The Time for Escape
After wandering through the filthy pipe sections for about two hours, we finally managed to find the corpse of a dead junkie. His face had turned a ghastly shade of blue, as if he’d overdosed on some bizarre substance. Given that even the dens of addicts—who would suck the blood of a fellow junkie just to get a hit—had discarded him here, it must have been some truly nasty stuff. Regardless, once we found the body, things proceeded with remarkable speed. As we began to follow the trail of corpses, a zombie that hadn't been dead for long came stumbling toward us, and killing it drew in even more of its kind. Of course, to us, having already faced mirror ghosts and the underground guard, these common zombies were no more threatening than passing rats. In fact, in these pipe sections, rats were far more dangerous than the drug-addled zombies. If you got bitten, you’d die from all sorts of grotesque diseases, and once they started crawling out one by one, their numbers would grow exponentially until they swarmed you. If they were going to bite and kill people anyway, the rats, which were harder to spot and even harder to catch, were a much greater threat. Honestly, if I could catch them, I’d love to scoop up a few of these deranged sewer rats and release them in my enemies' base. Of course, they were so filthy I didn't even want to touch them, so I’d leave that to the realm of fantasy.
Other than the zombies acting as our unwitting guides, nothing really stood in our way. Even the rats seemed to avoid us, and it felt as if the underground floor itself had become friendly toward us. How should I put it? It felt like the place was eager for us to get out. Perhaps it was because I’d summoned Kesia and wiped out two named entities. Does that mean the demons were observing us in real-time? No, surely not. 'No. If the demons were watching, why didn't they appear?' Wasn't the 4th floor the demons' warehouse? I knew it was a place where they stored various items, and they had even created a warehouse keeper to manage it. Even though that place had been smashed to pieces by intruders, aside from those two dim-witted fools, Vival and Abalam, the demons hadn't shown their faces at all. Cheshire had warned me before we entered that low-level demons or other strange entities might appear, but all that crawled out were a bird-brained demon that looked a bit slow and another weird one that seemed obsessed with masochism. Something was off. Furthermore, since both named entities were cleanly dealt with by Kesia, and there wasn't a single other demon to be found, a strange sense of unease began to settle in. I had a feeling the demons were intentionally avoiding us.
'Is it because of me?' Setting aside reasons like luck or the favor of the Manma-jeon, as far as I knew, demons were parasites that clung to the Manma-jeon, nothing more than pests to the Evil Gods. Perhaps they were lying low, afraid that if they touched me, they’d incur the wrath of the Evil Gods. 'Maybe that’s the reason Paimon stayed silent until the end, even when Abalam called...' They couldn't handle the consequences if they touched me directly. They were all playing it safe, terrified that if they laid a hand on me—an apostle of an Evil God—they’d be torn to shreds by those very gods. In the midst of that, two idiots had shown up without knowing any better and gotten themselves wiped out. Thinking about it that way, the situation earlier made sense. Just then, Cheshire, who was walking at the front, called out to me loudly.
"Jojun!"
"Yes? Oh?"
"We're out!! We finally escaped!"
"Whoa!"
After walking for a long time following Cheshire, we finally made it outside. Of course, "outside" still meant we were within the Black Market, but having made it this far, it was safe to call our escape a success. Honestly, this place felt like just another neighborhood now. "Haa. Finally, the outside." As soon as she emerged, Aila sat down and massaged her limbs. It was a little funny, as she looked like a child, but her behavior, tone, and actual age were incredibly high. "U-um... Master... can I put this down now?" "Oh? Yeah. Good work." "Yes... hehe..." Kesia unslung the Slaughter Beast she had been carrying on her back and tossed it to the floor. "Gaaah!! It hurts!! Put me down gently, you peasant!!" The Slaughter Beast screamed and threatened Kesia as it was thrown. Kesia, however, didn't seem to care at all as she pulled some mushroom water from my bag and gulped it down. "Haa... ha... we did it." Meanwhile, Han Aram knelt on the ground and looked up at the ceiling with a voice full of joy, as if she were greeting a god. Then, she half-tossed away the goggles she had been wearing. The goggles she discarded were on the verge of shattering. The goggles, designed to filter out shocking scenes, were built to lose durability and crack the more they were used. As a result, the goggles that had been protecting Aram's mind were almost completely broken. They had likely fulfilled their purpose and died. It was excellent equipment. I’d be willing to buy them again if I could, but since the merchant didn't have a catalog function, I’d have to wait until the same item appeared again. Regardless, Aram was even shedding tears of joy at having escaped. Perhaps it was because she hadn't suffered this intensely since the disaster began, but she looked incredibly proud. As for me, having wandered the Black Market alone and visited hellish places like the Forest of the Missing or the Thrilling Mansion several times, I couldn't feel that level of emotion. I was just satisfied that we had made it out safely once again.
[Are you that satisfied?]
That was when Indikron spoke to me. Even in the Black Market, the presence of gods was faint, but in the underground, it had been cut off almost entirely. It was a voice I hadn't heard for a while, but she reached out the moment I escaped. 'Yes. I am satisfied. It is all thanks to you, Indikron, for introducing me to Kesia.' I sent a heartfelt expression of gratitude. Indikron laughed for a long time before naturally moving on to the main point. [I have lost a significant amount of causality due to this incident.] So, the causality Kesia used had been covered by Indikron. To speak so bluntly about a loss meant it was truly serious. [My veil has been partially lifted, and the schemes of the benevolent gods will begin again.] A god's warning to prepare, as things had clearly taken a turn for the worse. It was a prophecy and a revelation. 'As expected, Indikron is in a financial crisis...' And because of that, the veil that was hiding me had been lifted... Kashnakas seemed busy enough just blocking direct interference. Regardless, until Indikron could recover the lost causality, it was as good as guaranteed that I would face hardship and adversity. But I had overcome hardship and adversity until now. So, there was no need to worry about it anew. 'I am not afraid.' I still don't know what this world wants from me. The information provided to me is too limited, and even the Evil Gods are hiding something from me. But it doesn't matter. My goal has always been one thing. I will survive until the end. I will survive with the women I have come to love. And I will survive while taking the slaves who serve me along with me. Yes, my goal has always been survival. I was prepared to turn anyone into a slave to survive.
[A truly excellent answer. I am relieved.]
[However, do not be too careless.]
[The benevolent gods... have much more than the two of us who remain.]
The two of us who remain... the only Evil Gods left in the Manma-jeon, Kashnakas and Indikron, she must be talking about themselves. Botamilli had been exiled for some reason, and the other Evil Gods had all vanished. I didn't know why all the other Evil Gods had disappeared, but... I felt like I would find out if I kept surviving. Then, Indikron told me the direction I needed to go. [After you leave this place, go to the bottom of the Abyss.]
'Yes?'
[A helper sealed long ago will be waiting for you there.]
'A helper?'
[Yes. That is all I can tell you.]
'I understand for now.' I decided to follow Indikron's words. I had never lost anything by listening to her until now. Because the greatest helpers in my survival were none other than Indikron and Kashnakas. Honestly, if the two goddesses hadn't respected and cherished me, I would have died long ago. Having finished what she had to say, Indikron stepped back, saying she was tired. I doubted conversation would be possible for a while. "Alright, everyone. Let's head back to the base." About 10 minutes after we sat down to catch our breath, Cheshire got us back on our feet. We were still inside the Black Market, and we couldn't afford to let our guard down until we returned to Cheshire's base. "Oh, Cheshire. Before that, this." "Hm? Oh..." As I stood up, I pulled the soul extractor from my bag and handed it to her. The extractor was about half-full with a bluish soul. This was half of the soul Cheshire had been robbed of by the demons. "Hehehe... really. I really got it... seeing this, it finally feels real..." Cheshire's voice turned a bit damp. The tremor of her laughter conveyed that she was barely holding back tears. Having finally obtained the piece of the soul she had spent her entire life searching for, she seemed deeply moved. Soon, she looked at the soul extractor and hugged me. We couldn't see each other's faces because we were both wearing shadow masks and neon masks, but it was still good. Now, I could finally take Cheshire out of this wretched Black Market. Cheshire, who had lived her whole life in this dark, gloomy, and dangerous place, would now be able to go outside with me. 'Well, the outside world isn't exactly in perfect condition either...' It was a world where zombies and skeletons roamed everywhere, and most of the weak had died by the third week, but it was still better than the Black Market. This place was a hellscape where you never knew when or where you'd be attacked. "Then let's really go back now!" We placed our hands on Cheshire. It looked a bit difficult because there were so many of us, but fortunately, we all arrived at Cheshire's base without anyone getting separated. Now, we just needed to rest for a few days and return to our sweet home.