A completely unexpected situation. The executioner's footsteps drew closer and closer.
I racked my brains desperately.
However, what I faced right now was a situation I had never once encountered while going through the prologue hundreds of times. No sharp solution came to mind on the spot.
Of course, I knew a tremendous amount about this game—no, this world—with its massive degree of freedom.
But that only applied when I was given physical and spatial freedom.
I didn't know how to get out of a situation where my hands were tied tightly behind my back and there was nowhere to run. Even less so without a status window or skill window like in the game.
"Any last words?"
A voice rang out in the meantime. Fortunately, it wasn't directed at me.
The one who received that question was the person standing at the very front among the several prisoners dragged out to the execution platform. Basically, the guy who was something like the ringleader of the criminals here.
"Last words, huh... Ridiculous."
The man snorted at the executioner's question. Putting on airs like that, he looked as though he had some move prepared.
"Stupid bastards. You should've cut my head off right away."
Along with those confident words, a faint blue haze rose up. A twisted smile appeared at the corners of the guy's mouth.
Yet the next moment—
"Huh...!"
Panic crossed the man's face. Something didn't seem to be going his way.
And then—
SHHK—
With a sharply swung sword, the guy's head fell.
"What cliched last words. Next."
The anticlimactic death of the ringleader, who had acted as if he had a hidden move even while bound. It happened in an instant.
Confusion and terror crept onto the faces of the remaining prisoners.
Sure, I wasn't flustered. Because I already knew.
"..."
Quite apart from that, though, watching a severed head bounce and roll across the floor of the execution platform was pretty unsettling.
In the game, it might have been a scene meant to create light tension and interest during the prologue, but I was experiencing it in real life.
"Now, next. Any last words?"
The words were repeated once again. The executioner roughly kicked the ringleader's corpse aside and walked toward the next target for execution.
And in time with that, a mage standing a short distance away twirled his staff at his signal.
That was the reason the scheme of the ringleader, who had been putting on airs a moment ago, had been neutralized.
'Mana Nullification Spell.'
A spell devised to prevent sudden outbursts from prisoners facing their end, just like a moment ago.
The patterns for that spell were probably engraved all over the floor of this execution platform. And that mage up ahead would be the one responsible for activating it.
Considering that some pretty dangerous people were mixed in among prisoners sentenced to death, it was a reasonably sensible system of preparation.
In fact, it had thwarted whatever trick the ringleader tried to pull just a moment ago.
Granted, I didn't know the exact principle behind it. It wasn't something I had any particular need to know.
From what I'd heard in passing while playing a mage, I think they said it worked by absorbing the target's mana.
"Gah—!"
In the meantime, the executions proceeded steadily. Three or four corpses were already sprawled across the execution platform floor.
I scanned my surroundings once more with urgent eyes.
There was still no opening to escape through.
The story progression itself was the same as what I knew, but the level of security from the soldiers guarding the perimeter of the execution platform was far stricter.
As if only the difficulty had gone up, to the letter.
Damn Hell Mode.
My turn approached little by little. I racked my brains desperately.
I can't be executed like this without even making it past the prologue.
Right now, I had neither a status window nor skills. All I possessed was countless pieces of information about this world.
'Information!'
My eyes glinted as I glanced at the executioner and the mage.
The greatest weapon I currently had.
I knew plenty of information that could throw them off balance.
From things close by regarding the surrounding criminal organizations, to things far away regarding the powerhouse figures famous across the entire continent.
That was strictly a lesser-of-two-evils choice, though.
There was a limit to how much a mere petty criminal like me could bluff, and in all likelihood, I would end up dragged down into the underground torture chamber anyway.
In other words, a brief extension on my lifespan.
Still, I had no choice.
Because the executioner's footsteps were already right in front of me.
"Any last words?"
Footsteps came to a dead halt in front of me. Words spoken casually. I drew in a breath.
And the very moment I was about to spit out a piece of information to throw the guy off—
"...?"
I felt something.
A strange feeling. A sensation I had never once experienced in my entire life.
I turned my head.
Something was coming from the floor of the execution platform and the mage up ahead.
'...Mana?'
The flow of mana.
A sensation felt the exact same moment the mage's staff pointed this way and the Mana Nullification Spell engraved on the execution platform floor activated on me.
Wait. The method of the Mana Nullification Spell installed here is...
'Absorbing the target's mana.'
Something flashed into my mind right then.
-Wait, who couldn't clear it with an infinite mana cheat?
└Then would you like to try it yourself?
The past conversation brushed through my head.
'...No way.'
The thought crossed my mind that even though I had entered Hell Difficulty, I might not be completely empty-handed after all.
If that cheat-like trait had really been applied—
VWOOM—
There was no time to ponder any further. The situation was already unfolding.
"...Huh?"
A bewildered mutter came from the mage standing up ahead. As if sensing something strange, he was looking back and forth between his staff and the floor of the execution platform.
And then the vibration began.
Rumble, rumble...
At the exact same time the mage's staff, which had been absorbing faint currents of energy, glowed hot blue, the floor of the execution platform began to shake.
"Wh-What is this...?"
As the floor suddenly trembled, the executioner stepped back without realizing it. Just as I had originally planned, the guy was thrown into panic.
Even though I hadn't spilled a single piece of information, of course.
"There should definitely be plenty of capacity left. Why is this suddenly overloading... Wait, wait!"
An urgent cry from the mage. Shock crept across his face as he stared at his staff, which had already slipped out of his control and begun to crack.
CRACK—
Both the staff and the floor of the execution platform shook as light began leaking out of them. The instant everyone around turned pale with instinctive dread—
"Eat shit."
The final words I had to offer the executioner slipped from my mouth.
FWOOOSH!
Unable to contain the mana surpassing their set limits, dazzling light burst forth from the staff and the execution platform all at once.
KABOOM—!
A massive explosion engulfed the execution platform and everything around it.