“Wake up, Beatrice! We need to get away from here!”

Erel grabbed Beatrice’s arm in a hurry. Once they leave the hat shop, they can go out to the main street. If they manage to get out and call for help then the guards will come. They will request for help from a Masaka nearby…….

Ah.

Erel recalled one of the ‘Nearby Masaka’ and frowned involuntarily.  She recalled the face of a man who looked like a splendid viper with poisonous venom who seemed quite disturbing in her eyes.

But now, she was not in a situation to cover both her cold and hot meals. It was ten times better for her to be a Masaka’s favourite form of sustenance than to be eaten alive by a Kitan running havok behind that iron door.

[ T/N: she was not in a situation to cover both her cold and hot meals, which means that she was not in the position to pick and choose her battles.]

“Let’s run, Beatrice! Hurry up!!”

Erel took Beatrice’s hand and led her as she was in daze again. However, Beatrice sank onto the floor as if her knees had collapsed as she wondered how many steps were ahead of her. She then muttered an unknown sentence with a stunned face.

“This can’t be happening. I’m sure this is only to scare me…….”

“To scare you? What are you talking about?”

Erel raised her eyebrows and asked sharply. She didn’t know why, but she had a premonition that she shouldn’t just ignore what Beatrice had said.

“Kiik!! Kyak!!!”

Bang, Kwang -!!!

In the midst of this, Kitan continued to bang against the door of the warehouse with a terrifying force. The force shattered the hinges, wrinkled the doors badly, and created small gaps. A pale, claw-like hand protruded from between them and squeezed the gap open.

Squeak-

The door opened wide with the sound of a dangerous iron. Through that gap, Erel witnessed the catastrophe of mankind for the first time, Kitan.

At first glance, it looked like a naked, bald middle-aged man but it looked like it would be three meters tall, despite it’s squatting posture on all fours. It’s belly protruded out and dragged to the floor, and its limbs were very sparse and long, looking just like a bloated spider.

However, those skinny limbs were flaky like forged iron, and the claws on the tips were longer and sharper than most daggers. It was clear that just by rubbing it, the skin of her stomach could easily be cut like tofu.

Creek-

Kitan’s head and eyes were bizarre like it is too small for its size. However, its mouth was started from the bottom of its ears, showing its sharp teeth while drooling.

Erel frowned as she involuntarily stared at the dripping saliva on the floor. It was because she found a strange trace left on the nape of Kitan’s neck.

Chain marks?

The skin of a Kitan is very tough that even a few blades won’t be able to penetrate through it, but

there were deep chain marks on its neck. As if someone very strong tied the Kitan up tightly.

However, this was not the time to leisurely observe the marks on a Kitan’s body. When she looked up, she saw a small and bright red eye staring at her from under her nose. The moment the eyes that seemed to have no intelligence met Erel’s, it laughed horribly.

“Kiek!”

Run away! Her body directed her before her own head did, but as soon as Erel ran with her dull legs, Kitan ran right through the broken warehouse door.

“Kwakk!”

She didn’t dare look behind her, but she could tell. It is already chasing after her.

“Rel!”

Beatrice, who had been frozen all along, shouted in a ripping voice. Erel ran away desperately as she was unable to look back, but the reality she saw through the long shadow on the wall was hopeless.

Kitan lifted its sharp claws and aimed for her as it was right behind her. It was just too close to be avoided. As soon as the shadow of the arm swung like a whip, Erel closed her eyes in anticipation of the upcoming shock.

Is this how I will die?

It was Erel’s family that came to her mind before she closed her eyes tightly. She thought that she had been attached to them a lot. The last thing that came to mind was the family of the person in the game, not her biological family, which felt like a very sad situation for her.

However, the game ‘Salvation’ didn’t seem willing to let her die, yet. Fortunately, before the Kitan’s claws could tear her apart, a young and gentle man’s voice resounded from somewhere.

“Stop.”

Erel was puzzled as she had recoiled in anticipation of death.  No matter how long she waited, she couldn’t feel the pain.

As she carefully opened my tightly closed eyes, she saw a terrible claw that stopped right under her nose. Surprised by this, Erel almost fell backwards. Then someone behind her wrapped his hand around her waist with a gentle touch and supported her.

“Are you all right?”

At the sudden touch, Erel was frightened. Having just been chased by Kitan, she was in a state of acute sensitivity.

Ahh-!

Unknowingly, she turned around and squeezed the hand that was on her waist, and saw the unfamiliar face. He was a young man with black hair, cool and beautiful like a crescent moon.

“Oh my. You must have been very surprised.”

He smiled as he looked down at Erel’s hand. He then boldly approached the Kitan and kicked it with his foot.

The kitan that had been roaring ferociously until earlier ended up not budging like a solid lime dough. However, only its eyes that were twirling with redness showed the full intention of  murder.

Is this man a Masaka, too?

Looking blankly at the miracle in front of her, Erel turned her head and looked at the young man who suddenly appeared. His fresh face smiled at her like her first love of a summer day.

“Rest assured. Noona is safe now.”

……Are you calling me Noona now? Erel wondered why he acted as though she had known him before. The moment she looked more closely into his face, she froze in place as if she had been electrocuted.

“Myrdal?”

His name popped out of her mouth like a startled sneeze. Far from being strange, he smiled with joy.

“Remember me? You have a better memory than you looked.”

Of course she remembered. He was one of the characters in ‘Salvation’, named Myrdal Harmash and Raeyeon targeted him when she was just a regular player.

I never thought I’d run into Mirdal here. Erel stared at Myrdal as if he was a celebrity she had seen on TV. I was able to find a subtle change from my memory.

You’re much younger than I remembered.

She did. Myrdal was a character she liked quite a bit, even though he wasn’t Raeyeon’s favorite. However, the reason why she didn’t recognize him at first glance was simple. It was because his age was different.

The Myrdal Harmash that Raeyeon knew, was a mature man in his late twenties at least. He was also a person with a gentle and dark past that fits Raeyeon’s taste.

But is the Myrdal in front of her only twenty? She could not see any blemishes on his young face. In particular, the way she looked around his cold eyes was very unfamiliar to her, as if she was seeing a different person altogether.

She can’t believe he can feel this different with just one look. This is why the window showing the soul of a person was called the eye.

“Long time no see, Erel noona.”

Myrdal spoke to Erel, who was still puzzled. Of course he didn’t know ‘Lee Raeyeon’ existed, but at least he seemed to know “Erel Elorence”.

Unfortunately.

“I’m glad I arrived in time.”

Myrdal had the audacity to lean his elbows comfortably as if the oddly twisted knee joints of Kitan were a table. In that state, he casually took off his hat and arranged his disheveled hair. He showed a complacent attitude as though he knew the Kitan would move or attack him right away.

But Erel could tell that Mirdal’s composure was possible because he believed in his own strength to the most extent.

The master of shadows.

Erel recalled his nickname in her head. Just like how Barkan freely uses the power of fire, Myrdal could control the shadows of others at will. To be precise, even their bodies are bound in the shadows.

At the same time she remembered this, Myrdal stepped back at a leisurely pace. Having secured a certain safe distance from the Kitan, he stared at Erel with his clear purple eyes and whispered.

“Close your eyes, Erel noona.”

Others would have thought it was out of the blue. Fortunately, Erel knew the power of Myrdal and quickly closed her eyes again. At the same time, Myrdal flicked his finger.

Soon after, there was the shriek of a skin of tough leather being cut through with a sharp knife and as if even a heavy shelf fell, the floor thumped once and vibrated violently.

Surprised by the roar, Erel opened her eyes reflexively and immediately regretted it. It was because she had seen with her own eyes, the horrific corpse of a Kitan, which had its throat cut off from its body.

“Kyakk!”

At this time, a scream like a seizure came from the side. Only then did Erel recall the presence of Beatrice, whom she had forgotten for a while.

While Erel was chased by the Kitan, Beatrice lost the strength in her legs and sank into a corner. And the moment Erel was about to be caught, she just lost her mind. No matter how self-centered she was, her friend would be torn to pieces right in front of her, and she couldn’t be fine.

Beatrice was briefly confused but soon came to her senses. Unfortunately, the timing was not great. With her stammering eyes open, she happened to witness a terrible scene in which the Myrdal-controlled Kitan clawed its own neck.

The bluish and tough skin spread from side to side, and blood vessels wriggling underneath were visible. The smell of fishy blood and the odors of the bodies that have been picked up.

“Wow, yuck……!!!”

A noble lady like Beatrice was devastated. She immediately cried, bent over and vomited everything she had eaten.

“Beatrice, are you okay?”

Surprised, Erel grabbed her long hair and patted her back. Beatrice, who threw up for a while, raised her head.

Her purple eyes filled with physiological tears were unexpectedly aimed towards Myrdal.

“You, you… You cursed demon!”