There was something Seol Jihu heard a long time ago when he was a low-leveled Earthling who could only dream of becoming a High Ranker.

[In that case, allow me to ask you a question.]

[Warfare is quite a different beast from expeditions. As a strategist, you’re risking hundreds or thousands of lives if we’re talking about a small scale, and hundreds of thousands, even millions of lives if we’re talking about a greater scale conflict.]

[Are you offering this strategy, fully aware of the implications?]

What filled up Seol Jihu’s head and heart in this disastrous life-or-death moment wasn’t nervousness or a sense of crisis.

Funnily enough, it was guilt.

He felt sorry because he was the one who came up with this plan.

He wanted to make up for it if he could, even if he had to throw away his life.

If he was going to die anyway, he wanted to become the sacrificial lamb that would help his comrades escape.

However, he knew he couldn’t do this.

The point of Philip Muller’s escape plan was breaking up the Parasites’ forces.

If he caused a scene and made the enemy realize that he didn’t have the stele, they would focus on pursuing the other groups, and he would have ultimately caused them harm.

Moreover, he remembered how Phi Sora told him not to draw the enemy’s attention stupidly. She must have said it out of concern, having experienced something similar during her time as White Rose’s team leader and thus knowing how he must be feeling at the moment.

In the end, it was simple.

He had to run. That was the only way he could help his comrades.

He had to help his comrades survive. And the only way to do that was to run.

Seol Jihu heaved out a long sigh.

He slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the dark earth.

Then…

“…I guess...