Deep beneath the Underground City of the Capital Military Region, large numbers of soldiers stood in silence, facing a Bronze Giant Door a full kilometer long.
Even in the incomparably vast underground space, the soldiers' fanaticism remained unaffected as stiff-faced soldiers periodically dragged the corpses of those who had been shot in the head away from around them.
Standing at the very front of the entire formation were three top-ranking generals in military-green uniforms, their shoulders adorned with glittering stars. They, too, were staring excitedly at the gate before them.
"It opened."
"The gate is opening!!"
"The passage sealing us in and separating the two worlds is finally opening!!"
Their eyes brimmed with tears, or perhaps with fervent blood.
Overwhelmed by their excitement, the three seemed unable to control their forms. One white snake head after another suddenly burst from their scalps, coiling above their heads in grotesque shapes resembling skeletal serpents.
Blood and mucus from their torn skin slowly dripped from the snake heads, while madness and desire filled their golden slit pupils.
When the Bronze Gate finally opened, their race and civilization would be reborn!
Their descendants and their people would finally escape that Avici Hell forever!!
"Whoosh—whoosh."
The wind howled.
Through the Bronze Giant Door, which had opened to a width half as large as a human head, streams of Black Mist carrying the stench of sulfur and decay came roaring out.
Whenever this Black Mist swept across the sturdy alloy floor, it seemed to corrode the metal, leaving behind one "scar" after another. If a whole tank were parked in front of the gate, it would probably be corroded into metal fragments within minutes. As for Awakened Ones, the corrosion would begin with their eyeballs, and eventually not even their bones would remain.
The three Mutants