The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 169

Judas was certain as he gazed at the black sun.

‘That’s Eliza.’

He didn’t know how many days it had been since he arrived in the underworld.

There were no days and nights here, so the concept of time didn’t exist.

He couldn’t even gauge how much time had passed.

It had taken a long time, but it was still much earlier than expected.

Honestly, he had been worried that his mind would wear down as he wandered aimlessly.

‘Did that woman bring me here?… If so, then that person is probably…’

Judas slowly lowered his gaze from the sun.

‘…But that’s really high, isn’t it?’

The sun floating in the air was at a height that could not be reached by human strength.

The area around was nothing but plains, with no paths to climb.

‘And why are those things down there acting like that?’

The only information he could gather from this distance was this much.

It was all just unfounded speculation.

If he wanted more details, he would need to get closer.

“Your Grace.”

“…….”

“Your Grace?”

“Ah, um. Yeah.”

Barak cleared his throat and wiped his face.

Judas thought he understood why he was so distracted.

Barak and Narcissa’ five siblings.

They were struggling over there, fully immersed in a particular emotion.

It was something Judas personally found unpleasant, but it probably didn’t seem the same to Barak.

“I think that young lady is over there, so let’s approach her.”

“…Eliza is over there?”

“Pardon? Can you not see?”

“That black sun, are you talking about that?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Barak still didn’t seem to understand Judas’s words.

The dark sun was indeed striking and unusual.

However, that alone couldn’t be a reason to believe it was Eliza.

Meanwhile, Judas also felt puzzled.

‘…Am I the only one sensing this?’

Objectively, Barak’s reaction wasn’t wrong.

All that was there was just the black sun.

It was glowing darkly, which made it special, but there was no guarantee it was Eliza.

Yet Judas was certain it was Eliza.

Without a single doubt.

“It’s hard to explain, but it’s the young lady. That sun.”

“I see… You came here to find Eliza in a living body, so there must be something different about it.”

Barak didn’t understand but accepted it.

The two of them slowly approached beneath the sun.

A soul that had worn down could do unpredictable things.

Their reactions could vary widely.

Some might become aggressive, while others, like Barak, might just sink into their own thoughts.

What about those five?

They weren’t attacking each other, but they might charge at Judas upon seeing him.

Thus, both were extremely cautious.

And then, at one point while approaching…

-Kyiing!

A sharp noise pierced their ears.

The sun suddenly expanded.

It pulsated like a heartbeat, then emitted black light in all directions.

With the light, a dark, shapeless object was shot out in every direction.

Like molten lava, it fell toward Judas and Barak.

“Watch out!”

Judas pushed Barak aside and threw himself to the side.

The black substance fell where they had been standing.

It was a sticky liquid, like molten lava.

The black lava slowly seeped into the ground.

The surrounding area turned black, and it seemed to be burning, but then quickly revived as normal grass.

That molten lava wasn’t just aimed at them.

It poured onto the five people right beneath the sun.

“Wahhh—!”

They screamed and ran around in all directions.

The lava that clung to their bodies wouldn’t come off, like sticky oil.

It burrowed into their skin, ignited flames, and kept burning.

“Ahh! Ughhh—!”

Eventually, some of them collapsed on the ground.

The lava that touched the grass and anemones gradually detached.

The grass caught fire but then regenerated, while the anemones were unaffected by the flames.

When the fire finally died down, the five of them lay there, their melted skin revealing red flesh beneath, groaning in agony.

Barak could only watch helplessly at the scene.

“……”

Judas didn’t have the luxury of worrying about him.

He didn’t know what condition Eliza was in, but at least it didn’t look good.

He had to hurry and get them out.

“Let’s go.”

“…Alright.”

The five of them soon regained their senses.

After all, this was the underworld.

Physically, they couldn’t die.

Their wounds healed, and they regained consciousness.

However, they muttered in a more dazed, crazed voice than before.

Their desires.

They poured out their resentment toward Eliza.

Judas silently approached, ignoring the unpleasant sound they were making.

The field was as wide as the distance was long.

Along the way, black lava would burst forth several times.

At that, Judas and Barak avoided it, while the five others were once again burned by the flames, screaming.

After repeating this several times, they finally reached beneath the sun.

“Fortunately, they’re not attacking us.”

The five only muttered cursed words in a daze.

They didn’t even notice Judas and Barak.

“…….”

At Judas’s words of relief, Barak couldn’t respond.

He simply watched the dead children with a troubled look in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Judas lightly jumped up and down in place.

‘It doesn’t seem like it’ll work…’

It was too high for a human to reach.

It was far, like the peak of a mountain.

Even though he had transcendental physical abilities in reality, he couldn’t reach that height.

Being in the underworld didn’t allow for free flight either.

‘I can’t give up without trying.’

While lightly jumping to loosen up, at some point, he suddenly kicked the ground with all his might.

The ground quickly moved away.

He used magic, transcending ordinary human strength, but still couldn’t reach the sun.

-Thunk!

The sound of landing was loud.

He waved his hand through the dust and grass as he muttered.

“I knew it wouldn’t work… Could you possibly lift me with floating magic or something?”

“That magic is something only the caster can handle.”

“But the young lady can fly even with multiple people…”

“……”

Barak silently looked up at the sun.

It was high.

Even if he used the floating magic alone, he couldn’t reach that height.

Perhaps teleportation could work.

But it would be meaningless for him to touch the sun.

Unlike Judas, he didn’t feel that the sun was Eliza.

It was possible to teleport with Judas, but the distance was still too much to manage.

As Judas said, it was something only Eliza could do.

That didn’t mean there was absolutely no way.

“Are you sure that’s Eliza?”

Barak asked for confirmation one more time.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Then, what do you plan to do when you reach it? Is there a way?”

“I don’t know. We’ll only know when we try.”

“…You’re still reckless.”

But thanks to that recklessness, Judas existed in the present, and Eliza was able to find rest through him.

A madman who always had to do his duty, even if it meant death.

At first, he thought he was just some madman, but now he knew.

He wasn’t just any madman—he was truly a crazy person.

And he had to admit that this crazy person was more reliable than he had thought.

“I’ll make a way to send you up.”

“Is that possible?”

“Yes. I can’t send you directly, but I can make a path to climb. But, as you can see, it’s very high. The path will be long because of that.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It will matter…”

Without further explanation, Barak used magic.

Red eyes glowed as crimson flickered.

From his hands, orange flames erupted.

The flames, rooted to the ground, twisted and spiraled toward the sky.

The swirling flames finally reached in front of the sun.

A path of fire was complete.

“It’s a flame you can step on, but it’ll be hot.”

Judas didn’t care.

After all, he was immune to all fire.

Thanks to his perfect moon trait.

But…

“I don’t really… Ah, it’s hot!”

The moment the flames brushed past, he was burned and hurriedly stepped back.

The fire, which he hadn’t felt in a long time, was so hot that it brought tears to his eyes.

“Didn’t I tell you it would matter?”

“Ugh…”

Flustered, Judas opened his status window.

There was no perfect moon.

Even the discovery of the revelation was missing.

He quickly understood why.

‘…There is no moon here.’

That power came from the moon.

But, in the underworld, there was neither the sun nor the moon.

‘No wonder magic felt strange when I used it earlier…’

In other words,

Walking this path meant he would have to climb while burning in the flames.

“Do you think you can do it?”

“Even if I can’t, I have to.”

He would get burned.

He might die.

But, the conclusion remained the same.

Judas didn’t hesitate.

“If I don’t do it, who will?”

“…….”

“If I can’t protect even one young lady, then it’s better to die.”

“Alright.”

Barak focused on securing the magic from below.

As Judas took a few deep breaths and prepared to climb the path…

-Kiiying!

A much sharper and more piercing noise erupted.

Judas and Barak instinctively covered their ears.

The sun pulsated, growing larger and smaller in repetition.

Black flames poured down from the sun.

It seemed to pour like blood, and then formed distinct chunks.

The flames took on a specific shape.

“Eliza…?”

It was both a call for her and an explanation of the phenomenon unfolding before his eyes.

The black flames raining down like a storm took the form of Eliza.

The young Eliza he had met five years ago.

The blackened, burning form of her fell upside down.

As if it were rain.

She crashed down toward Judas, who was in shock.

She grew closer and opened her mouth.

“It’s fun.”

A cold sneer.

It was the same thing she had said five years ago.

When she had looked down on him after he knelt before her just after possession.

As she spoke those words, the young Eliza strangled Judas.

Judas hurriedly tried to pull her off.

“What is this…!”

But she didn’t stop; she kept charging at him.

Repeating the same words.

“It’s fun.”

Then, another one fell.

She said something different.

“Get rid of everyone except for him.”

It was also something she had said when they first met.

She charged at him, as if trying to block him.

Judas didn’t give in.

He avoided the black-flamed Elizas and climbed up the flames.

The soles of his feet grew hot quickly.

“Your Grace! Please!”

He shouted and rushed forward.

He rode up the hot path.

Toward Eliza.

Barak had no time to answer.

He too was dealing with the fallen Eliza.

The young Eliza who approached him spoke a different line from the one she had spoken to Judas.

“Teacher Sardis often sent such looks in the past.”

“……”

Barak’s eyes shook violently.

It was a remark that stirred up the guilt born of his laziness.

He gritted his teeth.

He didn’t know what this phenomenon was.

But it wasn’t real.

It was only an illusion, so he had to endure it.

What mattered now was getting Judas up there.

His own children, too, were being tormented by the blackened Eliza.

The words pouring down were wounds from the past.

The five siblings fought back, hitting and pushing Eliza, but it was meaningless.

The black Elizas, burning from the black sun, fell down, grabbed them, strangled them, and burned them.

It was as though they were passing the flames to burn together.

‘Ah.’

Eliza fell from the sky, like black rain.

Continuously, endlessly.

When Eliza touched a person, she attacked, pouring out words of resentment.

When Eliza couldn’t touch anyone, she fell to the ground, crushing, breaking, and scattering.

The five children were caught in the black flames, screaming as they burned.

Barak thought.

‘This is hell.’

A hell suited to him.

Judas ran through the flames.

The blackened Eliza kept falling relentlessly.

Some of them blocked his path.

The black flames standing on top of the crimson fire.

She laughed at him as she charged at him.

She repeated the words she had spoken before.

“You dare not kneel before me, yet you arrogantly look me in the eye.”

Her small hands strangled his neck.

Judas had to struggle to pry her off.

Though she was a smaller version of Eliza, her strength was strong.

His own physical state was a mess.

It was because he had run across Barak’s fire.

Another Eliza came from behind and grabbed his leg.

This Eliza spoke different words.

“I couldn’t decide whether to kill you or save you, seeing you sitting at the same eye level as me.”

If he delayed even for a moment.

The fallen Eliza would crash down on him.

Thud.

An unpleasant explosion sound.

The Eliza who fell from above collided with him headfirst, turning into black lava and scattering in all directions.

The falling lava, without a mouth, spoke.

“What should I do?”

“……”

It was a horrific sight, enough to make him gag.

Even though it wasn’t the real Eliza.

To dare to behave like this in her form was somewhat despicable.

Judas gritted his teeth and shook them off.

He ran again.

The path made of crimson flames.

The destination was still far away.

In the meantime, Eliza kept falling.

The fallen Eliza fought with the person on the ground.

Barak. Or the five siblings of Bevel’s direct line.

If no one faces it, it falls and bursts right on the floor.

“Or, if you become my enemy, what will I do then?”

The question Eliza asked after fighting with Lindel in the early days of the training camp.

I remember every single one of them.

I didn’t have the strength to respond.

I threw her off me and ran again, distancing myself.

Eliza kept appearing.

Blocking me, grabbing me, falling over my head, and provoking me.

Like smearing black oil over a memory, she filled my ears with unpleasant words.

As if trying to prevent me from approaching.

As if trying to erase the memory and disappear from this world.

“No matter how smart or special a creature is, if you kill and cook it, what else would it be but meat?”

This was something I heard when I first brought home the moon deer.

Sometimes, there were words that weren’t from the memories of Judas and Eliza.

In Eliza’s face, a completely different voice came out.

“Why are you sitting on the bare ground, exposing your ankles? Are you bragging about inheriting the blood of a vulgar bitch?”

A voice I hadn’t heard in a very long time.

I barely recalled it.

It was Narcissa’s voice.

I pushed away the young Eliza who was trying to slap me.

When I tried to run again, a small Eliza was crouching and trembling on the road.

Judas stopped walking for a moment.

The voice echoed directly into my brain.

It was like hearing her innermost thoughts.

“I’m scared. I’m scared. What are you going to do? Please, don’t do this to me. Just leave me alone…”

This was the first time I had seen such a weak Eliza.

I didn’t know when it was, but I recognized it.

Her birthday.

Sardis.

“…”

The crouching Eliza was burning black.

Five years ago, the little Eliza, only 13 years old.

Judas slowly and steadfastly walked toward her.

He briefly wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

Her body was so hot from the fire.

It felt like her scorched vocal cords might fall apart.

He barely spoke.

He returned the last words Eliza had left him.

“It’s okay.”

If I can save you, I’m really okay.

No matter what price I have to pay, I can do it.

The small, crouching Eliza scattered away.

Judas looked up once, then ran again.

“I’ll be there soon.”

I can’t stop anymore.