Armorless Union's people had no idea why Lobotomy Corporation asked them to escort this batch of troublemaking infected.
But it didn't matter to them at all. After all, what Lobotomy Corporation requested was merely something they did daily.
Just… in the ordinary course of their work, adding a small extra condition and working a bit of overtime.
Also, allowing a few individuals into the underground Infected Arena. Compared to Don Quixote's threats, giving away just this much was practically a bargain.
Some among Armorless Union even laughed privately at Lobotomy Corporation—how could these people dare claim they knew business?
How could they dare to claim they never made losing deals?
Of course, whether this transaction was a profit or loss for Lobotomy Corporation would probably remain unknown until everything had ended.
As for right now, Hai still quietly watched the infected, while Nearl bit down on her teeth as if suppressing something. Don Quixote sighed lightly, gently patting Nearl's shoulder.
"Nearl, calm down."
Hearing Don Quixote's words, perhaps because of the innate connection between progenitor and descendant Bloodfiends, Nearl's tense body gradually relaxed after a moment. She stared weakly at the Infected Arena ahead, momentarily at a loss for thoughts.
She rubbed her hand against her mask, but shortly after, dropped it again.
"…Are you angry, sir?"
After hesitating for a moment, Nearl asked Don Quixote softly. Don Quixote turned to face her, replying slowly:
"Such things aren't important right now. But you still have a greater goal, don't you?"
"If you halt here to gather your strength, then everything after will be wasted, won't it?"
"So, even if I also feel angry seeing this—seeing that these people, clearly lacking the resolve of knights, clearly not fit to become knights, yet being thrown here... Even if I feel angry about this, as Hai said, I'd still advise you to wait right now."
"Wait until your fury can properly erupt. It's not a good habit to stop short of seeing an ending."
Don Quixote spoke casually. Nearl's tightly clenched hands slowly relaxed. Finally, she let out a long sigh.
"…I understand. Then, I'll follow your advice."
"Hm… Then, Hai, how much longer are we staying here?"
"According to Lobotomy Corporation's scheduled time, just half an hour left. Why?"
Hai turned his head, looking at Don Quixote, and smiled as he asked.
"Hmm… Meaning, after half an hour, my actions will be entirely at my discretion, right?"
"That's right."
Don Quixote lowered his eyelids slightly, then smiled faintly. In the end, he simply placed his hands beside him and did nothing else. Hai chuckled upon seeing this and returned his gaze to the center of the arena.
Of course, he knew exactly what Don Quixote might be planning. Nothing explosive, but if it was just leaving behind a small gift…
Hai was sure Don Quixote would gladly do something like that.
Hai licked his slightly dry lips and refocused his gaze back inside. By now, those infected had already been shoved into the octagonal cage, angrily grabbing at the bars, facing the jeering laughter from the spectators below.
Meanwhile, Armorless Union members stood outside, whipping at them, urging them toward a brutal, life-or-death fight—
Finally, they made a promise.
"Whoever becomes the final victor gets the chance to become a glamorous competitive knight… and who knows, maybe even a chance to change your fate, become someone who stands above others?"
"Come on, pick up the weapon! You'll never escape this place!"
These two voices alternated continuously. Spectators below even jeered as someone threw a stick into the cage. At that moment, the octagonal cage gradually fell silent. The infected seemed to lose the strength even to hate—many of them let their hands drop loosely, gazing blankly upward.
And then, someone finally reached out, trembling, toward the stick.
At that very moment, Hai stood up, pulling Don Quixote and turning Nearl's body around. He then spoke softly:
"That's enough. We can leave now."
"Given the current situation, we've completed all the tasks we were meant to do here. I'll hand over these emotions to Lobotomy Corporation shortly."
He spoke lightly. Don Quixote glanced at the device now glowing clearly with two bright green dots, then returned his gaze forward again.
"Well then, let's go."
Saying this, Don Quixote quickly stepped out alongside Hai. Nearl turned back for one final glance, momentarily unsure of what she could even say.
"…Despair, huh."
At the moment of their departure, Hai tilted his head slightly, gazing toward the octagonal cage and softly murmuring. But soon afterward, he froze in place.
Seeing the cage's bars suddenly burst apart in a bloody explosion, the dazed infected within, and that small dagger formed entirely from Hemomancy lying quietly at the cage's center, Hai's lips curved into a faint smile. He turned and continued walking out.
This was Don Quixote's Hemomancy; Hai recognized it clearly.
The next morning, X woke up in Lobotomy Corporation's Kazimierz branch. He rose from bed, put on his usual white coat, and stepped out of his office.
He walked straight toward a room deep inside the facility, using supervisor-level access—exclusive to himself—to open it and stepped inside. He stared at the massive neural network suspended inside a giant tank of Enkephalin, countless nerves woven intricately together, and let out a soft breath.
Beside him were batches of extracted Enkephalin from recent days. Some special Enkephalin, in fact…
Specifically prepared Enkephalin, intended precisely for fishing something up from the "Well."
"Let's see… Today's quarterfinals, tomorrow semifinals… the day after tomorrow, we'll finally get to use this Enkephalin to fish up that Abnormality."
X murmured quietly, pressing his head against the glass of the tank, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"Well then, let's begin. Come on—let the carnival commence."
Despair, Hatred, Anger, Greed.
At last, all were now gathered.
...
Meanwhile, the Knight Tournament was still raging forward.
Nearl and Don Quixote had successfully cleared the quarterfinal round of eight without any suspense, earning victories easily. Then, the very next day, the semifinals arrived.
But this time—perhaps deliberately arranged by the Kazimierz Chamber of Commerce, or perhaps Armorless Union made some move out of unease—after consulting Lobotomy Corporation, both groups temporarily vanished into silence.
In any case, this semifinal was something special.
Upon seeing the list of semifinal matchups, Nearl repeatedly lifted her head from the list to look at Don Quixote, mouth hanging open in shock.
"No way…"
Seeing the names on the list, Don Quixote raised his head, meeting Nearl's gaze, a smile spreading on his face:
"Well, looks like there's no mistake."
Semifinal matchup—
Don Quixote versus Nearl.