In response to the danger signal emanating from his brain, Ernest's decision was simple: he immediately chose to escape.

'I figured as much. There wouldn't just be regular folks chasing after.'

Although Ernest lacked any danger-detecting skills at the moment, his two-year experience of living and dying in the Netherworld was more than enough to inform his body, subconsciously, that he was in danger.

Ernest speculated that there might be one or two awakened individuals. Seeing as their target wasn't an average human, there was no way they were planning to capture her with a gun alone.

Ernest hurriedly ran to the woman he had left on the rooftop parking lot. Though the woman didn't collapse to the floor, both of her knees were still trembling from unconsciousness-induced weakness.

Ernest was about to help her walk like a parent guiding their child. But the woman pushed away Ernest's hand, which sought to embrace her waist so she could walk upright. Instead, her grip on Ernest's hand for support successfully quelled Ernest's anger.

The woman initiated conversation as they walked in Ernest's direction.

"Why are you helping me?"

"If you're asking, at least drop your suspicious tone."

"Please don't change the subject."

"Ugh! Well, let's just say I'm returning the favor."

In the midst of Ernest and the woman's conversation, finally, the cold night wind hit both of their faces as they reached the edge of the building's roof.

Probably because the building was unfinished, the area at the edge of the rooftop parking lot had no barriers at all, making Ernest's escape plan easier.

"Aren't you curious why I chose this place as our escape route?"

"If you have something to say, say it quickly."

"You're really cold. Is this how you thank people who want to save you?"

"It would have been inappropriate to call you my savior when we weren't safe yet."

"You were also aware, huh."

The woman whom Ernest helped walk did not want to look back because she wasn't wearing a face covering.

Meanwhile, Ernest peeked back a little and found a mysterious middle-aged man with a tense aura. With just one look, Ernest could feel a burst of Mana rushing around the mysterious man's body. That person wasn't an ordinary human; at least for Ernest, now it was impossible to win.

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Maybe that person underestimated Ernest, or perhaps he thought Ernest couldn't run anymore, so that person didn't immediately chase Ernest. That person walked casually towards Ernest.

"Just shut up and let me catch you guys. Aren't you already cornered!?"

It was unknown where that person came from. If that person went with the horde of rats that were following him earlier, then he must have been a very strong person because there were no scars even though he was hit by a car explosion, unlike the other goons.

Ignoring that person, Ernest whispered to the woman he helped walk.

"Since I saw you weren't afraid to jump from the top floor before, you must not be afraid to jump from here, right?"

"What do you mean?"

The woman asked, confused.

Ernest had led the woman to stand right at the edge of the rooftop. In front of them, there was no more floor to step on. In other words, there was nowhere to escape. Naturally, the woman glared at Ernest. However, even though she was led to a dead end, she herself strangely did not rebel.

Before the woman's confusion could dissipate, Ernest immediately pushed her to freefall downwards, along with him.

Just as the two of them were about to jump, the mysterious middle-aged man behind them squinted his eyes and clasped his five fingers together. The middle-aged man kicked the floor hard to attack the two of them.

Thump!

Ernest, who detected the sudden movement of the middle-aged man, immediately embraced the woman beside him and held her against the front of his body. Ernest did so so that the woman wouldn't be hit by the mysterious middle-aged man's attack because the person who was targeted first was her.

It was a pity that the mysterious middle-aged man's movements were so fast that he could deflect his own attack towards Ernest. Since the mysterious middle-aged man's target was blocked, the target changed to Ernest.

"Just die, okay."

Stab!!!

Spurt!

Ernest's blood came out and flew freely in the air as the five fingers of the mysterious middle-aged man managed to pierce Ernest's back.

Luckily, Ernest had exerted all his strength to kick the ground and jump as far as possible so that he could survive the stabbing attack of the mysterious middle-aged man. The mysterious middle-aged man's finger prick slipped off Ernest's back before it managed to penetrate into Ernest's essential organs.

As Ernest and the woman in his arms jumped, the mysterious middle-aged man just stood still with no intention of jumping in to chase Ernest and the woman. The man just muttered, "Well, you guys will die anyway."

Ernest, who heard the mumbling of the mysterious middle-aged man, only smiled mockingly despite the unbearable pain in his back.

One thing that was imprinted in Ernest's memory before sliding down, causing him to squint and show a rare, severe expression, was the Black Thorn emblem engraved on the mysterious middle-aged man's hand.

Ernest's serious expression didn't last long. His body landed in a large pool right beneath the abandoned construction building. It didn't matter that the water in the pool was filthy, as he only needed to move to the large lake on the right beside the pool, less than a meter away.

From the start, Ernest already knew that there was a large pool and a lake behind the area of the abandoned construction building, thanks to the GPS in his car earlier. The reason Ernest lured the people chasing him into this abandoned building was so he could escape by jumping down.

Originally, he intended to instruct the woman beside him to jump straight into the lake. Based on what Ernest had seen earlier, it was entirely possible. However, as the woman's condition worsened, he had no choice but to jump into the pool first. Luckily, the pool was still full of water; otherwise, he would have had to cancel the escape plan by jumping.

Splash!

Ernest and the woman in his arms plunged into the pool. Water splashed high into the air as their bodies collided with it.

Ernest hastily made his escape through the lake.

Blurp!

As they entered the lake, only their heads were visible on the surface, indicating they could still swim.