Chapter 77: Escape from the Demon Horde

“Uh, how far in have we gotten?”

“I think it’s time we head back.”

“You’re right. Ah, someone’s coming!”

“Oh! Let’s ask the author!”

At the corridor’s end, Lara Schmord and Rahi exchanged relieved smiles upon seeing someone approach—until Inyoung, who had been walking steadily, suddenly limped dramatically and collapsed against the wall.

“…Ah.”

“…Ah.”

The two exchanged awkward smiles before rushing over to the fallen man.

“Hey, are you awake?”

Rahi quickly laid the man’s body down while Lara checked his condition. The man, his face twisted in pain, was clad in the white uniform of a Holy Knight.

“…Ugh, I—I need to run.”

“An attack…?”

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Rahi muttered under his breath.

“We’ve got to get out of here…”

Just then, as Karlahee was helping the knight to his feet and about to leave with Lara,

“…My pow—”

At that moment, the sealed lips of the Holy Knight slowly parted.

“My sacred power… it’s insufficient…”

With that final word, the knight completely passed out. Just as Lara draped an arm around his limp limb to move him,

“I caught a whiff of something delicious… Haha. Looks like humans have been here, huh?”

Before they could react to the unpleasant voice from behind, a strong grip seized Lara’s wrist, dragging her backward without warning.

“Lara!!”

Karlahee reached out desperately for the dragging Lara, but his hand met only empty air. Instead, he fixed his gaze on someone clutching her waist tightly a short distance away.

The attacker—displaying long, menacing claws along her neck—brandished enormous black wings. The swirling ebony energy around him confirmed his demonic nature.

“A taste of sweet, fresh human blood, huh… Heh heh heh.”

“Aaah! Let go…! This is so cheesy!”

“Let her go, now!”

“Struggle in fear, foolish humans. Do you really think you can escape the grasp of this demon, Krisian? Ugh!”

Suddenly, his elbow crashed forcefully into the demon’s midsection.

“Let go! Release her!”

“…Seems like I’ve already let go.”

As Karlahee’s words rang out, Lara—who had been relentlessly hammering the demon’s gut—snapped to attention. At last freed from the human woman’s self-defense strike, the demon dropped to his knees.

The demon lay with his eyelids shut, his face devoid of life.

“I—I didn’t see a thing… and you did nothing either…”

“…Right, I did nothing…”

Karlahee and Lara stared at each other, drawn into each other’s eyes as if nothing else existed.

“F-Finally, there might be more demons around, so we need to get out of here fast.”

At his serious words, Lara nodded silently. They quickly retraced their steps.

Lara cast a glance at Rahi’s determined back as he scanned their surroundings. His intense focus struck her as unexpectedly different.

“Lara.”

At that moment, he turned around. For some inexplicable reason, seeing him with a parking ticket in his mouth made Lara’s heart skip a beat—his smooth, chiseled jaw and lips momentarily reminded her of Pea.

“…It’s a dead end.”

“What?”

“It’s a dead end. Looks like we’ve taken a wrong turn.”

Finally understanding Rahi’s words, Lara peered over his shoulder. A wall stood before them with a swirling black portal at its center.

“What is that? Something’s coming out of there?”

“…Gah, what the hell is that!”

Karlahee turned around in shock. Where there had been nothing moments before, a huge hole now marred the center of the wall—and a man had burst forth.

He sported a jacket adorned with black frills over a V-neck black T-shirt that revealed his chest—a style far too sophisticated for this era.

“A demon…?”

“Heh heh heh, what luck. Cornered prey at last. Shall we savor a taste? Heh heh.”

Lara was rooted to the spot, her face paling from her lack of sacred power as she marveled at how he could be so disgustingly cheesy.

Then she turned toward the comforting warmth encircling her wrist. Rahi, still with that parking ticket in his mouth, now spoke in a firm tone.

“Run!” (Let’s run!)

“Hmph, where do you think you’re going? I won’t let you escape, foolish humans! Ha ha ha!”

Following Rahi’s lead, Lara ran as a demon cheerfully snapped his fingers. In response, more grim demons leapt from the black portal.

“Heh, bound by the contract of darkness, I command you to chase down that fleeing prey—don’t let even one get away…”

Lara ran on, the voice fading into the distance. She simply couldn’t bear to listen any longer.

Meanwhile, Karlahee was lost in tangled thoughts. One demon might be manageable, but a group assaulting a shrine was a peril beyond reckoning—like stumbling upon a throng of tourists in a quiet resort.

‘…Damn it.’

Karlahee realized he had no clue how to deal with not just one, but multiple demons. In an undefended courtyard, both he and Lara were in grave danger.

His uneasy premonition proved true. Spotting a demon lurking around a corridor corner, Karlahee halted his run and pulled Lara toward a wall.

“W-What do we do now?”

“Lara, I’ll stay behind as bait.”

“No… I don’t want that. Let’s find a way to escape together.”

Lara tried to protest, but Karlahee gripped her shoulder firmly and said,

“There’s only the door we came through. There’s nowhere else to run. Once we pass through, we’ll be outside—where we can call for help.”

“But we can’t leave Rahi behind.”

“Don’t even think about abandoning him.”

A gentle smile tugged at Karlahee’s lips.

“I’m staying by choice.”

“Rahi…”

“Then meet you outside.”

Lara had always known him to be a good person, but she hadn’t expected such selflessness. Touched, she nodded with glistening eyes, silently affirming her resolve.

Suddenly, an ominous crash echoed from a corridor corner. Amid the scrambling demons, a slender, almost ethereal voice emerged.

“The saint you seek is right here.”

Amidst the broken debris, silver hair flowed gracefully.

“Stand down peacefully, or I will oppose you with the sacred power granted to me by God.”

“Hmph, hmph hmph… Are all humans this way? I never expected such a reaction. How amusing. Ha ha ha!”

Nearby, seemingly unnoticed among the fallen demons, one stepped forward confidently. Dressed in a far more flamboyant Gothic outfit than the others, he appeared of high rank.

The demon advanced toward Lady Elina V and, without hesitation, snatched a handful of her silver hair before pressing his face to hers.

“No matter how saintly, she’s still a human woman—heh heh. If she complies, she won’t get hurt…”

In that instant, brilliant white light burst from Lady Elina V’s eyes, piercing straight through the demon’s forehead. Green blood sprayed across his face—a sight clearly unfit for the young.

“I will not tolerate any more chaos—not while I am the saint.”

But then, in another twist, chaos erupted.

“Wah! Hmph.”

“Oh, my God! Hmph.”

“I promise to be good from now on… heh heh. I sure don’t want to die here!!”

In a bid for survival, the demons scrambled toward the portal. In the narrow, debris-clogged corridor, a hasty rush by a dozen of them quickly led to disaster.

“Demons, everyone! Ha ha, get over here! Stay calm!! Ha ha!”

One demon shouted in front of the portal as a beam of white light blasted out, turning the spot where he stood into a burst of green—like a balloon popping with paint.

Once again, chaos reigned among the demons as they jostled to be the first into the portal, tumbling in a disordered heap.

“Damn it… This wasn’t meant to be a kidnapping of the saint from the start… Heh heh, I was foolishly obsessed with military honor. Now I realize what truly matters… Father… Mother… my beloved Katarina… heh heh.”

Under a barrage of dazzling white sacred power, a demon with badly injured legs wailed by the wall, the shadow of death looming over his dark outline.

Amid the crushed, writhing demons, Lara and Karlahee wore dazed expressions until, spotting an unguarded portal—apparently their only exit to the Demon Realm—Lara’s legs moved on their own.

But she wasn’t alone in feeling that. Lara noticed a man overtaking her.

‘Rahi…?’

With bewildered eyes, Lara stared at Rahi’s retreating back. She had never seen him run so fast.

“Where are you going, Rahi…? That way leads to the Demon Realm, ho ho.”

“Ha ha, and where do you think you’re sprinting off to…? I’ll end up as a demon’s captive if you leave me—hurry up!”

“Ah, no. On second thought, I can’t leave you behind—I’d be captured too…”

“No, no—how can I possibly survive if you send me off as a captive while you run off alone?”

“Captivity seems to boost survival odds. Let’s be captives together!”