“My lady!”

Jessie, who belatedly noticed Irene being pushed down by the crowd, hurriedly chased after her.

Kuaaang-.

However, she was forced to stop as a huge demon beast resembling a bull suddenly appeared and blocked the way.

It was one of the demon beasts that had escaped from the beast training grounds, a species called ‘Minotas’.

As the Minotas charged forward, exhaling rough breaths, Jessie hastily dodged.

Kung-.

The two-story building that the Minotas rammed into collapsed in an instant.

Angered by its failed attack, the Minotas’s eyes turned bloodshot as it lunged at Jessie again.

“This is maddening!”

Jessie, whose feet were tied down by the Minotas when she needed to find Irene as quickly as possible, muttered a curse.

She wanted to defeat the Minotas in one breath and go look for Irene, but unfortunately, Jessie had no talent for combat.

She wanted to ask Jerdin or Raymond for help, but they were too busy dealing with Rambel to do so.

So what should she do?

As Jessie was contemplating while barely avoiding the Minotas’s attacks, her eyes widened as she saw something pitch black crawling up the Minotas’s body.

Could that be…?

Kkweeeek-.

Before Jessie could finish her thought, the Minotas fell with a shriek like a pig being slaughtered.

Rambel, whom Jerdin and Raymond had been struggling against, also collapsed.

“What in the…?”

Confused by the sudden turn of events, Raymond turned around in surprise as he felt an eerie presence behind him.

Kalos walked out of a half-collapsed building with long strides.

I’m sure I saw him going in the opposite direction of Esper Castle… how long has he been there?

Raymond stared at Kalos in great bewilderment, but Jerdin and Jessie remained calm.

Kalos glanced around briefly before asking Jessie.

“Where is Irene?”

Jessie, unable to even wipe the dust off her face properly, answered with a gloomy expression.

“My lady is not here.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“She was swept away by people fleeing in fear of the demon beasts… I’m sorry, master.”

Jessie bowed her head, unable to look Kalos straight in the face.

“I apologize, master.”

Jerdin, who had just realized that Irene was missing, also bowed his head in apology.

“…”

Kalos was about to say something about their failure to carry out his orders properly, but he didn’t.

Right now, finding Irene was more important than determining whose fault it was.

If they dawdled and the sun set, casting darkness over the territory, it would become even more difficult to find Irene, so they had to find her as quickly as possible.

Yes, this time I will definitely find her.

Kalos unleashed all the power he possessed.

The four lords who ruled the underground each had their own unique abilities, and Kalos’s ability was ‘shadow’, allowing him to handle all shadows in the world like his own limbs.

However, manipulating other shadows, especially those of living creatures, was a power-consuming task, so Kalos usually only used his own shadow.

Unless his physical condition was perfect, which it wasn’t, he tried not to touch other shadows, but given the situation, he had no choice.

The power Kalos unleashed covered the territory like a fog.

All the shadows in Esper territory – buildings, people, weeds strewn on the streets – became Kalos’s eyes, showing him the situation throughout the territory.

He saw people panicking in the sudden demon beast commotion, guards and knights calming them down and evacuating them to safe places, as well as rescuing those in danger.

“…”

He saw countless people, but Irene was nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, Irene, who had barely escaped from being swept away by the crowd, hid in a nearby building to avoid being caught up in the crowd again.

It was also to avoid being spotted by demon beasts.

However, the building she chose happened to be half-destroyed, as if it had been bombed by demon beasts. Dust fell from the collapsed ceiling.

‘I should leave right away.’

But where should I go?

I don’t even know where this is…

Irene looked outside through a small crack in the door, but no matter how much she looked, she couldn’t tell where she was.

To begin with, this was Irene’s first time out in Esper territory, so she had no idea where this place was.

She wanted to ask people, but everyone was too busy fleeing to help.

The one fortunate thing was that she could see Esper Castle in the distance.

…But why am I only thinking about going back?

Now is the perfect opportunity to escape when no one is watching me.

“…”

As this thought struck her like a bolt of lightning, Irene swallowed dryly and looked in the opposite direction of Esper Castle.

Judging by the fact that everyone was fleeing in that direction, the exit from the territory must be that way.

So if I follow the people, I can escape.

Just as Irene was about to take a step forward like someone possessed by a ghost.

Druk, kung-.

“Ugh!”

The sound of her falling on her bottom echoed loudly in the quiet building.

Thanks to that, Irene, now wide awake, lowered her head to see what she had tripped over.

“This is… a magic firecracker?”

It must have originally been a store selling firecrackers, as firecrackers were scattered on the floor.

Irene picked up a familiar object she found among them.

It was the hairpin she had received as the first prize in the balloon dart game.

She touched her hair just in case, but it felt empty.

It must have fallen off when she tripped over the magic firecracker.

“It’s better for you to keep this.”

Seeing the hairpin reminded her of when Kalos had personally pinned it in her hair.

Irene bit her lip as she picked up the hairpin.

Kalos probably made excuses because he found it ridiculous to give such a thing as a gift, or because he didn’t want to keep the hairpin.

But the touch of his hand on her hair at that time was uncharacteristically gentle and affectionate, which bothered her greatly.

Perhaps that’s why all the good things Kalos had done for her so far flashed through her mind like a panorama.

Starting with saving her from being burned at the stake after being accused of being a witch.

Taking care of her without lacking anything, even to the point of excess.

When the priests said she was indeed a witch and that there should be a witch trial, he not only believed in her until the end but also scolded the priests.

Although a person died in the process, if you think about it, that was the priest’s fault…

“What kind of nonsense am I thinking right now?”

Irene startled herself and covered her mouth with her hand.

No matter how wrong the priest was, killing a person was wrong.

Moreover, he even used the corpse to fool the other priests, so that was definitely Kalos’s fault.

What else did Kalos do wrong?

“…Nothing.”

If she had to nitpick, it would be suppressing her freedom, but even this was a bit ambiguous.

Apart from not being able to leave Esper Castle, she was acting freely.

Other than that, she couldn’t think of anything else Kalos had done wrong.

But she could think of so many things he had done well for her that it was confusing.

She felt foolish for having been so afraid of such a good person and trying to run away until now.

‘No, it’s natural to be afraid.’

Because she didn’t know why Kalos was being so good to her.

She had only been told that she was needed, but she had no idea where or how she was needed.

So while she thought it was natural to be afraid of Kalos, on the other hand, she felt there was no need to be this afraid.

Although she didn’t know what Kalos wanted, it didn’t seem to be anything bad.

If he had bad intentions, he wouldn’t have treated her this well.

Then is there any need to run away?

Even if I escape, I have nowhere to go…

“…”

Along with the fact that she had nowhere to go, the loneliness of being left alone in the world struck her to the bone, and her eyes grew hot.

Irene didn’t want to look at the hairpin anymore, but she couldn’t bring herself to throw it away, so she put it in her pocket.

Then she bowed her head, covering her hot eyes. Her slender shoulders trembled slightly.

Kung-.

“…?”

Irene, who had been crying silently for a while, raised her head when she heard a sound like something breaking.

Something was seen moving in the dark interior of the store.

A large, hairy spike?

No, that’s not a spike…

“Spider… leg.”

Kakang-.

As if to confirm her answer, a spider as big as a human body came down the wall.

Six eyeballs, each rolling in different directions, all focused on Irene at once.

“…”

Irene was frozen like a statue, unable to run away or even scream at the hideously gruesome sight that sent chills down her spine.

Her tear-stained face turned pale.

The spider, now fully on the floor, stretched its fluffy legs towards Irene.

“…!”

Belatedly coming to her senses, Irene hastily rolled to the side to avoid the spider’s attack.

Jjiik, her expensive dress was mercilessly torn, exposing her bare skin, but there was no time to worry about that.

Irene threw whatever she could get her hands on at the spider.

Pebbles, wood chips, unidentifiable fragments – she threw them randomly, but none of them had any impact.

Except for one thing – the magic firecracker.

Kwaang-.

The moment the magic firecracker Irene threw hit the spider’s body, there was a huge explosion, and fire caught on its fluffy body.

Kieeeeek-.

The spider started writhing, screaming as if in great pain.

As a result, pillars crumbled, and the ceiling that had been barely holding up began to collapse rapidly.

I need to get out before it collapses.

Irene jumped up and ran towards the exit.

Just as she was about to squeeze through the half-open door, a sticky spider web flew and entangled her legs.

“Ah!”

Because of this, Irene couldn’t get through the door and fell right in front of it.

Only the hairpin that had been in her pocket flew out, slipping through the door crack.

Jjangrang-.

The fragments of the Mermaid’s Tear, shattered by the strong impact, scattered in all directions, but for some reason, the shadow didn’t disperse and remained in place.

It was a bizarre phenomenon, but Irene, inside the collapsing building, couldn’t see it.

The spider, having barely put out the fire on its body, came running towards Irene with its eyes rolling wildly.

Irene wanted to run away, but she couldn’t because both her legs were tied up in the spider web.

‘Am I going to die like this?’

Resigned to everything, Irene squeezed her eyes shut.

In her blackened vision, Kalos’s image appeared hazily.

“I will definitely come to get you. You just need to wait for me quietly.”

They say that when you’re about to die, the face of the person you want to see the most appears, but it was ironic that the face of Kalos, whom she had been so afraid of, appeared.

But I won’t be able to solve this mystery.

Because I’m going to die here.

Just as Irene was curling up her body, hoping to die without pain.

Kwajijik, kung-.

There was a sound of something being violently destroyed.

Kieeeeek-.

Soon after, as a scream full of pain rang out, Irene raised her head in surprise.

Then she saw a man standing with his back to the setting sun at the completely destroyed exit.

“I’ve finally found you.”

It was Kalos.