Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 173

The bone-chilling cold that suddenly hit him paralyzed his thoughts. The strange floating feeling that came next made him feel a brief sense of rejection, but soon all the strength left his body.As his body gradually sank into the darkness, even the faint light rippling on the surface of the water gradually disappeared.

How did it turn out like this?

His mind was dizzy and his consciousness was blurry, but suddenly this situation didn’t seem so bad. It had been a long time since he had been able to relax like this.

But even there, another question arose.

Now that he thought about it, why was he so nervous? Was there some kind of important play? But it had been a long time since the theater got old and the recession hit and they couldn’t put on a proper play…

As his thoughts reached that point, suddenly someone grabbed his arm and pulled his body up above the water.

“Cluck, cluck! Cluck!”

A violent cough erupted as air rushed into his clogged lungs. After vomiting water and spitting it out for a long time, he realized that he was face down on a hard rock.

He barely managed to pull himself together and ended up vomiting water again, which made his head throb.

While he was still not sure of what was happening, he heard a voice next to him.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m okay…”

Oh, this was not it.

He was about to answer habitually when he suddenly came to his senses.

This was not a run-down theater. He was not an unknown actor barely surviving on instant food every day, but an apprentice knight named Arendt, and the person who had just asked the question was Arthur Norbert, a member of the Third Knights of the Careleon Empire.

“No, I’m okay… … cough cough, I’m not okay.”

Even in moments when his head spun, he somehow managed to change his lines. An unfamiliar yet familiar voice flowed out with a lot of tension in his throat.

“Of course. Damn it! If you were going to have an accident, at least say something. Why are you suddenly losing your mind and making a fuss? I was surprised!”

As he listened to the cries of nervousness and worry, reality slowly began to return to him and his surroundings began to come into focus.

Arthur, who was sighing and swearing, and Richt, who was checking his surroundings next to him, were both soaking wet from head to toe.

It seemed like the barrier had broken and everyone had fallen into the lake.

“Cough cough! Who wanted to put it down…?”

“You call that talking? I told you to save some energy because it’s dangerous, you son of a bitch!”

“Then… Cough. Senior, you should have thought more quickly. Why are you nagging me when you’re the one who’s late?”

As soon as he came to his senses, Richt sighed as he saw Arendt start to bicker with Arthur.

“Can you move?”

“If I can’t move, will you carry me?”

“From what you’re saying, it seems like everything is okay. Are there any other problems?”

“The sky is spinning…”

“It’s because you suddenly consumed a lot of magic power. Don’t get up and rest for a while.”

Arendt turned over and lay face up toward the ceiling.

The yellowish vision from lack of oxygen slowly regained its normal state, and the ceiling covered with stalactites came into view. Arthur also took a breath and looked around.

“By the way, where are we? We were just inside the room a moment ago. It wasn’t a hallucination, was it?”

“If we hadn’t moved again… the hallway itself might have been made using this cave in the first place.”

The place where they came to their senses was a huge stalactite cave.

The lake, with its soft blue glow, rippled quietly, and a ray of moonlight slipped in through a small hole in the ceiling.

“It’s probably a cave connected to the mineral vein of the Calvino Mountains.”

As he answered, Richt glanced at Arendt.

His already white face was pale from excessive use of magic power.

“If you’re okay, explain first. What did you do?”

“Hoo… It’s an anti-demon barrier.”

Arendt, barely able to catch his breath, answered in a voice that had regained some stability.

“Suddenly, a ghoul that had no presence of its own popped out, and even when it was knocked down, its body disappeared on its own… That’s where I got the clue. To put it simply, we didn’t walk down a hallway, but rather passed through a series of rooms made of transparent barriers. The ghoul didn’t appear in front of us, we just went into the room where the ghoul was waiting.”

It was a production that made it look like a ghoul appeared right before their eyes the moment they passed through the barrier wall, similar to how they used the curtain wall and lighting on stage to deceive the audience’s eyes and suddenly changed the background.

“Then it would be a honeycomb-shaped structure… If we were to cut it with our swords like we’ve done so far, we would have to destroy all of those walls. However, since we’ve personally tested that and found that it doesn’t work, I thought that blowing it up from the inside might work.”

“…”

He thought that since it was powerful enough to subdue even a werewolf, it was a strong anti-demon barrier.

The result was a great success.

“I bet he put a lot of thought into making it. It looks great.”

The faces of the two people who saw Arendt, who was soaking wet from head to toe and grinning with a pale face, became pale.

“I think that guy’s eyes have an insane light…”

“Don’t say it. It’s always been like that.”

It wasn’t like they had been wandering around for that long, but they were starting to get scared at that point.

The person who set the trap must be feeling a little disappointed. They probably didn’t know they would be taken advantage of so easily.

“By the way, what about the prince?”

“I guess they were dragged into another space. If we were in the same trap, they should have joined us here.”

Arendt stood up and responded to Arthur, who had changed the subject.

“What? Why are you moving already?”

“Enough wasting time. We have to find that Llewellyn guy too.”

Arthur was startled, but Arendt brushed away his hair that was clinging to him and got up. His clothes had dried somewhat while they were chatting, so there was no major problem moving around.

But Richt didn’t seem to think so.

“Are you okay? It looks like you should rest a bit more.”

“I’m not okay. But I think it’ll be a little better if I just hit that crazy guy on the back of the head.”

Arendt answered nonchalantly as always, straightening his disheveled clothes.

The two of them couldn’t help but be astonished as they watched him wring out the ends of his damp robe and tidy up his flowing hair.

Arendt, who had returned to his neat and tidy appearance in an instant, added while glancing at his seniors.

“They say that a madman gets better with a beating. If you drag them out and beat them up, they’ll naturally learn what’s going on.”

From monsters that have been pouring out since a while ago to intentional traps that were meant to make people wander forever.

There was a deep madness and malice in it all.

He didn’t know who the person was, but they were trying to have fun by putting people on the stage he’s set up and doing whatever they wanted with them…

‘They can’t do that.’

What was that person going to do with a stage the size of their palm?

To Arendt, this whole wonderful and absurd world was a stage. Dıscover more novels at novelhall.com

As Warren stood frozen for a while, Llewellyn slowly approached him.

“…What is it? It’s a person?”

“Oh, right.”

Warren nodded absentmindedly at Llewellyn’s surprised voice.

As he said, he was definitely human.

The appearance, scent, pulse, and breathing rate were all human, but for some reason, it felt strangely uneasy.

However, Llewellyn and his colleagues, who could not have known about Warren’s agitation, immediately rushed to feel his pulse. Only then was Warren able to confirm the man’s face.

He was a man who looked to be middle-aged, with nothing out of the ordinary about him.

Llewellyn raised his upper body and checked his breathing, then let out a sigh of relief.

“He’s alive.”

“Hey, are you okay?”

Fortunately, the injury wasn’t too serious, and after Ken tapped the man’s cheek a few times, the man slowly opened his eyes and groaned.

“Who…”

Llewellyn laid him back down, his lips parted, and tried to start a conversation.

“I’m sorry, but we’re not in a very relaxed situation either. If you can talk, I’d like you to explain first. I’m not a bad person, so don’t worry.”

“…”

A momentary glimmer of conflict crossed his hazy eyes. But he soon continued to speak, stammering.

“In the village… they said they were looking for someone to work… but we were all fooled. I ran away alone… Sigh…”

The man shut his eyes tightly, as if it was difficult to even open his mouth briefly.

That level of explanation was sufficient.

Llewellyn nodded, sharing a glance with Ken and Roderick.

“Okay, I understand what’s going on. Can you move, sir?”

“…There are others, others. They are still there. I’m sorry to ask you this. Those people… please help us!”

The man who had been absentmindedly speaking suddenly sat up and came running towards him. Llewellyn calmly pushed him away and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Just calm down for a moment. Of course we will help. Do you know where the people are?”

“Yes, yes! I can guide you.”

The man nodded hurriedly with a face full of wounds.

It was a gesture that did not seem suspicious at all, but Warren still looked uneasy.

Llewellyn, who discovered it, asked curiously.

“Warren?”

“No. Nothing.”

Shaking his head slightly, Warren glanced at the man.

Llewellyn looked back and forth between the man and Warren, then nodded slightly as he realized the meaning of the gaze.

“…Sirs, may I guide you guys?”

“What? But it looks like it’s hard for you to move?”

“It’s okay. I can do it.”

Ken let out a surprised sound, but the man stubbornly answered and got up. He staggered, but somehow managed to straighten himself by leaning against the wall. He looked straight at Llewellyn and took a deep breath.

“There are still young people out there. Please, please don’t turn away from them.”

“Of course. Roderick, carry him. If you have any water left, share it with him.”

“Okay.”

At Llewellyn’s command, Roderick immediately supported the man, and Ken found a water bottle and handed it to him. The man, who had quenched his thirst with water, bowed his head weakly.

“Thank you… I don’t know who you are, but you will definitely be blessed.”

“No. Then let’s get going. Be careful, there might be more traps. Warren, keep your eyes peeled.”

“Yes.”

There was no need to explain further, although he did not specifically say what he was warning about. Warren answered plainly and naturally stood next to Roderick.

“What? Why are you coming this way?”

“It’s my will.”

Roderick asked in a bewildered voice, but Warren only responded with the impudence he had learned from someone else. The man carried by Roderick reached out and pointed down the hallway.

“Go straight and turn right. There are stairs there. You need to go up.”

“Okay. Let’s go!”

At the signal of Llewellyn’s cheerful voice, the group began to walk again.