Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several shots hit Ernest’s car tires, making it difficult for him to maintain balance for a moment. Fortunately, the air in the car tires didn’t run out immediately. The car could still run somewhat normally... well, not exactly normal.

“It seems like we can’t escape with this car anymore!”

Ernest made a decision in an instant.

If he forced himself to escape with the car, he would definitely be caught.

But he was relieved because he had reached his destination.

So, he immediately swerved and entered an abandoned construction site.

After passing through various piles of sand, scattered bricks, and various other construction materials, he entered the abandoned construction building.

However, because his car tires were already punctured, the pursuers were able to close the distance until it was very close.

“It seems like their ammunition is running low judging by the reduced intensity of their shots.”

The cloaked girl spoke softly as if talking to herself, but Ernest heard her words.

“Please don’t activate the red flag.”

“Cough! W-What do you mean?”

Because Ernest was focused on driving, he didn’t realize that the girl’s condition was worsening.

Ernest only responded while joking.

“Even if their ammunition is running low—I don’t know about you, but if it were me, I would definitely die on the spot if shot.”

Ernest decided to keep pushing his car to the maximum speed as he chose to take the spiral road up to the rooftop parking.

Craaassshhh!!!

Perhaps because the air in the car tires had run out, the sound of the rims scraping against the floor was very unpleasant to Ernest’s ears, to the point where he wanted to cover them but couldn’t because he had to focus on holding the steering wheel.

However, he was relieved when he saw that the rats who were still tailing him also took the one-way spiral road up to the rooftop parking.

“Listen to me, if you want to survive, in three counts, you have to jump out of the car!”

Ernest gave instructions to the cloaked girl next to him.

Ernest wondered why the girl didn’t respond at all. Then he realized that there was no longer a knife threatening his neck.

Her hand, which had previously been focused on threatening Ernest with a knife, was now gripping her chest as if she was experiencing pain in her chest.

Ernest was surprised to see that the condition of the cloaked girl seemed much worse than before.

“Tch!”

Ernest clicked his tongue.

Reluctantly, Ernest had to carry her body when he wanted to get out of the car.

Exactly 1 meter when Ernest’s car reached the rooftop parking, he immediately placed one hand on her back and the other hand on the girl’s thigh to carry her, similar to carrying a princess. Then Ernest butted the car door open before jumping out of the car.

Thud!

Before hitting the floor, Ernest hugged the girl. Ernest also arranged for his back to be the first to hit the floor so that the woman in his arms would be safe.

Roll! Roll!

He rolled a few times before stopping.

On the other hand, just as Ernest got out of the car, the car he was driving earlier slid down below.

Earlier, after Ernest set up the car to reverse, he had placed a bag containing various tools he found in the triplets’ car as a replacement for his feet to press the gas pedal.

The reason Ernest hurriedly got out by jumping out of the car was to prevent the rats from catching up.

Although his car might scrape the edge of the spiral road, it didn’t affect the speed much as it descended. Like a ghost car attack, Ernest’s car slid down without passengers until, eventually, the cars of the rats chasing him crashed into his car.

Crash!

Initially, Ernest only heard the sound of a consecutive collision, but...

Ka-boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions echoed loudly. What was initially just one explosion, a few moments later, a series of explosions like dominoes sounded.

Unfortunately, Ernest couldn’t see their panicked faces when his car suddenly crashed into their car.

Ernest could only hear the shouts and screams.

Were they all safe by jumping out of the car? Or were they crushed against each other and died from the explosion? Ernest didn’t have time to be curious. He was more focused on the cloaked girl in his arms.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Ernest gently shook the body of the cloaked girl still in his arms.

Strangely, she didn’t react at all. When the hood covering her head fell off due to her position in Ernest’s embrace, the reason why she remained silent emerged.

Initially, Ernest was amazed by the black, long, straight, thick, and glossy hair that suddenly appeared and fell like a waterfall on the head of the girl in his arms. His foolish mind imagined that a rainbow would appear around her hair soon.

But Ernest’s focus quickly shifted to her closed eyes. When Ernest placed his fingers near her nose, he sighed because she was only unconscious.

In her unconscious state, a sudden thought crossed his mind.

‘Isn’t this the perfect opportunity to escape?’ However, even if Ernest left the cloaked girl behind, the probability of survival was 50:50. In other words, he wasn’t sure if he could really escape.

Ernest wasn’t sure what had happened between the cloaked girl and the armed men. But if they had seen Ernest’s face, the likelihood of survival would drastically decrease.

Logically, would they be satisfied if they caught him? No! Most likely, they would eliminate all eyewitnesses to the incident, right?

Even if they hadn’t seen Ernest’s face, they would probably still chase him because they would assume he was an accomplice of the girl.

Nevertheless, his best option now was to escape and leave the cloaked girl to be caught by them. At least she could buy him some time to escape.

‘Yes, there’s no point in getting involved in other people’s affairs.’

Ernest laid the cloaked woman on the cold floor, then stood up and walked away while placing both of his fused hands on the back of his head as if leaning.

Ernest wasn’t a hero. Perhaps because he had lived in the Netherworld for a long time, he didn’t feel guilty at all, even though he had to do something that violated the norms of goodness in society.

But then he realized that he was currently a victim.

“Wow, when did I become such a good person? From the beginning, you were the one threatening me, okay. So don’t blame me if I leave you here.”

Furthermore, it’s not like Ernest didn’t realize that there was a high probability that the girl was the guilty party. So, wouldn’t he be helping the right side if he left her? But what if it’s the other way around? What if this girl is the victim?

“Whatever.”

Regardless of who was right or wrong, Ernest didn’t care.

However, before Ernest actually left, a silly thought seized his mind.

Ernest stopped his footsteps, turned around, and walked back toward the cloaked girl. Then he bent his knees and said, “Let me see your face for a moment.”

The silly thing was his curiosity about the face behind the veil the cloaked girl wore.

Slowly but surely, Ernest's hand began to untie the veil's knot behind the girl's head, revealing her face entirely.

However, just as the girl’s face appeared clearly before Ernest, Ernest fell silent without moving as if frozen by magic. Ernest’s eyelids widened, and his hand that lifted the veil suddenly stopped in mid-air.