Chapter 84: End Cave

“Kim Jihyeok…”

Karelin stared at Jihyeok before her, eyes wide open.

“I never thought you’d betray me.”

“Didn’t I tell you from the start? I said I’d leave the moment I achieved what I wanted.”

Jihyeok had been telling Karelin that all along. So he didn’t feel like he was betraying her.

Rather—

“Wasn’t it you who betrayed me first?”

Jihyeok glanced at Luca, still unconscious, then looked at Karelin as he spoke. His voice was calm, but Verdi could tell he was furious. The fist he was clenching trembled faintly. He must be holding back a lot right now.

“You seem to be misunderstanding one thing. That man was one of the people who hid the person you’re looking for from you.”

“What do you mean?”

“He knew but didn’t tell you.”

“…”

The moment she heard the conversation between Karelin and Jihyeok, Verdi instantly understood what it was about. Luca had never told anyone that Verdi’s identity was Verdiol. Not even Jihyeok. Because Verdi hadn’t wanted him to.

So Verdi quickly tapped Jihyeok’s shoulder lightly. When he turned his head, she murmured in a very small voice.

“I asked him to.”

“…I’ll hear the reason later.”

Jihyeok understood the circumstances in his own way, so he said that with a calm expression. He knew Verdiol’s personality better than anyone. He probably hadn’t wanted it to be known. And… he must have wanted to break free from being treated as a murderer and be free.

“It’s not just Mr. Luca who was kidnapped.”

Verdi kept speaking to Jihyeok.

“Claire, someone connected to Mr. Luca, was taken hostage. We need to find her too. I’ve set up a Navi.”

Jihyeok kept his gaze fixed on Karelin, nodding almost imperceptibly instead of answering.

“Well then, what shall I do about this?”

Karelin alternated her gaze between the two corpses sprawled on the floor, a sinister smile curling at the corner of her mouth. Her expression was not that of someone who had lost her pieces.

“All my masterpieces got taken down, huh?”

Karelin took a step forward. She headed toward the black robe. The one she’d called Paolo.

Paolo was Apollo. The boss of the S-Rank Gate, Dark Moon. She had no idea how she was controlling a Demon Beast that should have left no trace behind.

The way Karelin was examining Paolo now was ominous as hell. Maybe she was trying to revive him. So Verdi quickly signaled Jihyeok.

*Nod.* Understanding Verdi’s signal, Jihyeok immediately charged toward Karelin and Paolo. Meanwhile, Verdi headed toward where the white robe was lying.

The white robe was still lying on the floor, just like Paolo, not even twitching. But Verdi didn’t care and cast a spell.

[ Flame Element — Fireball Lv.7 ]

A red magic circle formed. Without a moment’s hesitation, Verdi fired the Fireball she’d created at the robe.

At the same time, Jihyeok’s fist aimed at Karelin from behind.

And at that moment—

“…!”

“What the…?”

Both Jihyeok and Verdi were left speechless.

Paolo, who had clearly been burned to death by Hell Fire.

And the white robe, who had been subdued by Jihyeok’s martial arts.

They both got up as if nothing had happened and blocked the two’s attacks.

“Heh heh.”

Seeing Jihyeok and Verdi’s flustered faces, Karelin let out a sneer.

“Paolo, and Licht — they’re the finest masterpieces among the dolls I’ve made.”

Since Paolo was the name of the black robe, Licht must refer to the white robe. As Paolo and Licht, now risen, charged at them simultaneously, Verdi and Jihyeok quickly retreated to create distance.

“What do we do?”

“…Hmm.”

They leaned back-to-back, thinking. First priority was rescuing Claire. And they needed to get Luca to a priest as soon as possible.

“Let’s split up.”

Verdi made the call. But hearing that, Jihyeok’s expression grew complicated. It reminded him of how they’d parted three years ago — with a one-sided announcement. Above all, he was worried about Verdi’s condition. Hadn’t she been fighting continuously?

“Hey, why are you acting like that? That’s not like you.”

When Jihyeok didn’t respond, Verdi nudged him with her elbow.

“Don’t worry. It’s different from back then.”

Then she grinned and said that. With Verdi insisting that much, Jihyeok finally nodded.

“You take Mr. Luca and get out. I’ll find Claire and bring her along.”

“…Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“How could I be okay? But there’s no other choice. I’m the only one who knows Claire’s coordinates.”

Verdi knew Claire’s location through Navigator Magic. But passing that information to someone else was impossible. And this was End Cave — a place where a single wrong turn could mean never coming back. On top of that, enemies were ahead.

So the right call was for Verdi, who knew the way, to quickly retrieve Claire. Jihyeok understood that too. But he was uneasy. Could he really let her go like this?

“If you’re that worried, just hurry up and come back to save me.”

As if she’d read his mind, Verdi grinned and said that.

“…Understood.”

“But you’d better be fast. I’ve got a feeling that woman will track me.”

“I won’t be late.”

That wasn’t an empty promise. Jihyeok’s footwork was incomparably faster than Marcel’s. He could keep up with Licht’s near-teleportation speed.

“Good.”

Jihyeok turned around. It was a moment of parting, just like before, but the feeling was different this time. Both Jihyeok and Verdi were certain they’d reunite soon.

“I’ll leave the path open.”

Jihyeok, who had turned away, kicked off the ground with force.

CRASH! The ceiling collapsed, and in an instant, the cave interior was engulfed in dust.

“You think that’ll stop me?”

Karelin’s shout came from far away. The creations that even a Level 3 Sand Storm couldn’t break were Karelin’s masterpieces. Realizing time was short, Verdi hurriedly began running along the Navigator Magic line drawn on the floor.

“After them!”

Karelin assigned one robe to each of the two people. Paolo to Kim Jihyeok, and Licht to Verdi.

At the same time, she reached out her hand.

“Open.”

A single word. In that moment, light shimmered in front of her palm, and a crack tore through space.

A Gate.

This was why Karelin was called a Transfer Mage.

She kept reaching out to other spots, shouting for them to open.

The total number of cracks was six.

“Time to work.”

At Karelin’s signal, shadows emerged from the open cracks.

“I never thought Kim Jihyeok would betray us…”

The members of the Group. Among them were Mateo and Vasquez.

Currently, six had answered her call. Adding the two robes and Karelin herself, that made nine in total.

All members of the Group except Glare, who hadn’t responded, and Kim Jihyeok, who had betrayed them, were gathered in one place.

“I’ll track Verdi. You guys decide among yourselves and split into two pursuit teams.”

Karelin chose not to order them around explicitly and left it to their discretion. It was clear they wouldn’t follow properly without an explanation, and there was no time to explain anyway. For now, she had to be satisfied that they’d answered the call.

“…I’ll chase that kid.”

Vasquez was the first to act. He’d already suffered two humiliations at Verdi’s hands. He had no intention of losing this time.

“…The Saintess needs some correction too, I suppose.”

Mateo, wearing a meaningful smile, naturally headed toward Verdi’s side.

And so, the teams pursuing Verdi and Jihyeok were divided.

“Hurry! Catching them before they escape is the priority!”

At Karelin’s signal, the Group members began to move.

* * *

“Ugh…”

Heading toward the exit of End Cave, Jihyeok felt Luca, who was on his back, squirm.

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

“…No, not at all. Where are we?”

“On the way out.”

“On the way out?”

As Luca questioned Jihyeok’s words, he finally realized his situation. He’d clearly been captured and restrained by those bastards, but now he was being carried on Jihyeok’s back.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be out soon.”

“Did you… come alone?”

“No. My senior was here too.”

“Senior…?”

Luca’s confusion over the word ‘senior’ lasted only a moment.

“…So you finally told him, huh.”

“To be precise, my guess turned out to be correct.”

“I’m sorry.”

Luca apologized to Jihyeok in a tone full of shame. He had known that Verdiol was Verdi all along, yet he’d been hiding it.

“…It’s fine. At first I thought it was a bit upsetting, but once I actually considered your feelings, I think I understand a little.”

“…”

“I’ll hear the details after everything’s over. For now, getting you somewhere safe and getting you treated is the priority.”

“…Yeah. Come to think of it, where is that brat?”

Luca belatedly realized that, though Jihyeok had said he came with someone, Verdi’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

“Senior went to rescue someone.”

“Rescue… don’t tell me, Claire?”

“Yes.”

“Damn… so she got caught after all. Then Verdi went alone?”

“…For now.”

“Hold on a second.”

At Luca’s words, Jihyeok stopped walking.

Then Luca carefully climbed down from Jihyeok’s back.

“Tell me the way out. I’ll manage on my own.”

“Are you sure you’re okay in that condition?”

Luca’s physical state right now was far from good by any measure. He looked like he could barely move.

“I’m fine. I was a pretty big deal of a Hunter back in the day, you know.”

Luca grinned, baring his teeth. Even seeing that, Jihyeok was still worried about him. He started to speak, to try and stop him, but—

“That kid, who’s still growing, is more important than a washed-up old man like me, don’t you think?”

Watching Luca’s back as he straightened up and started walking step by step, Jihyeok found himself at a loss for words.

“Go. You want to, too.”

“Mr. Luca…”

“The guys here aren’t the kind that kid can handle alone. She needs your help.”

“I was planning to come back and help once I got you somewhere safe.”

“Then it’ll be too late. Just tell me the way. From here on, I’ll manage on my own, so hurry up and go.”

“…”

Jihyeok couldn’t easily speak. He was worried whether he could really make it out in that condition.

“Go on!”

“…Understood.”

But he had to make a decision. As Luca said, there was no time. He had to help Verdi as quickly as possible.

“…The exit is straight down this path.”

“Right. Once I get out, I’ll pull some strings on my end too… now get going.”

“…Mr. Luca.”

“What?”

“Please don’t get into any trouble. If anything happens to you, I’m the one who’ll get killed by Senior.”

“Heh heh, yeah. That won’t happen.”

With those words, Jihyeok started running back the way he came.

Only after Jihyeok’s figure disappeared did Luca slump down onto the spot. Then he rummaged through his pocket.

“Ah, there it is.”

What he pulled out was a cigarette.

“…Hoo.”

After taking a drag, he manipulated the Artifact on his wrist.

“Never thought I’d end up getting the organization’s help like this.”

The organization Luca was affiliated with had been tracking Karelin’s existence for a while.

Though, he hadn’t used Verdi in that process. He had genuinely wanted to help her.

So he hadn’t expected something like this to happen.

He never imagined he’d find the person the organization was chasing in this way.

Who would’ve thought those bastards would just crawl out on their own.

The communication connected quickly.

—What’s the matter.

His superior’s voice came through from beyond the Artifact.

“…I found them.”

Luca immediately reported everything that had happened so far.

—Good work. I’ll send support right away.

“Yes, thank you.”

—…How’s that kid doing these days?

That kid… he didn’t even need to think.

“Perfectly fine.”

—That’s a relief. I’ll cut the line here, then.

With that, the communication ended.

The organization’s support would arrive soon.

Luca staggered as he got up from his spot.

‘I can’t die here.’

And then he began to move forward, one step at a time.

Verdiol didn’t want him to die.

Luca didn’t want to make him — make her — any sadder.

So, he had to live, didn’t he?