Arguably the most fair and righteous individual led 125 people to the Arcturus Waterway. Far more committed unlike the previous three others who had failed their task in a sense; Damian saw the situation with seriousness and didn't feel like taking any chances---as their de facto leader Ryousuke Kawahara would say.

"Be on your guard, everyone... Don't understimate what this island has to offer!"

Standing tall, vis-a-vis with the door, Damian alerted his companions without looking back. Damian is a cautious individual and not the type of individual to make plans based on impulse or emotion; as such: he is expecting a few obstacles as he knows nothing about this upcoming section. Midst that, two individuals approached him---two twin-sisters.

Of very small height, the two Chinese twin-sisters with a dark bob haircut approached Damian regarding the cloud reactor. They firmly believe in Damian and have their utmost faith on him--however, Damian would be the first one to greet them by swiftly turning his back on the frontal door as the elevator kept on going down and down.

"Lan. Xan. Are you sure?"

As serious as Damian, Lan and Xan; the two small twin-sisters nodded silently and then, Damian spoke once again while placing his right hand in his front blonde hair strands.

"Okay... Keep it safe with your group at all costs."

Damian is referring to the infamous cloud reactor that had only been used once by Shiori Denko in the past. However, Denko used it in a manner not befitting of the cloud reactor. Furthermore, Damian had no idea that Denko had used the cloud reactor in the way that she did, so the cloud reactor was a mysterious and highly dangerous object that he had to place somewhere within this upcoming section.

Lan and Xan's group is a group of 15 people that are responsible for guarding the cloud reactor at all costs. Now going back to the middle wide area of the elevator, they reunited with their small group. Subsequently, Damian's best-friend, or more accurately said: his right-hand man, Jack, approached him in a discrete manner.

"This elevator has been going down for more than five minutes. What could this mean, Damian?"

Truth to be told, the elevator had been going for more than five minutes, as Jack had just stated, but in reality, it was a little more complex than that. Damian already had captured a slight factor in the middle of all this. As such, to the tall boy with brown eyes, a medium frame, short dark hair, Damian spoke very secretly.

"Don't tell anyone this but I've taken something into note here. Come closer..."

This was something that Damian had noticed only, out of all the members. It wasn't like him to keep this sort of information to himself, but he had no evidence except for a single factor yet to himself, that didn't count as full evidence. By approaching Damian more closely now without looking suspicious, Jack was able to hear the surprising revelation as he lent his left ear to Damian.

"We have been here for hours straight, somehow..."

Skeptical, although he didn't spoke at first, instead of fully doubting Damian, he took a moment of silence---then looked into Damian's serious eyes and realized that Damian was not the type of person who would lie. He is a morally righteous person and Jack knows about this the best. Therefore, Jack followed the logical option.

"Why would you say that?"

He didn't doubt but wanted to know why Damian thought the way he did, after he made a really ridiculous suggestion, but Damian showed no reluctance in explaining his thought process.

However, to further illustrate his thought process, he took out an apple from his back pack. This greatly confused Jack for a second.

"This apple has been inside my back pack for almost a minute now. As you can see, it's perfectly fine. It's a piece of fruit that I brought back with me as I saw the necessity of having something to eat along the way."

"I see. But what does that have to do with it?"

"Jack. Hold on to it and never lose sight of it for a full minute. Count the seconds in your head while doing so."

Although not understanding what Damian had implied, Jack nonetheless trusted Damian as he held the medium-sized red shining apple with his right hand. In his head, Jack counted second by second, but way before it reached a full minute in his mind, when thirty seconds had passed, Jack noticed something unbeliavable.

He didn't speak it out loud but his awe was otherworldy as he faced Damian.

"It's... deforming.... itself...!"

Jack couldn't believe what he was seeing. In just a matter of seconds, the apple started to deform---or more accurately put---degrade. Something that would take the time of two months or around such time was quickly achieved in just a matter of seconds.

Damian then took ahold of Jack's surprised stance and pointed to the ground as Jack witnessed the remaining scattered deformed bottom of an apple.

"That was the previous one... Something's wrong here, Jack. Our perception of time and what happens here to other organisms that aren't apparently human doesn't match."

Catching on to what Damian was implying, he grew physically closer to Damian as Jack spoke his assumption to him; side by side.

"The work of someone else?"

"I am not sure, but... I would assume so, yes. If our perception of time doesn't match with what's happening in the current reality around us, then I am assuming that only humans are the ones who are an exception to this factor. As such, time here is undeniably going faster than usual. If I had to also say----the fact that we are here in this elevator for hours is something that was purposely set up."

This greatly alarmed Jack as his sweat droplets began to scourge the depths of his neck rapidly.

"So we are walking into a trap..."

To dispel Jack's worry, Damian turned to his right side and faced Jack as he put him in charge of something.

"I want you to at least take 20 people here and them, along with you remain on the inside or near the entrance of the elevator, in case something goes terribly wrong. If this is a trap, then we can't afford to all take the loss."

Upon seeing how serious Damian was while saying that as he essentially was offering his life for the cause, Jack was forced to acknowledge his sheer brutal determination. Jack didn't make any sort of complaint and dutifully agreed with Damian, by placing his left hand on Damian's right shoulder.

"I will do it..."

"Thank you."

As Jack went back to the majority of the numbers, they awaited as the elevator was still descending down. This was only contributing to Damian's impatience, but Damian; being a disciplined individual---kept his temper at bay as he knew that he would have to keep it cool should anything unexpected happen.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and looked up to the highly illuminated ceiling. In addition to that, he noticed yet again the immense dimension of this elevator. Unlike a normal elevator that would have only a higher height and not a grand width, this elevator had in contrast a gigantic width serving for a grand fifty meters in terms of width. Regarding its height, it only had twenty meters. Never before had Damian nor anyone from his group seen an elevator this wide, but it creatly had the purpose of keeping a lot of people in here.

To himself, Damian spoke lowly, as he looked at the ground of the elevator; covered in cold metal.

"Odd... Is this really designed for an exam with ten individuals? This length is just too much. There's something wrong here..."

"You think so too?"

Nikole, a medium-sized girl with long luscious light purple hair approached Damian with a homecoming type of smile as she saw Damian in deep thought. Seeing her, Damian looked to his left side and smiled back to her.

"Yup! But----"

Damian was ready to engage in a conversation with Nikole but at long last, the elevator had stopped. The red light above the elevator's door signaled the ending of the journey to the section now that they were in it. Alongside his enormous crew, Damian glanced upon the entrance of the Waterway from afar as firstly, they were greeted with a descending large stairway case with 50 meters in width which would lead to a path submerged with small water. Furthermore, on the right and left side of that area, there would be two stairway cases that would contain ten large degrees of 10 meters---and then would resume itself onto a straight-forward linear path. Ultimately, on the right side of such linear path, the path would take a short curve to the right; likewise as the left side of the left linear path would take a short curve to the left as well.

Illumination here was more prevalent than anything as there was illumination but not through any sort of lights in the abysmally tall ceiling. Instead, the light source came from the right and left side of the paths that would split each other beneath the separated dual paths. Regarding what is in front of them should they follow a straight-forward path----a large bay of water blocked them from advancing too much further into that direction. As such, their options were to either go to the right or left side.

However, before, they had yet to process all this and Damian allowed them to do so. Midst this as well, Jack and about twenty other people---far bigger than the initial number that Damian had requested--were correctly allocated in the vicinity of the elevator, or close to the entrance. They knew that they couldn't be kept on the inside as the elevator mandatorily demanded every single one of them to exist the elevator, for some reason. Not wanting to test why it required that, they remained obedient and furthermore, they stayed on the entrance of the elevator.

Close to 100 members remained by Damian's side then as Jack wished Damian luck.

"It's a shame you don't have the walkie-talkies with you anymore since we can't communicate this way, but we are guarding this vicinity. Good luck..."

"We'll be back soon."

Stoic and confident, Damian placed his faith on Jack as they saw Damian and the rest of his crew off. Although their numbers were extremely large, the halls were also fairly wide so in the long run, the numbers didn't make much of a difference. However, a separation would most likely need to be made because there were two split ways. But, before that, Damian went to the bay of the water in the initial straight-forward path after descending the downwards stairway case and there, he saw something adjoined to the bottom parts of the wall that served as the structure of the upwards collateral stairway case for the paths that would eventually split themselves in opposite directions after a while.

"Is that a bomb?!"

Panicking, Nikole, on Damian's right side, as he kneeled down to examine the device, couldn't help herself and blurted that out. There is in fact a time-ticking black device with a timer in the middle of the circular metallic dark object completely glued to the wall. The current timer is ongoing and has been activated and it's 14:13.

Damian couldn't afford for any more of this and so, he erupted his posture back and spoke to all of his comrades.

"Do not panic! This is nothing more than a gimmick from the exam!"

Attempting an optimistic approach, Damian said that, but he also adjoined the truth subsequently, nervously yet standing tall.

"This might be what awaits us if we are not successful, so we will take immediate action. There are two separate ways and as such---two groups will be formed. I will go to the right side and Nikole will guide the other group to the left side. 50 will join me while 50 others will join Nikole."

Yet again, though more serious this time, Damian offered an alternative for those who wouldn't want to risk it. He looked more into the backline where the students were starting to show fear. He acknowledged that this task could be fairly dangerous and that staying in the backline with Jack's group could be an alternative as well.

"For those who are afraid---I understand and I respect that decision. We aren't more than humans and so... it's alright to be afraid. Join Jack if you are feeling afraid, and---"

"We want to go with you as well!"

"I am the same, Damian-senpai!"

For a second, he was surprised, but nevertheless quickly, Damian absorbed their well intentions for the cause and didn't waste any sort of type in emotional speeches anymore as time was running out.

"Good. Formation, start! Quickly, it doesn't matter which side you pick!"

Forming two lines on the right side of the area, Damian stood on the furthest right initial side just before the first stairway case and then, Nikole, who is on the left side of the area did the same as well. Furthermore, along with Damian, she rushed the formation of groups.

"Me or Damian, it really doesn't matter! Let's go, people!"

In less than a minute, two groups were therefore formed. Exactly 50 people went to Damian's side meanwhile 50 others went to Nikole's side. Their goal was to explore both sides and as such, they showed no hesitation in performing that task. Damian's group followed him through the right side and Nikole's group followed her to the left side.

Nonetheless, even though they expected their paths to be different, that actually couldn't be further away from the reality.

First of all, their paths are completely the same in terms of structure as they follow the said structure: It begins with a ten-degree stairway case leading up followed with a small linear path which then turns itself to either right or left depending on which path it is. Let's suppose that it's Damian's path, which means that it turns to the right side after following the upper linear path. Upon reaching that curve, the path would go downhill south and then it would turn to the left for a while. Forming a mirroring location to the previous area, the path would go to the left as well once again. Ultimately, they would follow a straight forward linear path all the way to the next area.

Nikole's path has the exact same structure and end location as both of their ultimate linear paths would finally combine in front of the door that would block their passage. That door was only locked because it was encrypted by a password entry system, to which Damian didn't show a single moment of hesitation in clearing it by inserting: "Light".

Successful in his endeavor, Damian opened the door by inserting the correct password as he knew the password already. Yet he was more worried about the bomb as he thought to himself that he had no time to fool around.

The next area would reveal something crucial to them---or so Damian liked to believe.

After a semi-long dark hall, they entered a room with gateway controls---ten of them in total. Three individuals a few weeks ago had been here previously, but they took an entire different path.

Once again, there were two evenly split paths to the right and left. In the middle of such paths lied a wide area full of water that would flow northway freely and as well to both west/east sides midway. Nonetheless, that was after the area of the ten gateway controls.

All it would take is for one of them to approach the gateway controls and see what they did. However, to Damian's stress, in the middle of the gateway, lied yet another ticking bomb---exactly the same as the last one in the previous area. Still, that was not it. That was not what was stressing him and his companions who refused to completely walk into the area.

On top of that bomb, with his fist adjoined to his right cheek; impatiently yet eager, Daniel Lead greeted Damian with an evil look.

"About time... I was getting impatient."

"Unreal..."

"Damian, is that really...?!"

"That's that criminal with a 1000 year jail sentence, isn't he?!"

"But wasn't he dead!? We even saw his body! He was stabbed with multiple spears!"

Multiple comments started to arise to the surface, as Damian had initiated then, which was followed by Nikole, and ultimately by the twin-sisters. Of course, it didn't stop there, but Daniel got up from the bomb and went straight to his point without caring at all.

"Which of you has the cloud reactor? Speak up. You have five seconds."

Since Lan and Xan, who are holding the cloud reactor on the back of all those numbers weren't visible to Daniel, he had to ask that question as his eyes remained locked on Damian.

Speaking of Damian, he took a step forward fearlessly as he was adamantly sure that Daniel--although for unknown reasons--was the one behind the bombs.

"You ha---"

As Damian attempted to speak, Daniel pushed the first gateway control to the front side on the furthest west which made the green orb on top of the controller light up.

"I told you had five seconds."

The moment the green orb gained luminosity, from within the previous area, a large explosion was heard as it provoked emotional reactions left and right from within the numbers. Damian, scared of what it could've been, quickly turned around and then to Daniel, as his anger grew wider and wider.

"You vile fiend, how could you kill them like that?!"

Showing absolutely no emotion, Daniel didn't hold back and answered to Damian as the rest of the members quickly panicked but also stayed obedient as they were in face of yet another bomb.

"Who?"

Uncaring about Damian's emotional grief, Daniel simply demanded to know who it was that had the cloud reactor. However, before Damian could even talk a word back, the two sisters stepped into the front-line and tossed the cloud reactor near Daniel's direction.

They knew that if Daniel wanted to, he could explore the entire area along with himself and the rest of them since he is near a gigantic circular dark metallic bomb.

"Are you satisfied now...?!"

"Were they really caught in the explosion?!"

The two sisters knew not whether Daniel was faking it. Although they had no evidence that Daniel had killed Jack's group, they also didn't know the range of that bomb. Nevertheless, as Daniel kneeled down and retracted the cloud reactor alongside with the flasks to his possession, he clarified something.

"That was just a joke. I didn't kill them. Didn't you all see the timer?"

"But you clearly made it happen by pushing that gateway control!"

"That's not true though. These gateway controls only control the flow of the water here in this Waterway. But since you people came from the other side, it's normal you aren't used to it."

To go as far as proving as to why Damian was wrong, Daniel moved the central gateway control up and they all witnessed the central water canel retract into the water station beneath it. Now that he had made his point once again, Daniel confronted Damian yet again.

"See? I didn't kill them. What happened was probably one of the bombs that blew up in another area other than the previous one. This Waterway as a whole is very extensive. And I---of course---planted bombs all over them."

"So you plan to kill us all, you psychopath?!"

One would think so, but as Daniel sat on top of the bomb, he begged to differ.

"Not quite... Given that I've planted bombs all over the place, it will be up to you all to find out which ones are the real ones."

"What?!"

Daniel laughed a bit out loud as he couldn't take Damian's serious stance seriously.

"There's a trick to them. They all have different timers and they are also not all real. Once the timing on the bomb runs out, it's when it's revealed whether or not the bomb is real. If the bomb is real, it will explode. If not, then it will disalarm itself. Of course, none of you know that, that's the fun part."

And then---Daniel made sure to tap thrice the center of the bomb that he is sitting on top of. Slowly and slowly, he looked at every single one of them and then ultimately Daniel while spelling the following words coldly.

"This one is very much real... I can blow you all to hell if I want to. But, this is an event. As such, I am the ruler here. All of you will participate---otherwise, this will happen to you..."

Without leaving a chance for anyone to react, Daniel pulled out his custom revolver and shot Nikole in the head mercilessly, causing her to die instantly as her body completely splattered a tide of blood to everyone's terror.

"NIKOLE!!"

"OH MY G-----"

Although they are all extremely terrified, they couldn't take their eyes of Daniel's revolver; especially Damian, who found himself powerless in this situation. Nevertheless, Daniel wasn't done. He thought to himself that others would surely argue back and be emotional about this situation, so he gave an ultimatum as they all grieved.

"Leave this area from behind and I will run you all down. I don't feel anything in my blood---your lives are merely numbers to me. Are we clear, numbers?"

Not a single soul spoke, but just to make sure, Daniel shot both the twin sisters on the head like Nikole, which yet again frightened all of them.

"STOP IT! I'LL PLAY YOUR STUPID GAME! LEAVE THEM OUT OF THIS!"

In the midst of that terror and blood, Damian stepped up and offered himself to participate as long as Daniel would leave the rest out. However, to Daniel, that was not in the plan. But, he went about it from a different way.

"Hm... I'll tell you what---No."

"...Come on......"

Frustrated and angered at his own powerlessness, Damian couldn't believe that three of his comrades had already died at the hands of Daniel Lead. Furthermore, there are about 97 people present who are unable to do anything because Daniel can just blow this whole place up. The thought of having this many people here and still being unable to do anything was beyond agonizing to him.

"But---I don't mind division. What does this mean? There are fifty bombs and only ten of them are the real ones. Here is what's gonna happen: you are all going to form groups of 3 and you will all scourge the entirety of the Waterway in search for the bombs."

"Why?! We will all die if we do that!! Play it fair!"

Mad at the fact that Damian interrupted him, Daniel shot a random member thus decreasing their numbers to 96 now. Furthermore, Damian from that point on would no longer speak as an initiator because his words were getting them all killed.

It troubled Damian how he couldn't predict at what exact moment Daniel was going to strike with his revolver or what he wanted to do in general. Daniel's lack of surface as a person was alerting to Damian as he sensed no good will behind his words.

"There is a way to denounce whether or not the bomb is fake or real. Look here, inferior beings."

On the left side of the bomb, there is an on-off switch that manually shuts down the bomb by itself.

"Now, this one doesn't count, but as for the other real ten, they have this. Furthermore, by pressing the switch off of the real bomb, the other mirroring orb of the gateway control will light up."

All of the ten gateway controls have a green orb on the frontal and opposite side. As seen previously, the frontal green orb can be lighted up just by pushing the gateway control forward. However, the other mirroring orb can only be lighted up by disarming the correspondent bomb. There are ten real bombs just as there are ten gateway controls, therefore, the correspondence makes sense.

"Once all the bombs are disarmed correctly, the ten orbs will be lighted up and as such, you can then push the gateway controls forward to make all the water vanish which will lead you to the path to put the cloud reactor."

In reality, all it took was the simple action of pushing all the gateway controls forward for Damian to put the cloud reactor in its place respectively. However, that clearly wasn't possible at all. Because, Daniel has the cloud reactor with him.

"With that said, get going. All of those who come back here after all the orbs are successfully lighted up will be granted mercy as I will allow you to live while also allowing you to put the cloud reactor in its place."

Although Daniel was done talking, no one replied. So, Daniel emptied the bullet charges of his revolver; reached out to his left leg where he keeps plenty of ammunition underneath his calfs adjoined to his skin through a band. Subsequently after, he refilled the revolver and shot one of the members yet again as everyone saw their lives flashing before their eyes.

"AHHHHHHH!!!"

"PLEASE DON'T SHOOT ME!"

"MOTHER!!!"

Yet another member had fallen because of their lack of cooperation, but Damian realized that the only way for this massacre to stop was to actually do what Daniel was demanding. There was no fighting back. People were dying and unless something is done, that won't stop.

"Everyone.... Make groups of three like he said... We----don't have a choice... Don't argue back! Think about the safety of everyone in general!"

Arguing back had lost its value a long time ago as Daniel would simply shoot any nuisances. In addition to that, Daniel would gain the urge to kill once he heard someone crying. His emptiness on the inside drove him to commit such actions in order to keep the void as it is.

Very nervously however, small groups started being made and they all started to sprint towards the north sections.

Damian had also picked a group of his own amidst the chaos, but Daniel had other ideas in mind regarding Damian.

"You're not going with them. You are staying here."

"............."

Unable to argue back, with an astonishing rage in his expression, Damian marked Daniel with his eyeglare for doing what he was doing. For not allowing Damian to accompany the rest of his comrades. Or, simply put----to not allow him to be himself.

How can Damian be a morally righteous person when in front of him lies an unpredictable psychopath who has no qualms about human life in general? Damian did not know what to do, but he knew that if he talked that another member would get shot like before.

Midst this, as Damian approached Daniel, from his back pocket, he took out a spray and applied onto Damian out of nowhere.

"....!?"

At first he started to cough and cough. Following that up, his knees buckled as he lost all strength.

"...What did you do me...?!"

Now on the ground, Damian, physically powerless, looked at Daniel who is glancing upon Damian as if he is trash. To add insult to injury, Daniel didn't explain anything that had happened. Yet what Daniel applied onto Damian is a paralyzing agent incapaciting the majority of the human body's nerves. Damian was currently experiencing physical paralysis as he became Daniel's victim just like that.

However, Daniel didn't do anything to Damian, despite all of his actions suggesting that he would do something to Damian. In-between the gate controllers, Damian stood on the ground; unmoving.

As for Daniel, on the more frontal side, he decided to take a seat and confront the cloud reactor, to which Damian became paranoid about.

"Don't----do anything with it..... You freaking psychopath....!!"

Reaching with his hand although failing at the same time, Damian attempted to stop Daniel, who couldn't care less about Damian's attempt of reaching out to him. Regarding Daniel himself, he started to massage the cloud reactor, for some reason, even though that did nothing. Then, he analyzed the capsules and saw that there were only three remaining; the fourth one gone.

He thought for a while and arrived at a certain conclusion.

"It could be."

Once again, Daniel focused his attention onto the reactor and asked something to Damian while also not looking in his direction due to a tremendous lack of individual interest.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"What do you think this does?"

In order to avoid an emotional retort, Daniel pulled his revolver yet again and pinpointed at Damian's skull so he could give a straight answer.

"...It gives the atmosphere toxicity... By releasing the deadly toxin in the flasks, the reactor spreads the substance..."

Without answering, Daniel took ahold of Damian's right hand then softly traced it to his right index finger. By holding onto the right index finger with his left hand, Daniel utilized his right hand that has his revolver to shoot the entire finger off.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Since Damian is paralyzed and no one else is in the area except the two of them, it didn't matter how high Damian screamed his lungs out because there were also explosions being echoed out throughout the area which only further agonized Damian.

On the other hand, Daniel went back to the cloud reactor without saying a word to Damian; completely uncaring about the fact that Damian's finger was blown to bitters. What was important to him was what the cloud reactor actually does.

Many assume that just because it has flasks that it's related to poison atmospheric infiltration, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

He looked at the painful Damian and only then, did he spoke, but about the cloud reactor, not what Damian was going through or why he just went through that.

"Each flask contains venom, that much is obvious."

On the very top of the cloud reactor---or, in this case, the component of this section, there is a circular opening that allows the inner inside of the component to be accessible. However, it comes with a password requirement as Daniel already knows which password is to be inserted. Once that password was inserted, the inside of the component was now under Daniel's freedom.

"Not your average venom, however. See---each flask contains different types of venom. One was already taken which leaves three of them. And----Oh, it's time..."

Though not aware of the time right now, Daniel started to feel symptoms as he reached the top of his head with his right hand; his revolver hanging in the edge of his fingers---shaking.

"Ahhhh....!! The stupid fucking voice again, noooo...."

"........?"

Finally witnessing a moment of weakness, Damian was lost in awe. It was crystal clear that there would be no other chance such as this one. The individual who had outdone Damian thus far---Daniel Lead---was suddenly showing weakness in front of Damian.

If he were to, for example, take the gun from Daniel, then he could be successful in turning the tide around.

Except that wasn't possible because he was paralyzed, but Damian nonetheless attempted to move without any positive result at sight. It was a desperate measure which was ultimately fruitless, so he instead basked on the current scenario where Daniel Lead was struggling to keep himself together, for some reason.

Unknown to Damian, this would be the only moment where he would witness something that he had never thought before.

"AaaahhhhhHHHHHHhhhh....!! The pill, the pill, the pill....!!!"

Nervously, Daniel was reaching out to the depths of his right pocket for a certain pill and upon finding it, he lifted it up high as some sort of holy grail and then swallow it though with difficulty due to his lack of saliva.

"Ahhhh...."

In the middle of this particular event, two explosions could be heard throughout the entirety of the area though from very far away. Damian was not going to get healed from his finger that was delivering him constant excruciating pain. Furthermore, he's paralyzed. As if that wasn't enough, he is beyond positive that his comrades are getting blown up to pieces.

It wasn't as if Damian trusted Daniel before or ever, but he had no choice. He was already blaming himself enough for allowing him be the one who brought forth this situation by not seeing this coming, even though he had no way of seeing this coming whatsoever.

Damian is the type of person who would rather blame himself than blame others all the time; that's why even though he is paralyzed and massively injured, he is more worried about his comrades out there.

Towards the entrance, Damian showed emotional grief as he physically struggled to lift his head just to look at the dead body of Nikole; the twin sisters' dead bodies as well. That wasn't all as the other casualties were there as well.

Meanwhile, without doing anything, Daniel was mentally recuperating from missing his dose of Xanax. His mind isn't very stable at the moment, so without it, he can't guide his own thoughts as well as he usually would.

After five minutes, however, Damian, as he saw that Daniel was in a less nervous mood---because the dose was finally kicking in---decided to reason with Daniel as there was nothing else to do.

"What happened to you...? You're not alright. You need help."

"....I.... need.... help....?"

With his eyes opened at maximum, Daniel glanced at Damian, as Damian saw that there might be a reason as to why Daniel did what he does.

"....Stop taking those pills... They are making you insane...!"

"..........."

But towards this, Daniel didn't take Damian's words well despite their good intention. Damian also continued, as he crawled onto Daniel's direction.

"I don't know what the hell.... they are.... but---Agghhh---if you just stop taking them but you'll have control over your actions."

To Daniel, nothing could be more displeasing as Damian had essentially misunderstood what was happening. Damian is under the impression that the pills make Daniel insane or rather---unaware that he is committing severely immoral actions.

Xanax allows Daniel to have a crystal clear mind as his mind is allowed to reach supreme focus under them. Yet, without them, Daniel thinks that he becomes like every other human being on this planet---completely equal and not different.

Damian could never understand this type of thought process and that's why Daniel didn't engage in this conversation any longer and went back to the inside of the component where he pulled out one of the four syringes.

Now far calmer; his crystal clear mindset was returning.

"Your friends are all dying."

Calm and collected, he spoke those words out loud, to Damian's terror, but he didn't stop delivering the truth.

"There are no fake bombs. They will all die without their leader being there for them."

All along, the mechanic of the orb wasn't a complete lie except for the part where the other part could only be lighted up true deactivating the ten bombs. That was never the case, as there is yet another mechanic involved.

Slowly and slowly, the small groups exploring the endless Waterway of Arcturus would meet their ends just by walking near the bombs. There is a gimmick to the bombs that Daniel himself didn't tell anyone about. The self-implanted bombs scattered all over the area are highly sensitive to small numbers as they contain a radar that scans the number of people around them. The higher the numbers, the less likely the bomb is to trigger; however, if five or less people approach it, it will detonate immediately.

That's how the bomb at the entry didn't detonate. Because over ninety people started to approach it immediately. Which begs the following question: How come the bomb that Daniel has in the area didn't just trigger itself since Daniel was the only person in the area that entire time? It's because that bomb is a fake, but they were made to believe that it was a real one. Once their lives were at stake, their ability to rationalize is authentically damaged.

"You said I was the one that needed help, right?"

As Damian was numb from the paralysis, his eyes were glued to Daniel's right hand, as Daniel had put his revolver in the back of his pants and was holding a seringe instead. Then, with that syringe, he went straight towards the third flask. Rapidly, with the syringe, all the venom inside the flask was consumed; completely filling the syringe's bar.

Daniel sprung the tip of the syringe a bit, dropping a few small droplets to the outside and then looked at Damian with a devilish grin that slowly arose in the surface of his lips.

"...Noo---No---Nooo! Don't do... it...!!"

No matter what Damian tried, it wouldn't work. Daniel was starting to approach him and ultimately, he would do it.

"What is wrong with you?! At least explain yourself if you're going to inject me with that!"

"..........."

For a moment, Daniel truly thought of expressing his honest thoughts or his motives---but, he realized that the type of person he is---isn't the same as Damian and that unless the same type of nature between two people combine; it's illogical to express one's thoughts.

"Self-expression is the very embodiment of weakness. All that matters is the goal. If the leader has left these separated venom flasks here then they must be tested upon humans. You will do just..."

Forcefully, by taking ahold of Damian's right ear, Daniel injected the entire venom from the syringe without any sort of mercy.

Damian could not react as the agent of the venom infiltrated his body.

Not only was there not a reaction, but no specific sound could be heard from Damian.

Daniel knows that the flasks contain different types of venoms but he doesn't know what they do. As such, he just used Damian as his experiment.

Kneeling down on the ground, Daniel crooked his posture further as he saw no reaction still from Damian---until he started to notice how red his skin was getting.

"I don't think his brain is functioning any longer. Otherwise, he would scream like the others did---which means that the dose was too much. I'll keep that in mind."

While observing what was happening to Damian, for future purposes, Daniel extracted the remaining two other venoms inside the two other flasks onto the last two syringes. To call it a cloud reactor was a mistake by made as they were under the impression that this was a machine used for the purpose of intoxicating any sort of atmosphere.

In reality, it's simply a container with four different types of venoms.

"Mhm, I see... It's not that his skin is getting red---his skin is being torn off and his muscles are now completely visible as a result."

Continuing to examine even further, Daniel touched Damian's forearm naked muscles.

"Cold as well... Undoubtely dead. It's a very interesting venom as it completely destroyed his skin thus making his entire body exposed in terms of nerves. However, if he was still alive, that would be the real deal because if a human were to have his entire body exposed like this, then the level of physical pain would be out of this world."

Daniel started to regret injecting all the venom onto Damian so impulsively because the venom's main effect really started to grow an inner interest on him. As such, he injected the syringe onto Damian again---attempting to extract at least a bit of poison from his blood.

Once done, Daniel got up and put the respective syringes onto the left side of his leg; in his lower calf where he has a circular band underneath his pants to hide a few utilization accessories in case they are ever necessary. Although it would be where the daggers would be in, he took a few of them out and put the four syringes in their place. They fit perfectly after Daniel adjusted the size of the band and as such, his business here was done.

All that was left to do was to insert the now empty component in the respective place and Daniel would move on.

However, as he stretched and threw Damian's melting body onto the cold waters of the Waterway on the north side, Daniel realized that he missed a certain factor. It hit him as a surprise how he had missed that.

"I forgot to ask him about Shiori Denko! Wait, was she amongst them? Ah, shit!"

Aside from the fact that his pattern had changed as he had planned, Daniel also intended to ask all of them at the beginning where Shiori Denko was. However, amidst all the commotion, Daniel forgot as he prioritized tricking all of them.

"Speaking of which..."

Grinning, he adjoined his two hands' fingers through a vacuum of space in the middle as he kept on adjoining them back and forth continiously---ultimately concluding one thought out loud.

"I have to make sure they are all dead. In order to obtain a 100% progress at the end of the mission, I have to kill all of them without fail, NO MATTER what it takes."

Displaying a very strong competitive spirit, Daniel didn't even think twice about the fact that he was going through with this. Immorality was not even in his mind anymore at that point. His mind was simply far too clear at the moment and it was at moments like this that Daniel could actually feel alive.

Only while doing something that so many would need convoluted reasons to do---he doesn't. It's all according to the goal and nothing else. There are no emotions. No deep reasons. Nothing except for one end objective.

Objectivism filled his mind at that moment therefore as he set out to explore the parameter. Firstly, he would leave the component in that same area as he would come back for it later on. Secondly, he checked both of his calves.

The right calf contained two black circular bands wrapped around the center of the calf. A variety of sharp small knives all the way to larger and thicker knifes were spread throughout the first band. As for the second band; more towards the knee area, it would be where multiple mini flasks would be allocated. All of those flasks would contain multiple purposes yet they were to be used as methods of resources.

His left calf contained as well two circular black bands. Daggers of medium size though some of them now on the ground were placed with syringes along their side in the respective lower part of the calf. As for the upper part, a small rope completely inverted and stacked was also there in one of the spots of the black band. Two handguns alongside a mini pickaxe were there as well.

When it comes to the wrist area, outside of his pockets and more centered towards his waist's center and back side; underneath his black t-shirt, he hid several guns and knives in case anybody would ever get close to him.

Yet more importantly, he always carried a back pack with him since that's where he has his main arsenal of weapons used for anhiliation. So far, he had used knives and guns mostly, so in order to switch the pattern, out of his back pack, he took out a bow that is in the shape of a triangle. Nonetheless, that bow in that shape can become an extraordinary bow with a brutal aim range alongside a powerful sight to it. The arrows, however, were only five, but they were made out of sheer steel---or rather---the same material as the materials of the sections. In other words, if it hits someone, their organs or muscles will be absolutely pierced to oblivion.

Daniel strung the string twice and then remarked something as he closed his bag---ultimately taking ahold of the bow and putting the arrows on the back pack though slightly open yet not totally so he could take them out whenever necessary just by reaching out with his right hand from behind.

Ultimately, Daniel pushed all the gateway controls forward which made all the water from the Waterway recoil itself back into the area underneath where the water would be kept. Just like that, not a single channel was pouring water within the Waterway. Anyone was free to venture through the lower parts of the Waterway.

However, that wasn't the grand goal here. Something that wasn't commonly known in this section is that pushing forward those ten gateway controls would also enable the entrance to a secret room on the west direction. But, the door itself was the same as any other wall. As such, it was hardly identifiable, but one particular boulder in the bottom of the "wall" gave it away to Daniel earlier when he was getting to know this section, weeks ago.

There lies the panel room, in which he put the component in. In the control room, he went to the computers and disabled the bombs.

Afterwards, he exited the room and went back to the area with the gateway controls. His footsteps would echo throughout the entire area as he started to drift down south from the path that previously had water.

A cross-shaped path would be upon him to follow calmly, yet as he saw two girls from afar walking away without knowing that he was coming in their direction, Daniel readied his bow and one arrow.

"HEY!"

That loud shout summoned their attention as the girl from the left; the moment she turned around to face him, was met with an arrow to the brain.

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!"

No, it was not the girl that had been shot in the brain; it was the girl that was right next to her, who was quickly the victim of another arrow to her throat. Thus, though Daniel knew not how many of them were left to kill, he knew that they couldn't take the elevator as the panel room doesn't allow anyone to enter the elevator at all. Therefore, they are all either dead from the bombs or they are still on the run; ready to be hunted down.

The truth is, if we take out the two girls that had just died, there are 61 other people left for Daniel to kill. This is because most of the students were scared to even approach the bombs---but it all didn't matter. They would die one by one.

Following the cross-shaped path forward, Daniel was met with a straight forward path with a dead end or a stairway case to the right, which had two boys and one girl casually walking over it. Something important to take note of is that Daniel always takes the arrows back from his victims as his arrows aren't infinite.

Without speaking, he shot the boy in the throat, then the other boy on the heart; leaving the girl for last.

Before she could further process what had just happened, Daniel switched from his arrow to his mini pickaxe that is in his left calf. The girl was pinpointed with the mini pickaxe to her brain; utterly cracking her skull wide open.

58 people remained.

A group of three boys would be on the upper side of the path that would lead up from the stairway. Daniel silently approached the three boys and shot them in the back, one by one. Regarding the current scenario: although it was the path to be followed to the northwest direction; as soon as the stairway was climbed, the whole area had the shape of a square below. Of course, that would only apply if Daniel followed the path where the water was flowing through previously. But, by emerging to the surface of the upper squared path, he could continue to hunt down yet another group.

This time around, on the west side, as he witnessed three girls running away down south from his perspective, he shot two of them in the back with the help of his bow and two arrows. Even though the other girl was escaping; Daniel didn't hesitate to run through the area firstly to the north, then to the west, then to the west yet again to finally meet the girl running in the stairway that would go down.

Instead of shooting the girl on the back like the other two he had just passed by; albeit now beyond dead, he jumped on her from behind which made her entire body collapse on the ground. The finally touch would be the tremendous stab with a medium-sized dagger onto the heart from behind.

52 people were still on the run.

No one else was left to be seen on the square-shaped area aside from the dead bodies. By descending that staircase with over 50 degrees all the way to the bottom, midway, he encountered two paths barely co-aligned to the right that would lead to dead ends. However, one of them had a group of one girl and two boys, who only noticed Daniel as he started to walk towards them without saying a word. Only his footsteps echoed throughout the hall as he approached them.

They were all shot in the head repetitively until his revolver ran out of ammo, to which he recharged it subsequently. When he turned back, he saw two boys on the north side capturing his sight while running down south yet again.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

"HE'S GONNA KILL US ALL!!"

Now that Daniel was on the track down south once again, he glanced upon the entire area. An enormous way down south over 500 meters in terms of length could be witnessed. In addition to that, on the right and left side of this lengthy downward path would be the areas where the water was in previously. Of course, given that those areas are not habituated by anyone, Daniel took advantage of a slight factor. Since those two dual paths on the right and left side aren't being used and they, in fact, have a deeper area in comparison with this one while also possessing an entire area below this current path---someone can safely venture through the area below this one as someone from this downward path cannot see what's happening below it.

For the students who were running away down south with all their might, Daniel had just vanished into pure thin air.

"Where the hell did he go?!"

"He was just there, wasn't he?!"

An entire junction of 12 students decided to look towards the mighty high path where Daniel Lead was just on top of a while ago.

"What are we waiting for, we have to run!"

They decided to run an continue to run down south as initially intend. However, midst that, on the left and right side of the areas below, Daniel kept on alternating paths while also decreasing the distance from the students, who started to notice him. But, even though they were noticing him, Daniel was keeping a certain pattern.

While changing to the right side of the structure, he would shoot everyone with his bow and arrows from his left side perspective and on the other hand, once he went to the left side of the structure, he kept on gunning everyone down as well with his variety of guns. Thus, without being able to do anything else but to run for their lives; although unsuccessfully---the group of 12 people were hunted down.

40 people are still on the alive and breathing somewhere.

On the main path again, after retrieving the arrows yet again, Daniel continued silently.

At this point, Daniel would begin to approach the south part of the Waterway which is divided by three areas and those areas are all on the east side of one another. The third area would ultimately lead northway but first, Daniel had to secure the first area. This area didn't have any sort of areas with water for the channels of water to flow in, so it was a simple yet convoluted surface.

This area, on the other hand, contained from afar a dark horizon where all the water would be submerged into from the sideway channels from the previous area. Aside from two dead end paths on the right side; a wide square area was the main attraction of this place as a total number of three boys and three other girls were checking two very specific bombs, like all the previous members.

It simply didn't matter because all the bombs were deactivated.

"Wh---"

"Bu we---"

"No WAI---"

In a rhapsody of movements, Daniel utilized yet another medium-sized dagger to slit one of the girl's throat; causing a rain of blood upon the air. Next, he shot a boy twice on the head while snapping another boy's neck. Given that two girls and one other boy remained, all they could do was to plead for mercy as running away was useless.

By taking an interval to put his respective weapons in their place, he allowed his upcoming victims to form dialogue; starting with one of the girls.

"Pleasseeeee!!! What did we ever do to you!?!?"

"I'll do anything! No matter what you ask, just let me live!"

"I have a family back home, please spare me!"

Now that the revolver was once again charged up with yet another ammunition since Daniel's bag contains ammunition charges specifically set to hold against 500 people---all courtesy of Sagasuga---it would be very hard for him to ever run out of ammo. However, since he would shoot more than necessary, it was bound to happen eventually.

At the end of it all, the three individuals were met with bullets to their skulls as Daniel didn't even spare them a word of mercy.

34 people had yet their lives to be terminated.

Onwards to the second area, on the complete central of south of the entire Waterway, two bombs were placed there on the furthest west wall and furthest east wall. A concentration of yet again six people were present throughout the area. Thus, with two handguns with three bullets in both of them, Daniel started to shoot at them without warning resulting in their deaths subsequently.

Moving on to the furthest east area on the entire Waterway---however, from the Waterway's perspective, this would be the most southeast's area----Daniel encountered a group of three people attempting to disarm the bomb but they couldn't because Daniel had lied to them about the bombs having an on and off switch. Only the one he was sitting on top of had such setting.

This time around though, Daniel spoke to them, as they were all paralyzed transiently.

"Run."

Without making a single sound, they started to run towards the exit on the north side since the other exit would be the one where Daniel just came from. From the north way, they can go all the way back to the central area.

Of course, the moment they turned their backs on Daniel, they were shot with multiple arrows in the back of their heads alongside with lethal bullets onto their torsos.

The way down to the north side would have a way up this time around, so it would naturally slow anyone down as it would imply that they had to climb the numerous degrees. This was not an issue to Daniel as his physical resistance and overall speed far outwits the speed of the nine students running with all their might in a state of panic as well in hope for escape.

With each forward step he took into the stairway degrees, instead of killing them from afar, he closed in on their distance and bashed their heads into the hall's right and left walls. He would not stop until he heard the inside of their skulls crack profoundly. Furthermore, he would leave a stabbing mark on their throats even though that was unnecessary.

Deep down, although obeying his inner law of disregard for self-expression, Daniel found himself no longer the outcast he would think he was at all times. With so many lives in his hand, he, at last, felt like everything was under his control and that as long as lives are controlled without being dominated, that he would be himself.

16 people had their times decreased with each step Daniel took to the north side.

Instead of sprinting in their direction this time, Daniel allowed the group of 3 girls to run for a while as they went for the north exit. The north exit would lead to a room that would connect to the central room where the gateway controls are. However, to connect to that central room, they would have to insert the correct password on the left side of the area to go to the central area.

Sine Daniel's movements were purposely slower than usual, the three girls, in their greatest state of paranoia attempted to decipher the password.

"It's Light! Get it right, Anna!"

"Hurry up!"

"I know! I-I know...!!!"

Daniel watched them from afar, now entering from the southeast entrance. The three girls would gaze into his soulless eyes which only reminded them that they needed to be quick in inserting the right password. However, despite Anna, the one in charge of getting the right password in, she was having trouble in inserting the password due to the fact that as she watched Daniel from her position, he couldn't tell what he was doing.

As a matter of fact, neither could the other two.

However, that didn't stop them for ultimately inserting the password, which is "Light". With their eyes on the password entry device now, all they had to do was wait until the door was open, but...

"What do you mean entry denied?!"

"I saw Damian-senpai introduce that password with my own two eyes!"

"Co-Could it have changed....?!"

Out of despair, they once again looked to the unmoving Daniel in southeast direction. He was fiddling with a mechanical cellphone, though from their perspective, that cellphone did nothing.

Taking two to three steps forward in their direction, Daniel spoke to them almost silently. It didn't matter if his voice was almost silent or not, they knew that if they spoke out of the line that Daniel would make them the exact same as the ones that dared to defy him verbally.

"The previous one. Insert it."

Crying, difficulties in breathing, cloggy eyes, shaky legs, numb arms, unorganized thoughts and much more were things these three girls were currently experiencing. Yet despite that, they tried their hardest to think about what Daniel was referring to as "the previous one".

One of them arrived at the conclusion rather quickly however.

"T-The password to the previous section...?!"

"Huh...!?"

"I-It's...---Will! It's definitely that one!"

Jessica put that password now but it rejected the password and as such, Daniel took five to six steps forward, only being ten steps away from them now.

"Hiiikkk!!!!"

That was neither Jessica or Anna, but Nina. Everything about the way Daniel wasn't speaking his mind creeped her out. None of them are used to having someone like this around them, especially someone who could terminate their lives right away. Even though Daniel isn't aiming some sort of specific weapon at them, deep down they knew that could change realistically quickly.

Nonetheless, Daniel did speak in their direction once again.

"The correct password is how many of you are left."

"....!!!!"

He went a bit further to explain it.

"All of your friends have been dying one by one at my hands. Guess how many of you are left. Of course, you three are included."

In order to stop them from having a far too unstable emotional type of reaction, Daniel pulled out his two handguns from his calves and pointed at them collectively. Hence, they were forced to reason in front of Daniel, who is about ten meters away from them.

Taking the first shot, Jessica went straight forward.

"There has to be more than eighty for sure...! T-They couldn't have just died like that, right?!"

Daniel smiled in her direction, much to her terror.

"Nooohooo!!! Oh Go---"

Pulling the trigger, Daniel put a bullet on Jessica's head while subsequently directing his handguns to Anna and Nina.

Daniel shook his right hand handgun in Nina's direction which caused her to speak in Anna's direction---terrified out of her mind.

"....T-T-Thirty...."

Then, it was Anna's turn.

"T-Ten?!"

As they finalized their guesses, Daniel put the handguns silently back to the black band on his left calf.

"Go."

Daniel issued the order right away. Unlike the other password entry devices, this one had infinite password entries---so someone could introduce as many passwords as possible, realistically. However, to Anna and Nina, that couldn't be further from the truth.

Deciding to go first, Nina inserted her take, which was thirty.

A rejection sound came forth and Anna witnessed Nina's front skull being pierced with a heavy cohesive arrow from behind her head; causing blood to scatter everywhere.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Midst her panic, Daniel took ten steps forward, now being on Anna's right side while as well stomping on Nina's dead body and removing the arrow from her skull.

Now seeing him up close, Anna's terror grew larger and larger. As a natural reaction, she peed herself without a second thought and remained embarrassed about it. Until Daniel adjoined his left handgun to her right side of the skull and urged her to do it.

Facing the password entry device, it was all up to Anna. But instead of inserting the password, since she felt like it wouldn't work out, she slowly turned around to Daniel and spoke her honest mind.

An unwavering desperate compassionate smile was present throughout her face as she spoke.

"....I may not know you a-and most certainly---not know why you are like this but I----can understand you! Talk to me! Let's talk this out! Wouldn't it be better if we all cooperated in order to bring the happiness of everyone and not th-the--theee--miseryyy---of everyone....Uaaahhh!!! P-Pleaseeee!"

On her way to the end of her speech, she noticed how Daniel was gradually growing bored of her words.

However, then Daniel recalled something. His eyes widened and he put an entire charismatic face on.

"You're right! I should work to bring everyone's happiness and not misery! By the way, where is Shiori Denko?"

"...W-What?"

This confused Daniel. He thought that he was clear and succint but apparently, he was not? He tried again, however.

"Shiori. Denko. Where is she...? I'll let you go if you tell me where she is."

Taken aback from this opportunity, Anna didn't hesitate to tell Daniel her true mind about where Shiori Denko might be.

"She's not in the first, second, third, nor this section!"

"I know. That's why I'm asking."

"...So---"

But, Anna realized that if Daniel said that he knows that, then what could that exactly imply? She realized that it could imply that everyone in the previous sections were killed by him and that made her gain an entirely new level of horror running through her body and mind as she looked at the charismatic Daniel.

Nervous, she tried to dodge the question as much as possible despite a handgun being adjoined to her thin skull.

"...I-I don't--- I don't know....!"

She knows that if she's not in the previous sections and definitely not in this section that she has to be in the further sections. She thought that Daniel wouldn't be aware of this for long so she tried to lie her way out.

"...Wait, on second thought---she was here with us! I saw her go to the north side!"

"Really?"

"Y-Yes, really!"

Her breath was so ragged and uncontrolled that anyone could tell that she was lying from miles away. However, Daniel pulled the handgun back from her skull and kissed her on the forehead; greatly increasing her emotions amidst that despair.

"That's good to know. Now I won't have to ask the others while I kill them."

".........!!!!!!!!!!!"

Looking down on the ground, Anna was once again terrified as Daniel had declared the extinction of her remaining group members.

"Insert it. The password; it's your turn. I can't let you go without opening the door to the central area. Damian is right there waiting for you."

"B-But I don't know the correct password........"

This was true, but not exactly true at the same time.

"It's "Light". Try it again."

"But it didn't work out ear---"

Unable to care for her words anymore, Daniel took ahold of his personal knife on the back of his pants and sliced the front of her nose off swiftly while tapping her mouth as well.

"I don't care... You are going to insert it. Do it..."

In excruciating pain yet still alive, Anna, with blood running through her now open nostrils nervously inserted the correct password and the door in front of her was now open.

As such, Daniel distanced himself five steps back as he congratulated Anna on being successful for inserting the correct password.

"Go now. You got me."

Without looking back, Anna tried her best to run through the now-open door but she was ultimately struck with a arrow on the back of her head thus finishing her off.

Only 13 people are left.

Now that the east section of the Waterway was covered, the northeast side would be the side where the rest would remain. With only 13 others left to kill, Daniel once again sprinted at full force throughout the downwards path that would end up ultimately on the northeast side.

Capturing with his sight from afar, on the furthest northwest edge of a path that would go towards the north-central area, Daniel shot three boys in the head from afar with his bow and arrows. Their dead bodies started to fall down the downward path like a scarlet water fountain.

Spriting and sprinting, Daniel didn't hesitate to jump from the edge of the beginning of the path that would go towards the north-central area and thus he jumped over the bodies and caught two other boys off guard.

Unable to properly react on time, they were shot in the head consecutively as for the other one boy, who caught a glimpse of this a few meters already far away from them; had his head decapited as Daniel delivered a side kick so powerful to his right side of the skull to the point of breaking his entire central spine line thus resulting in his head spinning on the ground.

If one were to look at their west side from the north-central area, they could witness the gateway control room from afar, although from the gateway control room, such view is not possible and instead, one would be made to think that there is in fact an area prior to that. However, that's just one of the many optical illusions of this place.

The Artucturs Waterway---more accurately put, is alternatively a never-ending labyrinth unless the one were to leave through the elevators and so on. But without them, there is not a single way to get out of here.

A larger concentration of students, or rather, six students were all present in the north-central area. An area so wide that is covered by empty areas below which would be filled with water; however, since the gateway controls that manipulate the amount of water can flow through the channels are turned off---no water is present. Anyone is free to walk through the areas below.

Instead of killing them with his weapons, Daniel went to the left side, right near a wall, before entering the area where he saw the six students from afar. Since that wall is an optical illusion, all Daniel had to do was take out the bottom boulder which is fragmented. As such, the north-central area control pannel was now open to Daniel.

Regarding the areas as a whole, this Waterway is divided in 13 areas as a whole. There are 5 areas covering the south side---two southwest areas, one south-central area, and two south-east central areas. On the center of the Waterway, there is the main gateway control room. Towards the east side, still in the same line as the center, there is an area and likewise the same applies to the west side. Therefore, it could be said that although the center side only contains one area, under the same line, there are two more. On the north side, there are five areas exactly like the south side. All of those areas have one particular control room that can be accessed by removing the fragmented boulder.

With this information in mind, Daniel went into the control room and opted to lock those people away since the control room can close the areas that are supposed to have water overflowing inside their channels. So, right now, the six students are trapped in that entire area and although they are "trapped" they can go towards the south direction and escape.

This control room, just like all the control rooms has footage; therefore Daniel can see their movements. The moment the six students started to run towards the south direction, Daniel deactivated the eight gateway control device, which made all the retaining water overflow into the respective channel at a brutal force.

Needless to say that those six students became victims of a water force that has half of the water strength of a tsunami. Their bodies were ripped to shreds as their organs quickly scattered throughout the violent water as a result.

At long last, only one more person remained.

That person was the sole survivor of the explosion of the first bomb to be detonated. That first bomb implanted on the very area that they all came from. Although it detonated leaving absolutely no survivors, there was still someone, who remained on the very edge of the elevator, incapable of moving, since her legs were blown off her torso.

Reaching the one of the elevator areas, on the north-west area, Daniel climbed the wide stairway and made his way to the elevator area, where he glanced at the last remaining girl without her legs.

Meekly and in pain, she erupted her head in Daniel's direction---as he continued to walk over the already-dead bodies.

".......Pl-Please......... Hel-lp meeeeeeeeeeeeeee........"

Her voice sounded as if she had chronic lung disease, but it was simply the result from the fact that thousand of cells inside her body are dying at this very moment. The blood pool around her is massive and it doesn't look like she's going to make it.

"No."

Although he had just denied her plead, Daniel was thinking of something. His instinct told him to trick the girl into going right up the elevator as a way to possibly making it out, but he was committing into creating a new pattern that didn't rely on the same patternology as his previous actions in the previous sections as well.

It went without saying that this was fun to Daniel. Creating patterns over and over just made everything much more fun; that couldn't be denied. As such, a person would usually laugh or be sadistic towards his own victim. But as far Daniel, he stood astride in that moment as he decided what he was going to to with her.

"....H-How---mean...... What did I ever do.... to.... deserve---"

"This is hard. You will die, but the question here is how. It has to be different, somehow... But, I think that this will do."

By fiddling with his mechanical cellphone which is actually a device that has complete control over this one particular section, Daniel started to turn off the regulations; one by one of the Waterway. As he was turning them all down, Daniel spoke his last words to the girl below him.

"Be grateful---this sight is inhuman for all that matters."

"---A-Ahhh...!?"

Daniel started to walk away and made his way towards the central area; where he would insert the component respectively and move on to another section. Regarding the girl who could not move but could barely speak---that girl to which Daniel did not even care to know her name---she witnessed the changes that started to immediately occur in the Waterway.

Each section has to abide regulations in order for humans to be inside them; otherwise they will die. In the first section, Daniel put a timer onto the countdown of the regulations and Rokoro experienced such result. Following that up, although the regulations weren't altered in the second section, Zwette and her comrades all met their ends. Likewise, the same applied to Karlos and his group. This would be different as the Artucturus Waterway would be one without the regulations.

All areas in the Arcturus Waterway entered the stage of meltdown---or how this place would naturally be in once Daniel exited the section and made the last call. The water was no longer calm and instead of having channels to properly circulate all the water; the channels retracted beneath the surface alongside all possible structures. As such, the Arcturus Waterway became a dark deep ocean filled overly sized whales below. Furthermore, the water temperature quickly grew colder and colder to the point where no human being could be within the water without dying in a matter of seconds. The water as well had been accustomed to the exact opposite temperature of the sun---thus ultimately, the girl was thorn apart by a 100-meter sized blue whale echoing her mouth as she devoured the last remaining human on this irregular section.