CHAPTER 33
Have I ever run like this in my entire life?
I don’t think I ever ran this hard, not even when I was with Bulldog.
I was so out of breath that I threw off my protective headgear.
It was pointless anyway; if I got stepped on, I’d die instantly, no matter what I was wearing.
I should have practiced running more.
That’s the kind of regret I felt as I pumped my legs like a madman.
There was only one reason I was running.
THUD, THUD-THUD, THUD-THUD!
It was all because of the house-sized Fantasy Species chasing me from right behind.
Arachne.
Fantasy Species react very sensitively to Holy Magic.
I knew this, of course, but I never imagined it would react this sensitively.
“GIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEK!”
A deafening roar echoed, loud enough to split my ears.
If I had heard that up close, my eardrums would have surely burst.
On top of that, the ground beneath my feet was shaking violently.
The creature was so massive that it felt like the entire cave was experiencing an earthquake.
With a single one of its strides, the distance between us would shrink in an instant.
That’s why, no matter how desperately I ran, it was my fate to eventually be caught.
If it weren’t for one thing.
If it weren’t for our team’s hidden card.
Just before Arachne caught up to me.
“Horizon!”
I had to shout the magic command once more.
Just as the ground beneath my feet gave way, my body was sucked down into the shadows.
Arachne stomped on the spot I had just occupied.
Inside the shadow.
A woman wearing a pure white mask appeared.
Horizon, from the Amyeong Tribe.
This was her true form, the face that emerged when she wielded her shadows.
Horizon grabbed my arm and pulled me deeper, submerging me in the shadow.
The shadow felt almost identical to being underwater.
The moment we went deep enough, Babiyen, who had been waiting behind us, activated her explosion magic.
KABOOOOOOOM!
With the shock of the explosion, the shadows churned, and Horizon and I were instantly flung back to the surface.
Thanks to that, we landed much farther away from our previous position.
We had already done this several times.
The moment I landed on the ground, Horizon seeped back into my shadow.
Arachne spotted me again and, roaring with fury, began to chase me once more.
My legs, which had already run a great distance, screamed in agony, but I forced them to run again.
“Horizon! How much longer can you keep this up?!”
“I can… I can keep going!” Horizon answered from within my shadow.
She said she could, but there was no way that was true.
As long as her magic wasn't infinite, her power had to be constantly draining.
I had noticed a while ago that Horizon was pushing herself too hard.
Damn it, how much farther is the path?
They told me to just run in a straight line, so that’s what I’m doing, but I have no sense of how far we’ve gone.
All I could see was the moss caking the walls, making it feel like I was running in place.
Did Callen manage to clear the path properly?
Or was there nothing on this path to begin with?
I had no idea.
There was still no sign of Callen’s group.
Questions kept filling my head.
Eventually, the questions led to why I was even running in the first place.
Why am I doing this?
To survive?
Honestly, if I just wanted to live, I could have run straight at the criminals by myself.
They would have killed me and left my body.
After I died and resurrected, I could have waited for them to let their guard down and just slipped into the 1st World.
There was a risk, but it wouldn't have been as dangerous as this.
So why am I doing this?
The answer came to me faster than I expected.
Because this world is so fucking shitty.
Because I didn't want to just accept it and get screwed over in this goddamn world.
Because I know how fucking awful it feels to go through something so unfair.
That’s why I run.
What’s the worst that can happen if I stop here? I’ll die.
If I’m going to die one way or another, I’ll fight tooth and nail until the very end.
Holy Magic activated within my body.
The Holy Magic seeped through me, forcibly healing my entire being.
I hadn’t yet reached the level of Rapiel, who could activate Holy Magic unconsciously. You couldn’t expect that kind of skill from a tiny sprout that had just entered its germination phase.
However, after dying and resurrecting so many times, my body had learned how to revive itself.
So even if my skill level wasn’t there yet, my body knew how to use Holy Magic unconsciously.
Remember.
You’re on the verge of death, so remember it with everything you’ve got.
Holy Magic was forcibly supplied to my body, which had been pushed to its absolute limit.
My swollen muscles recovered, and the ligaments that felt like they were about to snap were forcibly held together.

My lungs were somehow stabilized, and the oxygen supply never ceased.
My heart felt like it had already burst; I couldn’t feel it at all.
My breathing cleared.
My vision widened.
I didn’t know if it was a hallucination from my depleted stamina, but I felt a sense of euphoria, as if I were flying.
There's something called a Runner's High.
It’s a phenomenon where chemicals like endorphins are released in the brain, making you feel good and your body light.
I could feel my brain going crazy.
You’re struggling to survive too, aren’t you?
You magnificent endorphin-pumping machine!
When we get back, I’ll feed you something good for the brain!
THUD!
In that time, the distance between me and Arachne closed once again.
No matter how fast I ran, there was no way I could shake her.
“Horizon!”
Once again, I called her at the last possible second and dove into the shadow.
This repeated a dozen more times.
By now, Horizon’s arm, which pulled me in, was trembling.
I could see blood trickling from beneath her mask.
Proof that she had overused her magic.
But there was no time to worry about her.
My own lungs and legs had already reached their limit long ago.
I felt a pain in my lungs as if a nail had been driven into them.
My mind was hazy, and my legs were constantly screaming.
Perhaps from overusing Holy Magic, blood was now dripping from my nose.
Far behind me, Babiyen was looking at me as if I were a madman.
It made me realize just how much of a wreck I must look.
But she knew there was nothing she could do, so she bit her lip, unable to say a word.
But I couldn’t stop.
The moment Arachne couldn’t see me, she would immediately return to her hatchery.
If that happened, all our efforts up to this point would be for nothing.
“Just a little more!”
From behind her mask, Horizon’s eyes flashed as she shouted.
Just a little more to the exit.
Those words made me summon strength I didn’t know I had.
I planted my feet on the ground and pushed forward.
I felt like I had instinctively mastered a comfortable running form.
As I continued to run like a madman, I finally saw the end of the cave path.
Light streamed in from beyond the exit.
The moment I saw it, I pushed off for one last powerful stride.
KWOONG!
My body launched into the air.
It seemed this path had been an incline.
As I flew, I saw Callen’s party in the distance.
And with them were people I didn’t recognize.
They all looked wretched, dressed in tattered rags and holding chipped swords.
Their blades were caked with so much old blood they were practically lumps of germs.
A single cut from one of those would give you a disease that would make you waste away and die.
And with such a sword, Callen’s head was sent flying.
His head flew cleanly through the air before crashing to the ground.
“CALLEN!”
The woman, Miren, screamed.
She had already been captured by the criminals, her clothes being torn away.
Vandal lay on the ground, his axe shattered.
Pingle was nowhere to be seen.
He might already be dead.
This was right before the exit.
I could see the exit in the distance, with several shabbily dressed criminals standing there.
Why were they so close to the exit?
According to the plan, Callen’s team was supposed to join us and use Arachne to drive the criminals out.
I didn’t know what had happened.
The only thing they had sent was the signal from the bead.
KWAAAAAAARGH!
As my body hung in the air, Arachne smashed through the path and soared up behind me.
Too late, the criminals saw Arachne and couldn’t hide their shock.
“Wh-Why is Arachne—!?”
“It’s not supposed to come this way!”
Their faces showed they couldn’t understand why Arachne, who should have been killing pioneers elsewhere, was here.
Did they have a plan that involved Arachne not coming this way?
I didn’t know.
But Arachne was here, and it had arrived to punish these vile criminals.

“KIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!”
Arachne’s roar echoed throughout the entire cave.
The red eyes of the beast, having found new prey, flashed in unison.
And the first thing it did was swing its leg mercilessly at me, still flying through the air.
I suppose the one who lured it here was the most annoying.
My body was suspended in mid-air.
The shadows were too far away, so even Horizon couldn’t do anything.
As I watched the leg come right for me, I thought.
Well, this is it. I’m dead.
At that moment, I saw a familiar face in front of me.
Horizon, having burst from a shadow, was rushing to push me out of the way.
“Ha-Harua-ssi!”

The moment I saw her, my eyes shot open.
This fool.
The leg was coming faster than Horizon could push me.
I wanted to stop her somehow, but it was too late.
Damn it.
The descending leg slammed into our bodies.
CRACK!
Bones shattered whole, ribs caved in and pierced my lungs.
“Harua! Horizon!”
From a shadow on the ground below, Babiyen emerged, crying out in horror.
We were sent flying over her, crashing into the wall before tumbling to the ground. The impact of the fall sent another shock through my skull.
My brain rattled, and blood burst from within.
In an instant, my vision went dark, and my consciousness faded.
Horizon had suffered the same fate, crashing down in a mangled heap.
The fingertips of her hand, which had tried to save me until the very end, trembled.
Goddammit, we were so close.
I got too high on that final rush and ran with all my might, and this is what happened.
I wanted to save Horizon, but my body wouldn’t move.
With the sound of Arachne’s rampage fading into my distant consciousness, I met my end.

The Vermilion-grade Fantasy Species, Arachne.
The moment she arrived at the exit, she slaughtered every piece of prey in sight.
“Quick, quick, stop Arachne!”
“How the hell are we supposed to stop this thing, you bastard!”
“Run, just run!”
The criminals descended into a state of pandemonium.
A few among them were skilled swordsmen, but they were no match for Arachne.
“The plan is completely ruined!”
“Shit, we never should have trusted those Black Dawn bastards!”
Some screamed nonsensical things as they dove for the exit.
They figured it was better to cross into the 1st World and face eternal sleep than to die a dog’s death here.
Amidst the chaos of the criminals being thrown around.
A woman with red hair stood there.
Babiyen Asteria.
Daughter of Baron Asteria and disciple of the Red Flame Lord.
But now, she was a tragic woman who had been cast out even by the barony.
Babiyen cut through the confusion and rushed forward.
When she finally arrived, she saw the mangled forms of a man and a girl.
Rapiel’s disciple, a No-Named Transferee.
That was all she knew about the man.
The crazed man, who seemed to have a screw loose somewhere in his head, lay there, beaten to a pulp.
Beside him lay Horizon, whom she had just recently met, in a similar state.
She could tell with a single glance.
They had already stopped breathing.
Babiyen’s eyes trembled violently.
Even when she first heard his plan, she had felt somewhat detached from the situation.
To be precise, it didn't feel real.
It had been like that ever since she was abandoned by the Red Flame Lord, cast out by her family, and left on the streets.
Is this really happening?
Something like this can’t be real.
She had unknowingly continued to deny it.
That’s why, even when the plan was put into action, she felt like she was in a dream.
That is, until she saw the man before her perform his acrobatics, running until his legs were about to shatter.
When he first entered the shadow, the man had seemed to have strength left. But at some point, his condition worsened drastically.
His eyes were bloodshot, he was panting like a madman, and his entire body was drenched in sweat.
His two legs were trembling, of course, and it looked as if his back was about to give out at any moment.
He’s going to die if he keeps this up.
The man became such a wreck that the thought crossed her mind.
And yet, he ran like a madman.
His desperate struggle to live was seared into Babiyen’s eyes.
And the sight of him using Holy Magic to heal his own body just to keep running.
It was a penance so terrible she could hardly speak of it.
From within the shadows, Babiyen had watched the entire spectacle.
Witnessing his desperate efforts with her own two eyes, she could no longer deny that this situation was real.
This is reality.
All of this is reality.
And now, she owed this man her life.
This was the man’s plan.
To act as bait for Arachne.
It was the role of a moth flying into a flame, forced to run while constantly using Holy Magic.
So why did he come up with this plan?
To save everyone, including herself.
The man had said.
「Once Arachne is tied down in one place, the remaining pioneers in the cave will be able to escape through the exit.」
Criminals, revengers, Arachne.
In the worst possible situation, a combination of all three.
He had said he would save not only his own life but the lives of others as well.
Words spoken so lightly.

But only now did she understand just how heavy the meaning behind those words was.
To save someone meant that you yourself had to suffer that much more.
For some reason, Babiyen’s grip on her staff tightened.
Watching that man, she felt her own sense of desperation returning.
Abandoned by the Red Flame Lord, abandoned by her family, a life lived day-to-day.
Even if her life had become like this, seeing a man who fought so desperately to live, she couldn’t just stand by.
I will live.
I will definitely get out of here alive.
Just like that man, I will live on.
Babiyen’s firm resolve spread from her mind throughout her entire body.
But that resolution had been made only moments ago.
The man who had ignited her will to live now lay in such a wretched state.
Babiyen looked behind her and saw the rampaging Arachne.
Beneath Arachne’s feet, criminals were being slaughtered.
They were no match for it.
“……Ah.”
Babiyen’s body swayed.
Then, she gripped her staff tightly once more.
“Right.”
A fire was rekindled in her eyes.
She aimed her staff at the utterly detestable criminals in front of the exit. Even in this situation, those bastards were still screaming and trying to block the way out.
“I’ll burn every last one of you to ashes.”
It was the strict punishment they deserved.