Jonah advanced, step by step. A bone-deep chill surrounded him in the pitch darkness.


    Nevertheless, his eyesight was exceptional. While others would feel as though they were blindfolded, he could still make out the outlines of objects even in near-total darkness.


    The dead silence around him was chilling.


    Warily, he scanned his surroundings, his eyes glinting with sharp frostiness. "I''m here, Uri. Show yourself."


    Suddenly, there was a click. A beam of cool, bluish-white light shone down on him from above without warning. Jonah tilted his head up, and his face immediately turned pale.


    "Julien!"


    Julien hung suspended in the air, battered and bruised all over. His wrists were already covered in blood from the friction of the shackles around them. His head hung low. He had already fallen unconscious.


    "Uri, you bastard!"


    Jonah''s reddened eyes bulged with fury. He was already on the verge of losing control. Spinning around, he roared, "What did you do to Julien? If anything happened to him... I''ll rip your heart out and tear you to pieces!"


    Uri guffawed. "There it is. The ruthless and vicious Judas I knew. Piety never suited you anyway. Oh, I''m sorry. I forgot you''re a man of faith."


    Two more ceiling lights flicked on.


    More than 30 feet above, Uri stood behind the railings, looking down at Jonah. Heughed like a madman, his entire body shaking.


    "Don''t worry. Your darling isn''t dead. I only gave him a good beating, but I made sure he was still breathing."


    Uri shook his head and clicked his tongue. Flexing his sore wrists, he added "To be honest, looking at his face reminds me of my younger brother, ke, who died a horrible death. I almost couldn''t bring myself to beat him."


    "You fucking bastard!"


    Jonah, usually calm andposed, finally snapped. With a feral howl, he darted toward a flight of iron stairs at the side.


    Suddenly, the harsh metallic screech


    of chains grinding against each


    other rang out above him. Julien,


    who had been hanging mid air,


    suddenly began to drop at terrifying speed.


    "Julien! No!"


    Drenched in cold sweat, Jonah spun around and ran back, throwing his arms open in a desperate attempt to catch him.


    The chains jerked to a sudden halt halfway down.


    Jonah gasped for breath as sweat and tears streamed down his pale face, trickling along his clenched jaw.


    "What would it take for you to let him go? What do you want?"


    It felt as if his heart had been trampled again and again by merciless troops on a battlefield. Beneath his pale exterior, his soul teetered on the brink of madness.


    "Just look at the great Judas, panicking like that to save the love of his life. I''ve never seen you lose control like this. You look absolutely miserable."


    A cruel smirk curled on Uri''s lips, yet tears of fury streamed from his bloodshot eyes. "Were you in this much pain when ke died right before your eyes? Were you?"


    At that moment, Julien, still hanging mid-air, slowly inhaled. His swollen, bloodied eyelids fluttered open.


    After much effort, he finally got sight of Jonah Standing beneath him. Instantly, tears streamed down his face. Through his chapped lips, he muttered weakly, "Jonah... D-Don''t w-worry about me... J-Just leave..."