difficult for the three nearest him to even breathe.
Lyney and Lynette were utterly stunned. They had only sensed Neuvillette's power from a distance before, but now, experiencing this oppressive force firsthand at close range, they realized the true extent of his might.
This power... it might even surpass Father's.
Arlecchino's formidable strength had already seemed insurmountable to Lyney. Yet even at her peak, she paled in comparison to the wrathful Neuvillette before them.
"Cease your atrocities immediately!"
As Neuvillette roared in fury, the surrounding waters began to churn violently.
"That won't do at all. Your continued aloofness shows our hospitality is lacking."
"Forget it. I've devised a far more enthusiastic welcoming ceremony. Let's discard these preparations entirely."
"I told you to stop!"
Seeing the girls about to move again, Neuvillette immediately unleashed a Hydro Dragon Shockwave. The powerful surge knocked all the surviving girls into unconsciousness.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Neuvillette. I told you earlier, these are merely empty shells. Why work yourself into such a rage?"
"I will personally judge you, No. 6!"
Neuvillette took a decisive step forward, his fury transforming into a massive pillar of water that blasted toward the passage at the end of the chamber. The impact instantly widened the passage by more than double its original size, obliterating all the traps and mechanisms along the way.
"I eagerly await that day, Neuvillette."
"To be judged by the Chief Justice himself is an honor."
"But haven't you forgotten something?"
"A few days ago, I told you..."
"Everything you've done has been meaningless."
"I will make you understand that truth again."
As the man finished speaking, Neuvillette's expression abruptly changed. He immediately turned his gaze toward the unconscious girls lying in the flowing water.
The girls remained unconscious, their eyes tightly shut, but several of them began to stir, groping at their bodies.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Another series of explosions erupted, reducing every remaining girl to mangled flesh.
"No. 6!"
Neuvillette's eyes burned crimson. In the next moment, his body transformed into a streak of blue light, hurtling through the expanded passage at breakneck speed.
The other three were equally enraged, but sensing Neuvillette's volatile state, they dared not hesitate. They immediately followed close behind, fearing he might lose control.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, please calm down!" Lyney shouted after the azure figure ahead, but Neuvillette's speed never faltered as he continued to surge forward into the unknown.
"Damn it! Neuvillette's been provoked. We have to catch up!" Lyney grimaced, urging the others to quicken their pace.
He had once believed the Chief Justice devoid of human emotion. It seemed he had been sorely mistaken.
Neuvillette wasn't emotionless; he simply masked his feelings so well that even he himself might have been unaware of their true depth.
The trio quickened their pace, but they still couldn't match Neuvillette's speed.
Lyney watched Neuvillette's figure disappear from view long ago, worrying he might have fallen into a trap. To his surprise, after some time, he spotted Neuvillette again.
They had entered a new area. Neuvillette stood motionless just outside the tunnel entrance, a short distance away.
Yet the aura emanating from Neuvillette made Lyney want to turn and flee.
The sensation was akin to standing at the mouth of a volcano, constantly sensing a deadly threat looming.
Charlotte and Lynette felt the same way, their gazes fixed on Neuvillette with a mixture of awe and fear.
Summoning their courage, the trio approached Neuvillette, convinced he would never harm them.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, there might be traps ahead. We should proceed cautiously—"
Lyney's words trailed off as he froze, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Lynette and Charlotte, who had followed close behind, also froze in shock. Before their eyes stood another being—or rather, something that could no longer be called human.
The girl's body and legs were crudely stitched together with black thread to the Melusine's hands and head, blood still oozing from the seams. The resulting grotesque form was enough to shatter one's sanity at a single glance.
At that moment, the trio finally understood why Neuvillette had lingered in this place, why he radiated an aura that threatened to annihilate everything around him.
What enraged and tormented them most was the unmistakable sense that the creature still possessed independent consciousness.
Sensing their presence, the creature turned, its eyes suddenly brimming with desperate hope as it pleaded:
"M-Monsieur Neuvillette..."
"Thank heavens, I can see you again."
"P-please..."
"Kill me..."
That single sentence plunged the four into an abyss of bottomless sorrow.