Because Seol Jihu was so hard-pressed for time, he almost missed it. It was already dimly lit in this place, and because of his darker skin, the man up there was hard to see.

But, once up close, it was much clearer to see. A man with his lowered head was hanging in the middle of the air. And it seemed that the mutated Orc was in the middle of reaching up to grab the man before its action was halted.

“Hugo!”

Seol Jihu cried out loud and even without realizing it, ended up touching Hugo's foot.

“Ku-ahh….”

The moment his body rocked slightly, Hugo threw his head back and cried out. No, his hoarse voice sounded much closer to a pained groan than an actual scream.

Only then did Seol Jihu realize that Hugo was suspended in air with a hook piercing through his back.

“W-What the hell?! What's going on??”

Yasser Rahdi also discovered Hugo up there. He was hung up too high and they couldn't carelessly touch him. Seol Jihu chewed on his lower lip before glancing at the rudium, still emitting that black smoke. Its size had been reduced noticeably, but… if it was only for a little while, it should be fine.

'Lower Hugo as safely as possible.'

When he issued that order, four mutated Orcs began moving at once. One of them disappeared into the darkness and not too long afterwards, the creaky sounds of a turning pulley echoed in the chamber. The hook was slowly lowered. Two of them grabbed Hugo from both sides, and the last one cautiously extracted the hook from the human's back.

“Keuh….”

“Hugo!”

Once his restriction was undone, Hugo toppled over, and Seol Jihu quickly caught him. The big man must've regained his consciousness somehow because he struggled through pain and forced his eyes to open up. His blurry eyes had a faint glow, a hint of life in them.

“Euh, uh…. Euh uh….”

His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something, but only flute-like reedy sounds came out. Just one glance was enough to tell that he was completely enervated. Seol Jihu hugged his head and whispered softly.

“It'll be alright. We came to rescue you. It's going to be alright.”

Hugo must have heard those words because, even though he looked dazed and unfocused, the corners of his lips arched up. He closed his eyes again and sagged powerlessly in Seol Jihu's arms.

“H-Hugo?”

“Look, man.”

Yasser Rahdi quickly spoke up.

“Five minutes might be up already. I understand how you feel, but we gotta go, now. We can only heal him after meeting up with everyone else.”

“Ah, right. Okay.”

Although his words were logical in nature, his voice sounded thick with restlessness. Of course, he wasn't wrong, so Seol Jihu hurriedly lifted Hugo up.

Before they returned the way they came from, though, he stopped briefly to take a look behind.

'Why is Hugo the only one here?'...