Judas looked at the Black Sun with certainty.
‘That must be Eliya.’
He didn’t know how many days it had been since he arrived in the Netherworld.
There was no day or night, so the concept of dates didn’t exist here.
He couldn’t even tell how much time had passed in his perception.
It took a while, but it was much earlier than expected.
Honestly, he was worried about his mind wearing thin as he wandered aimlessly.
‘Did that woman bring me here…? If so, that person must be…’
Judas slowly lowered his gaze from the sun.
‘…But that’s way too high, isn’t it?’
The sun floating in the air was at a height unreachable by human power.
The area was just a plain, with no way to climb up.
‘And what’s with those things down below?’
The information he could gather from afar was limited to this.
It was only a conclusion without any answers.
To learn more, he had to get closer.
“Your Grace.”
“……”
“Your Grace?”
“Ah, um. Yes.”
Balak cleared his throat and brushed his face.
Judas thought he understood why Balak seemed dazed.
Balak and Narcissi’s five siblings.
They were floundering there, completely engulfed in certain emotions.
To Judas’s eyes, they were an unpleasant sight, but it might be different for Balak.
“First, it seems there’s a lady over there, so let’s get closer.”
“…Eliya is over there?”
“Yeah? Can’t you see?”
“That Black Sun, right?”
“That’s right.”
Balak still couldn’t understand Judas’s words.
The pitch-black sun was certainly noticeable and alien.
However, that alone couldn’t make it Eliya.
On the other hand, Judas was also puzzled.
‘…Is it just me who feels this way?’
Objectively speaking, Balak’s reaction wasn’t wrong.
What’s there was just a black sun.
It sparkled dark but didn’t guarantee it was Eliya.
Still, Judas was certain it was Eliya.
Without an inch of doubt.
“It’s hard to explain, but that sun is the lady.”
“Is that so… Since you’re the one who came here looking for Eliya, there must be something different about it.”
Balak didn’t comprehend, but he accepted it.
The two slowly approached under the sun.
A soul worn down could do anything unpredictable.
Responses vary greatly.
Sometimes they become aggressive, or they dive deep into their own hearts like Balak.
What about those five?
Though they weren’t attacking each other, they could charge at Judas.
So the two were extremely cautious.
At that moment, as they approached,
-Kiing!
A sharp noise pierced their ears.
The sun suddenly expanded.
Pulsating like a heart, it spewed black light in all directions.
Along with that light, a black amorphous substance shot explosively.
Like lava bombs, they fell towards Judas and Balak.
“Watch out!”
Judas pushed Balak aside and threw himself to the side.
A black substance fell where they had been standing.
It was a sticky liquid, resembling lava.
The black lava gradually seeped into the ground.
As it tinged the surroundings black and seemed to flare up, it returned to pristine grass.
The lava wasn’t just targeting them.
It poured recklessly over the five right beneath the sun.
“Ahhh—!”
They screamed and ran in all directions.
The lava that clung to their bodies wouldn’t come off like sticky oil.
It burrowed into their skin, igniting flames as it burned continuously.
“Ugh! Cough! Ahhh—!”
Eventually, a few lay rolling on the ground.
The lava that touched the grass and anemones slowly pulled away.
While the grass burned and regenerated, the anemones were unaffected by the flames.
When the fire was finally extinguished, the five revealed their red flesh beneath the melted skin, groaning in agony.
Balak helplessly watched the scene.
“……”
Judas had no time to spare for him.
He didn’t know how Eliya was doing, but she certainly didn’t look good.
They had to rush to get her out.
“Let’s go.”
“…Okay.”
The five soon regained their senses.
After all, this was the Netherworld.
Physically, they couldn’t die.
Their wounds healed again, and consciousness returned.
However, they murmured with voices even duller and more maddened than before.
Their wishes.
They poured out blame directed at Eliya.
Judas silently approached the displeasing sound.
With the field being wide, the distance was long.
Several times, black lava poured down again.
At those times, Judas and Balak avoided it while the five burned and screamed again.
After repeating this, they finally reached beneath the sun.
“Fortunately, they’re not attacking us.”
The five merely murmured words of curses, lost in thought.
Judas and Balak didn’t register at all.
“…..”
Balak had no reply to Judas’s comment of relief.
He only gazed at his lost children with a heavy heart.
In the meantime, Judas lightly jumped in place.
‘I don’t think it’s going to work, but…’
It’s not a height reachable by human strength.
It was far away like a mountain peak.
Even though he possessed transcendental physical abilities in reality, he couldn’t reach that height.
Just because this was the Netherworld didn’t mean he could fly freely.
‘I can’t give up without trying.’
While loosening up by jumping lightly, he suddenly leaped with all his strength against the ground.
The earth fell away quickly.
Using magical power, he leapt with the strength surpassing that of an ordinary human but still couldn’t reach the sun.
-Thud!
The landing sound was loud.
Dust and grass flew up as he waved his hand.
“Surely not… Can someone cast a floating spell to lift me up?”
“That spell can only be sustained by the single wizard who casts it.”
“But the lady has flown with several people…”
“……”
Balak quietly looked at the sun above.
It was high.
Even if he cast the floating spell alone, he couldn’t reach that height.
Teleportation might be possible.
But it would be meaningless for him to reach the sun.
Unlike Judas, he didn’t feel that the sun was Eliya.
He could teleport with Judas, but he couldn’t endure this distance either.
It was something only possible for Eliya, like Judas said.
However, that didn’t mean there was no method.
“Are you sure that’s Eliya?”
Balak asked for confirmation one last time.
“I’m sure.”
“Then, what do you plan to do once you get there? Do you have a method?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to go up to find out.”
“…You’re still reckless.”
But it was thanks to that recklessness that the current Judas existed, and Eliya could find peace through him.
A madman who would do his job even at the cost of his life.
At first, Balak thought he was just an average crazy person, but now he knew.
He wasn’t just a little crazy, he was outright mad.
And he had to acknowledge that this madman was remarkably reliable.
“I’ll pave the way to lift you up.”
“Is that possible?”
“Yeah. I can’t send you directly, but I can create a path up. However, as you can see, it’s very high. So, that path will be lengthy.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should care…”
Without further ado, Balak used magic.
Scarlet light flickered in his crimson eyes.
Orange flames burst from his hands.
The flames sprang up, firmly rooted in the ground, twisting and spiraling toward the sky.
Finally, the fiery path reached up to the sun.
The path of fire was complete.
“This flame can be stepped on. But it’ll be hot.”
Judas didn’t mind.
After all, he was immune to any flame.
Thanks to being a Perfect Moon.
But.
“I don’t like this… Aah! It’s hot!”
The moment the flames brushed against him, he recoiled in panic.
The heat was intense enough that it brought tears to his eyes, something he hadn’t felt in a long time.
“I told you it would matter.”
“Guhh…”
Flustered, Judas opened his status window.
There was no Perfect Moon.
Not even a trace of its effect.
He quickly understood the reason.
‘…There’s no moon here.’
That power originated entirely from the moon.
But in the Netherworld, there was neither sun nor moon.
‘No wonder it felt a bit off when using magic earlier…’
In other words, walking on that path meant he had to climb up while burning in flames.
“Can you do it?”
“There’s no way I can’t.”
He could get burned.
He might die.
Yet the conclusion remained the same.
Judas didn’t hesitate.
“Who else will do it if not me?”
“……”
“Well, if I can’t do it, then screw it, I’d rather die than be a knight who can’t even save one lady.”
“Very well.”
Balak decided to focus on maintaining the magic from below.
As Judas took a few deep breaths and prepared to step onto the path,
-Kiiing!
An even sharper, more piercing noise erupted.
Without even realizing it, both Judas and Balak clasped their ears.
The sun pulsated, growing and shrinking repeatedly.
Then, black flames poured down from the sun.
It looked like blood was raining down, and it formed distinguishable chunks.
The flames were taking on a specific shape.
“Eliya…?”
It was both a call and an explanation of the phenomenon unfolding before him.
The black flames raining down were Eliya’s form.
The young Eliya he had met five years ago.
The burning silhouette of her fell upside down.
As if it were rain.
It dropped towards the panicking Judas.
As she got closer, she opened her mouth.
“This is fun.”
A cold sneer.
Those were words he’d heard five years ago.
When he had knelt before her after the possession, she looked down on him and spoke those words.
Recalling those words, the young Eliya seized Judas by the neck.
Judas hurriedly tried to shake her off.
“What the hell…!”
But she didn’t stop and pounced again.
Repeating the same words.
“This is fun.”
Then another fell down.
She said something different.
“Get rid of him except for that one.”
That too was a line he’d heard the first time they met.
She rushed towards him as if to block him.
Judas wouldn’t take that lying down.
He dodged the Eliya made of black flames and stepped onto the fiery path.
The soles of his feet quickly became hot.
“Your Grace! I beg you!”
He shouted before dashing forward.
Climbing the burning path.
Towards Eliya.
Balak had no time to reply.
He was also dealing with the fallen Eliya.
The child Eliya who approached him uttered different words than what she spoke to Judas.
“Teacher Sardis often sent those kinds of looks since long ago.”
“……”
Balak’s eyes widened in shock.
Those were words that stabbed at the guilt birthed from his negligence.
He clenched his teeth.
He didn’t know what this phenomenon was.
But it wasn’t real.
It was merely an illusion, so he had to endure it.
What mattered now was sending Judas up there.
His children were also being similarly tormented by the burning Eliya.
The pouring words became wounds.
The five siblings resisted by hitting and pushing Eliya, but it was pointless.
The black sun continued to rain down the burning Eliya, grabbing, choking, and incinerating them.
As if it were trying to carry the sparks to burn together.
‘Ah.’
From the sky, Eliya fell like black rain.
Continuously, endlessly.
Whenever she touched a person, she spat out words of resentment and attacked.
If she couldn’t touch a person, the fallen Eliya shattered, crumbled, and scattered.
The five children were engulfed by the black flames, screaming as they burned.
Balak thought.
‘This is hell.’
A fitting one for him.
*
Judas ran along the path of flames.
The blackened Eliya kept falling without rest.
Some Eliya blocked his path.
A black flame standing on the crimson fire laughed at Judas.
It charged at him, spewing words he had heard before.
“You dare not kneel before me and arrogantly meet my gaze.”
Small hands tightened around his neck.
Judas had to struggle to shake her off.
Despite being a much younger Eliya, she was surprisingly strong.
The state of his own body was already a mess too.
Thanks to running on Balak’s flames.
Another Eliya came up from behind and grabbed his legs.
This Eliya said something different.
“I couldn’t decide whether to kill or save you, standing at the same height as me.”
If he hesitated for even a moment…
The plunging Eliya would fall over him.
Thud.
An unpleasant explosion.
The Eliya that fell headfirst and collided with him disintegrated into black lava, scattering everywhere.
The falling lava spoke without a mouth.
“What should I do?”
“……”
It was a horrid sight that made him want to vomit.
Even though it wasn’t the real Eliya.
How dare they act out in her shape was just a bit low.
Judas gritted his teeth and threw them off again.
He ran once more.
On the flaming path of crimson.
The destination still felt far away.
Meanwhile, Eliya kept falling.
The fallen Eliya fought against someone on the ground.
Balak or the five siblings of the Bevel direct lineage.
If none faced her, she’d simply drop and burst.
“Or if you become my enemy, what will I do then?”
It was a question Eliya had asked after fighting Lindell back in the training camp.
Judas remembered every single one.
But he had no strength to respond.
He threw off the one that clung to him and ran again.
Eliya kept appearing.
Blocking him, capturing him, dropping down upon him, and provoking him.
She filled his ears with unpleasant words like painting black oil over memories.
As if to prevent him from approaching.
Trying to overwrite the memories, wishing to fade from this world.
“No matter how clever and exceptional a creature is, if you kill it and cook it, it’s nothing more than meat.”
The words he recalled when he first brought the Moon Deer.
Sometimes, there were words that weren’t memories shared between him and Eliya.
Through Eliya’s face, entirely different voices spewed out.
“Where do you think you are, sitting on the bare ground, exposing your ankles? Are you bragging about being the descendant of a vulgar bitch?”
An old voice he hadn’t heard in a long time.
He barely recalled it.
It was Narcissi’s voice.
He shoved away the child Eliya attempting to slap his cheek.
As he tried to run again, he found the small Eliya crouched and trembling in the middle of the path.
Judas paused for a moment.
The voice echoed directly in his brain.
As if he was hearing her inner thoughts.
‘I’m scared. I’m scared. What are you trying to do? Don’t do this to me. Please, just leave me alone…’
He had never seen such a weak Eliya before.
It was the first time he had witnessed something like this.
But he knew when it was.
Her birthday.
Sardis.
“……”
The curled-up Eliya was burning black.
The Eliya who was only thirteen five years ago.
Judas slowly and steadily walked toward her.
He gently wrapped his arms around her shoulder.
Her entire body touching the flames was unbearably hot.
He felt like his burnt vocal cords would drop off.
He barely said.
Returning the last words Eliya left with him.
“It’s okay.”
If he could save you, then I truly am okay.
No matter what price it takes, he will succeed.
The little curled-up Eliya scattered away as if in response.
Judas glanced up once before running again.
‘I’ll be there soon.’
He couldn’t stop anymore.
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