“Erne, wait here.”
Before going down to the cellar, Judith had Erne stand on the stairs leading down to the cellar.
“This is a trap. What kind of fool would go into a trap together?”
Judith persuaded Erne to follow her and separated him. It was a plan to make Shadin let his guard down.
Erne refused, saying that he knew what would happen inside, but he could not overcome Judith's stubbornness.
“I guess you weren’t going to listen to my request to stop doing dangerous things.”
“There’s no danger if you catch the priest. I’ll give you a signal. Come in then. Oh, right, and watch out for the stairs.”
“...Miss Harrington, please be careful.”
Who cares about whom, now?
On the basement stairs, Erne sighed, preparing for any eventuality.
He couldn't help but let it go. He knew Judith's heart, which wanted to break the bad relationship from her past life with her own hands.
If he hadn't known the circumstances, he would have forced Judith out of the building, even if she was struggling against it.
“How old are you?”
“What if I’m just a little older? I’m older than you here.”
Still, he thought to himself that if he had known she would fight so childishly, he shouldn't have sent her away.
As Erne waited for Judith to send him a signal, the air touching his skin began to change.
It's ominous.
It was a feeling that could only be described as ominous. His skin tingled and his spine went cold.
Darkness falls. The sun hasn't set yet, but the darkness that was hiding in the cracks of the ceiling and corners is slowly, slowly expanding its space.
“...?”
The moment the darkness rising from the basement stairs enveloped his ankles, Erne ran down without waiting for Judith's signal.
On the way, he also took off the door to the basement. He did this to make sure the door wouldn't get locked when he escaped, and to throw it at the priest.
“You do all sorts of things.”
It was both a remark to the priest and a self-deprecating remark. Now, he has to fight against the squirming darkness.
“Erne, here, ugh.”
Henry greeted Erne before Judith. His voice, full of joy as if he were now alive, soon subsided into a mass of darkness that surged up the walls and the floor like water.
“Sir Henry, what’s wrong? Where, where does it hurt?”
“Breathe, breathe, breathe.”
Henry clutched his chest when he couldn't breathe properly.
“You must not lose your mind, Sir Henry.”
Even as Judith unbuttoned Henry's shirt and calmed him down, darkness began to materialize and creep toward them.
Erne, who stood on the door, threw a dagger at Shadin. Although it was not too far away, the dagger lost its power and fell before it could reach Shadin.
“The heavens and the earth will be turned upside down, the highest things will fall, and the lowest things will be raised up. The arrows shot by him will lose their power and fall before his will.”
Shadin muttered endlessly with a smile on his lips.
When he tried to bring Judith here, Shadin knew he had to deal with Erne too.
But this is his hunting ground.
It's a trap set to capture Erne and Judith. The moment they enter here, they are merely sacrifices to open his will.
He burned his last spiritual power, which might be his last, on the floor and walls, where he had drawn a spell mixing blood and poison.
“Ugh, huff.”
The moans coming from Henry, who was to be the first sacrifice, sounded just like music. Once his life was offered as a sacrifice, neither Erne nor Judith nor anyone else would be able to disturb him...
“It’s hot, it’s hot.”
What's going on? Shadin's eyelids, which had been tightly shut, opened without him knowing.
“Hold on, Sir Henry. It’s almost all gone.”
“Isn’t all the skin peeling off?”
Shadin was astonished at the sight that slowly came into his brightening vision.
Judith took off Henry's shirt, climbed on top of him, and rubbed his chest with her palm.
“What are you doing so blasphemously during this sacred ritual...?”
Shadin couldn't continue. What the hell are you guys doing?
“Blasphemous? We share the same opinion.”
Erne, who was standing on the doorstep and looking at Judith and Henry, spoke up.
“Your husband is wide awake, and you’re having an affair in front of him. How disrespectful.”
Tsk tsk, Ern clicked his tongue. Shadin was getting annoyed.
“Do you think I called you here to film a soap opera?”
How the heck did you get rid of the sacrifice formula? It's not like you can scrub it off.
Before going down to the cellar, Judith had Erne stand on the stairs leading down to the cellar.
“This is a trap. What kind of fool would go into a trap together?”
Judith persuaded Erne to follow her and separated him. It was a plan to make Shadin let his guard down.
Erne refused, saying that he knew what would happen inside, but he could not overcome Judith's stubbornness.
“I guess you weren’t going to listen to my request to stop doing dangerous things.”
“There’s no danger if you catch the priest. I’ll give you a signal. Come in then. Oh, right, and watch out for the stairs.”
“...Miss Harrington, please be careful.”
Who cares about whom, now?
On the basement stairs, Erne sighed, preparing for any eventuality.
He couldn't help but let it go. He knew Judith's heart, which wanted to break the bad relationship from her past life with her own hands.
If he hadn't known the circumstances, he would have forced Judith out of the building, even if she was struggling against it.
“How old are you?”
“What if I’m just a little older? I’m older than you here.”
Still, he thought to himself that if he had known she would fight so childishly, he shouldn't have sent her away.
As Erne waited for Judith to send him a signal, the air touching his skin began to change.
It's ominous.
It was a feeling that could only be described as ominous. His skin tingled and his spine went cold.
Darkness falls. The sun hasn't set yet, but the darkness that was hiding in the cracks of the ceiling and corners is slowly, slowly expanding its space.
“...?”
The moment the darkness rising from the basement stairs enveloped his ankles, Erne ran down without waiting for Judith's signal.
On the way, he also took off the door to the basement. He did this to make sure the door wouldn't get locked when he escaped, and to throw it at the priest.
“You do all sorts of things.”
It was both a remark to the priest and a self-deprecating remark. Now, he has to fight against the squirming darkness.
“Erne, here, ugh.”
Henry greeted Erne before Judith. His voice, full of joy as if he were now alive, soon subsided into a mass of darkness that surged up the walls and the floor like water.
“Sir Henry, what’s wrong? Where, where does it hurt?”
“Breathe, breathe, breathe.”
Henry clutched his chest when he couldn't breathe properly.
“You must not lose your mind, Sir Henry.”
Even as Judith unbuttoned Henry's shirt and calmed him down, darkness began to materialize and creep toward them.
Erne, who stood on the door, threw a dagger at Shadin. Although it was not too far away, the dagger lost its power and fell before it could reach Shadin.
“The heavens and the earth will be turned upside down, the highest things will fall, and the lowest things will be raised up. The arrows shot by him will lose their power and fall before his will.”
Shadin muttered endlessly with a smile on his lips.
When he tried to bring Judith here, Shadin knew he had to deal with Erne too.
But this is his hunting ground.
It's a trap set to capture Erne and Judith. The moment they enter here, they are merely sacrifices to open his will.
He burned his last spiritual power, which might be his last, on the floor and walls, where he had drawn a spell mixing blood and poison.
“Ugh, huff.”
The moans coming from Henry, who was to be the first sacrifice, sounded just like music. Once his life was offered as a sacrifice, neither Erne nor Judith nor anyone else would be able to disturb him...
“It’s hot, it’s hot.”
What's going on? Shadin's eyelids, which had been tightly shut, opened without him knowing.
“Hold on, Sir Henry. It’s almost all gone.”
“Isn’t all the skin peeling off?”
Shadin was astonished at the sight that slowly came into his brightening vision.
Judith took off Henry's shirt, climbed on top of him, and rubbed his chest with her palm.
“What are you doing so blasphemously during this sacred ritual...?”
Shadin couldn't continue. What the hell are you guys doing?
“Blasphemous? We share the same opinion.”
Erne, who was standing on the doorstep and looking at Judith and Henry, spoke up.
“Your husband is wide awake, and you’re having an affair in front of him. How disrespectful.”
Tsk tsk, Ern clicked his tongue. Shadin was getting annoyed.
“Do you think I called you here to film a soap opera?”
How the heck did you get rid of the sacrifice formula? It's not like you can scrub it off.
While Shadin was wondering, Judith shook her hand and white powder fell from her palm.
'It was good that I listened to my godmother.'
Salt. It was just salt. Sun-dried salt.
When she said she was going to find the priest's hideout, the godmother gave her this. Sometimes, a grain of salt that contains good energy is more powerful than an amulet that wards off evil.
Of course, Erne and Judith came wearing the amulets that Tan had prepared for them. However, the amulets could not save Henry, who was becoming a sacrifice, even though they could protect themselves.
So she sprinkled salt on it and rubbed it in, but it didn't work. Of course, it didn't solve all the problems.
The darkness, like a mound of mud, was still moving ceaselessly, pressing Judith and Henry from all sides. It was close enough that it wouldn't have been strange if it had burst in and swallowed Henry and Judith at any moment.
“Well, I guess I’m a bit talented, but do you think that’ll get you out of here, Miss Yu-Jin Laundry?”
Shadin chuckled.
As Shadin chanted the spell again, the rope that sealed his will snapped. At the same time, Judith fell to the ground. It was as if a hand had come out of the floor and grabbed her leg.
“Ouch.”
“Madam, are you okay?”
“Judith!”
“Okay, it’s okay.”
Judith staggered to her feet but fell down again.
Shadin laughed bitterly. There was a reason why Henry was left on the floor in the first place. That way, Judith wouldn't be able to enter the spell.
“This is already your space.”
Shadin tapped the jar. The jar lid trembled ominously. Shadin stealthily took back the fingers that had been tapping the lid.
'They're already causing trouble even before the seal is properly broken.'
Since he planned to lock Judith and Erne in this cellar, he put fly poison all over the cellar.
However, this something so serious that it seemed like it would fill the basement at any moment was something Shadin had not expected.
Originally, in Shadin's memory, it was only recorded that the surroundings had become somewhat dark, but, well, since no one actually opened his will, it must have all been speculation.
“Is that the cause of this division?”
Erne's gaze turned to his will.
“That’s right, you told me earlier that you would infuse the soul inside me into your body.”
Henry shook Judith, who was still crouching and groaning, lifting her still-immobile arm.
“Madam, come to your senses, come to your senses.”
Judith's face turned pale and she was covered in cold sweat. Erne, who was standing on the door that had been thrown into the sticky darkness, nervously ran her hair up.
Erne stepped into the muddy darkness without hesitation.
“Eh, Erne, what are you doing now? You shouldn’t go down there. Do you know what that is...!”
He tried to ignore the prickling pain in his skin, but his feet were not headed towards Judith.
If that ominous jar were to be opened, the soul inside would enter Judith. So why not just keep it from being opened?
Erne covered his nose and mouth, but the thick poison gradually made his feet feel numb. Erne walked towards Shadin until his steps slowed, his body became dull, and even the stinging pain disappeared.
Shadin, who saw Erne rushing at him in an unsophisticated manner, began to chant a spell in a hurry.
“That crazy guy, again.”
Henry muttered while looking at Erne like that.
Meanwhile, Erne's hand, which had turned purple from the poison, was paralyzed while holding the sword handle. That was fortunate. He wouldn't have to let go of his sword while stabbing that damned bastard.
'Is this the end?'
The sensations that had always been sharp like a sharp blade disappeared one by one. He had a premonition that if he fell into that wicked darkness like this, he would die.
'But it's not meaningless, right?'
At least he could protect what he wanted to protect. He gripped the sword with all his body muscles. The sword he had swung without any meaning throughout his life finally gained meaning at the last moment.
Not bad. The corners of Erne’s lips, which had not yet lost their senses, drew a curve. Shadin’s spell, which was glancing at Erne, whose entire body was already almost paralyzed, was also drawing to a close.
"...No."
“Huh? What did you say, Ma’am?”
Judith, who had been staring at the ground with unfocused eyes, raised her head. When her gaze met with the deep green eyes that had always been looking at her, Judith smiled.
Stop it.
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