Hot flames forced their way through the narrow gaps. Soon, ashen smoke began to creep into the sealed basement inch by inch like a grey demon.

“Step back.”

Callios pushed Selina behind him. She staggered, but thankfully obeyed him.

He climbed back down the ladder and quickly surveyed the basement.

‘I heard they built an emergency escape route down here in case an inspector showed up unannounced. It has to be somewhere.’

Which way did the other exit lead?

As he scanned the area for anything out of the ordinary, he suddenly realised that Selina had disappeared.

Where could someone who had been barely conscious just moments ago have gone?

“Vice-Commander.”

Callios frowned deeply as he searched for her.

Thankfully, she hadn’t gone far.

There she was, standing in front of an iron-barred door and trying to fit a key into the lock.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

His expression hardened as he grabbed her arm.

But Selina did not even respond. She continued what she was doing without pause.

“The fire is spreading. We need to leave immediately.”

As he muttered coldly, desperate voices rang out from inside.

“P-please, save us too!”

“If the fire spreads, we’re as good as dead! Our children are waiting for us outside. Please—just spare our lives…!”

Callios lifted his cold gaze and looked at them.

Most of these people probably had no idea why they had been dragged here and imprisoned. They were innocent and wronged, and desperate to survive.

Callios knew people like this all too well.

Unless someone came to save them, they would never think to act for themselves. All they knew how to do was beg for salvation — they were incapable of making choices for themselves.

Even if he risked his life to rescue them, would anything truly change?

“Please. Just wait a moment. Just a moment.”

As Callios compared their lives to his own, Selina desperately tried one key after another, struggling to open the door.

Seeing this, Callios finally spoke up, no longer able to hold back.

“Does playing the saint in front of everyone make you feel better?”

But Selina acted as though she hadn’t heard him at all, struggling only to open the door.

“Ha…”

Sighing, he turned around and headed in the opposite direction. The passage where Selina was standing was a dead end, so he assumed there must be an exit on the other side.

Yet even after he had left her behind, Selina did not stop.

Click.

It took nearly ten attempts to finally get the lock to give way.

“We’re saved!”

The people imprisoned in the first room pushed open the iron door and poured out. Several of them disappeared in the direction Callios had gone.

However, there were still two more cells containing people who were trapped inside.

“P-please, open ours too! Hurry!”

“Then at least throw us the keys! We’ll open it ourselves!”

As the flames drew closer, frantic screams erupted from inside.

There was only one set of keys, however, and no matter how she looked at it, the fastest way was for Selina to continue opening the doors herself.

Ignoring the shouts demanding she hand over the keys, she tried the next lock with a different key.

“Aah! Faster—do it faster! Just a little faster!”

“The fire is spreading! At this rate, we’ll all die…!”

“Then open ours first! Please? There are three over there, and there are five of us!”

They started arguing from the second and third rooms, each side insisting that they should be freed first.

However, Selina had already decided to proceed in order.

Thankfully, the lock on the door to the middle room opened on the fifth attempt.

“Let’s go! Hurry up!”

Once again, those who had escaped passed Selina by without saying thank you.

Of course, she had never expected gratitude in the first place.

As they pushed past her, the bundle of keys slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor. Selina picked them up and moved on to the next room.

She finally reached the last door, only to encounter another problem.

“Cough, cough.”

Thick smoke began to fill the cramped basement. As a result, her vision blurred and she could barely make out the keyhole.

“Please, please, please! Please—hurry up!”

The people trapped inside were screaming desperately for help. While they covered their mouths with their sleeves, Selina did things differently.

With both hands occupied by the keys, she had no choice but to breathe in the acrid smoke directly.

“Cough—cough…”

Breathing became increasingly difficult, and her vision began to waver.

‘Stay conscious.’

If she lost consciousness now, the people trapped in the final cell would die.

Gritting her teeth, Selina forced the key into the lock.

She had no idea who they were.

Nor did she want to know.

As she repeatedly tried different keys, she found herself wondering why she was doing this.

‘Will doing this bring the dead back to life?’

Viktor would not be coming back.

Nor would Rocheste.

Nor Calliope.

Alter, who had once despised her, was not suddenly going to change his mind and forgive her.

So why was she doing this?

Was it simply because she did not want to see complete strangers die before her eyes?

Unable to find a clear answer, she continued moving her hands.

She believed that this—this alone—was all she could do right now.

Click.

At last, the final door swung open.

“R-run! Everyone, run the other way!”

Those who had been trapped emerged at once and fled in the same direction as the others.

It seemed that there really was a passageway. But Selina could not stand.

She collapsed onto the floor with a dull thud.

‘I should follow them…’

Yet her stomach churned and her mind felt as though it were filling with grey, ashen fog. She had no strength left to get up.

Lying on the floor, she closed her eyes.

At least she had saved people. Maybe that would spare her the deepest pit of hell when she died. If so, she might even see Calix again.

Meanwhile, Calix, who had gone the other way, had successfully found an exit and made it outside. The basement was laid out in a straight line, so locating the hidden passageway hadn’t been difficult.

He set Alter down and turned back.

But no one followed.

‘She really is trying to save every last one of them.’

Callios ground his teeth.

He could not fathom why she was so keen to play the saint and display her virtue in front of strangers.

Was she weighed down by guilt for everything she had done up to this point?

Was she trying to save these pitiful people in the hope that it would earn her forgiveness?

‘She knows better than anyone that it won’t work.’

Judging by how quickly the flames were spreading, it was impossible to save everyone. At best, she might be able to open one door.

That would be her limit.

As far as he knew, Selina was timid and easily frightened.

Once the smoke thickened, she would certainly panic and run out.

‘She’ll be coming out any moment now.’

He folded his arms and stared at the exit.

Sure enough, footsteps could be heard approaching from inside.

Just as he was about to lash out and ask her why she had stayed behind when she was planning to leave so quickly.

“I—I’m alive. I’m alive!”

“We need to run as far away as possible! If we’re caught again, we’ll be back behind bars!”

It was not Selina who burst out, but the imprisoned people.

Callios narrowed his eyes as he watched them.

When their gazes met, they flinched for a moment before looking away uncomfortably and hurrying off, perhaps recalling how he had abandoned them.

‘Looks like luck was on her side.’

He had thought she might manage to open one of the doors.

If she did, at least he could say it hadn’t been completely pointless. Perhaps that would be enough to preserve a shred of dignity.

But then—

“Ha! It’s been ages since I’ve breathed fresh air like this.”

“You were locked up for five years, weren’t you? I was in there for ten! This is why you shouldn’t go around killing people.”

Three rough-looking men emerged from inside.

“That aside, it’s a shame we left that woman behind. She was pretty enough… Should we go back and grab her while we can?”

“Have you lost your mind? The place must be full of smoke by now. Go back in and you’ll die too.”

“Tch. What a waste…”

Callios smacked his lips as he watched them emerge, his eyes cold.

From the looks of them, they were murderers.

And she had stayed behind to save people like that.

“…So she really chose to stay until the very end.”

What on earth could have been going through that foolish woman’s mind?

She stayed behind to save strangers.

An inexplicable rage surged through Callios.

He convinced himself that it was all Selina’s doing — just another one of her senseless, incomprehensible acts carried out to the bitter end just to upset people.

‘If she wants to die that badly, then let her die.’

After all, it was Selina who had ruined Thalia’s life.

She was the person who had dragged him straight into hell.

Whether she died sooner or later made no difference to him.

He wanted her to live in misery and meet a gruesome end for her crimes.

His goal was to take revenge on everyone who had betrayed him — Selina included.

That was why Calix had created the persona of Callios and willingly stepped into danger.