The cell block echoed with the shrill screams of twisting steel as Shun Kaien kicked down another reinforced cell door.
The freed prisoners poured out like locusts, clawing at the fallen guards for weapons, keys, anything they could get their hands on.
In minutes, the entire floor—Crimson Hell—was in chaos.
Shun stood amid the storm, silent.
He didn't need speeches.He didn't need their loyalty.They would follow him, for now, because chaos was their only hope.But when it served him, he would abandon them just as easily.
He moved first, leading the wave toward Level Two: Beast Hell.
The warden beasts would come.He would make sure of it.
The descent into Beast Hell was a plunge into nightmare.
Monsters. Abominations.Creatures the world had forgotten—or chosen to.
Chicken snakes, scorpion hybrids, human-faced lions—their grotesque forms waited in the darkness like sentinels of despair.
But the true master of this level was unmistakable.
The Sphinx.
A towering lion-like beast with a grotesque human face twisted in an eternal snarl. It lazed in the center of the cavern when Shun and the mob entered.
Bullets rained down on the warden beasts as the prisoners unloaded their stolen weapons, briefly gaining the upper hand.
But the Sphinx?It barely stirred.
When it finally opened its eyes, fury exploded.
It tore into the mob like a demon unleashed.Prisoners were crushed, mauled, ripped apart in seconds.
Bullets bounced harmlessly off its hide.
Shun analyzed it coolly.
This world loves monsters.But monsters have blind spots.
He used the chaos, slipping through the carnage like a shadow.
When the Sphinx lunged into the crowd, tearing men apart with its fangs, Shun leapt.
He didn't shout.He didn't announce his move.
He stepped on the heads of his would-be allies, using their bodies as stepping stones, propelling himself into the air.
First Gate: Open.
His heart pounded as the first gate unleashed the limiters in his body.
Pain.Heat.Power.
Every fiber of his muscles screamed.
He didn't hesitate.
His foot connected squarely under the beast's jaw.
The impact rippled through its skull like a cannon blast.
The Sphinx roared, stumbling back in shock—its massive body crashing into the cavern wall.
Shun didn't give it time to recover.
He blurred forward, grabbing its mane mid-air, and with a surge of taijutsu-enhanced strength, drove its head into the stone floor.
Crack.
The ground cratered under the beast's weight.
It didn't rise.
The mob froze for a breath.
Then, chaos exploded anew.
System Notification:Target eliminated: Sphinx.Reputation Points gained: 3,000.Total Reputation Points: 8,500.
Shun exhaled, blood pounding in his ears.
The beast was strong.But not invincible.
Still... he could feel it.
This was only a glimpse of the power Impel Down held in its depths.
The remaining warden beasts faltered, eyes flicking between Shun and the corpses.
Some tried to flee toward Level Three—Hunger Hell.
They never made it.
A presence descended from above.
Shun's instincts screamed before his eyes even registered her.
Sadi.Head Jailer of Impel Down.Commander of the Four Beast Wardens.
She stood amid the chaos, trident in hand, surrounded by her towering beast commanders.
Her gaze swept over the battlefield, cold, bored, dangerous.
"Retreat and I'll execute you myself," she said to the faltering warden beasts, voice calm, without needing to shout.
They obeyed.
Not because they believed they could win.
But because they feared her more than death.
Shun watched her carefully.
This is different.This is authority.Not brute strength, not fear, but a predator who knows she owns this place.
The prisoners saw it too.
Their cheers died.
Even the most crazed among them froze, the realization dawning.
Sadi was not a beast.
She was something worse.
Shun smiled coldly.
Finally, an opponent worth testing Might Guy's limits in this world.
But he wouldn't rush.
He would watch.Wait.
Pick his moment.
This was no longer a riot.
This was war.
And he would fight it on his terms.