Hearing Nagu's words, the other death row inmates also came to their senses one after another.
Right. Why keep going forward? They could survive just as well by jumping back to the Sea View Platform. It was only ten steps away; to death row inmates like them, that was nothing worth mentioning. Even without using a spellcaster's power, they had ways to cross it.
However, when they turned around and saw Ash's Executioner growing larger again at a speed visible to the naked eye, they immediately realized what was going on. They cursed Nagu for being shameless, took the chance to gloat over Ash's situation, then lowered their heads and continued climbing along the Steel Wire.
Going backward was a trap.
Nagu's words were the tripwire that triggered it.
The moment Ash turned his head, he knew he had messed up, because after Nagu said those words, he saw his vote count growing at an exponential rate.
The audience was panicking. They were panicking!
Because what Nagu said was right. As long as Ash jumped backward, he could ruin the careful setup of Blood Moon Judgment. The Steel Wire training, the burning Purgatory Flame—none of it would have anything to do with Ash.
Yet his pleasant experience was a provocation to the audience—as a death row inmate, instead of repenting and admitting his crimes in Blood Moon Judgment, he was doubling down and trying to break the rules?!
It was like a student who had not done his homework not only refusing to admit his mistake, but when the teacher scolded him with, "Why did you even come to school?" suddenly realizing something and running straight out of school to play.
For such an immature wrongdoer, the audience, as the supervisors of society, would naturally give him a chance to