Moon's Labyrinth

Thankfully for the party, the staircase didn’t change direction at a steep angle, and neither did it diverge into other staircases. It went straight toward the entrance that let out light. The entrance was a long way up, but they were Connectors. It didn’t take them long to climb the stairs.

When they reached the entrance, the four of them looked at each other. Everyone was nervous, but the deep resolve was evident in their eyes. They nodded then stepped inside the entrance. They didn't face any attacks, yet, none of them put their guard down until they fully exited through the entrance.

The party arrived at a large room that was five meters high. It was shaped like a square, and its area was around 200 square meters. Considering how the tower looked from the outside, there was no way it could have a room this big. It seemed space was distorted within this room too.

The exit of the entrance was on the floor of this large room.

“There is nothing here. ”

Tim said as he looked around. The room didn't even have a single item; it was a complete waste of space.

However, Sungyoon soon found another staircase heading upward. It was located on the opposite side of the stairs they had just climbed.

“There’s a staircase here. It seems we aren’t at the top yet. ”

“Let’s immediately head up. ”

Tim almost blasted the air out of his nose as he tried to run up the staircase. However—

“No. I won’t let you guys do that. ”

A dark and ominous interrupted him. Everyone in the party immediately raised their weapons as a robed figure descended from the stairs connected to the upper floor. He creepily moved down the stairs like a snake.

“Udocus. ”

Sungyoon called out his name.

“Him showing up means we found the right place. ”

“Ha ha! That’s good! Let’s start our work after we crush this guy. ”

Tim took a firmer grip on his ax. He looked like he wanted to immediately swing his ax toward Udocus.

Udocus's frightening eyes glared toward Tim, who had insulted him. His gaze was creepy, but it made Tim jut out his chin in defiance.

It seemed Udocus wanted to cuss out Tim, but he managed to hold back. He kept looking at Sungyoon’s party as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“What the hell? Why is he acting like that? He’s creeping me out. ”

Tim could laugh in the face of anyone who glared at him with killing intent, but Udocus was dispassionately observing his party. It made him shudder a little.

“Why are you here?”

“What? What are you talking about? We are here to kill you. ”

Tim confidently spoke.

“The simple-minded fool should stay quiet. ”

“What?”

Tim seethed, but Emily kicked his shin.

“Don’t get baited by the monster, you idiot. ”

While Tim and Emily bickered with each other, Sungyoon went over what Udocus had just said.

‘He isn’t showing it much, but he's flustered and uncomfortable. .. ’

Sungyoon decided to speak for now.

“Why? Don’t we usually hold hands and play together? Why do you think we are here?”

“I asked the wrong question. ”

Udocus asked the right question this time.

“How did you get in here?”

“You speak as if we entered an inaccessible place. ”

“That’s right. ”

Udocus sounded annoyed and disgusted.

“I wanted every one of you to wander around this tower until you felt powerless. ”

It seemed Udocus had twisted the space around each path like a pretzel to make the Connectors suffer. He planned on watching the Connectors howl in frustration.

‘His taste is as bad as his looks. ’

A sadistic being like Udocus was annoyed right now. It was proof that Sungyoon’s party had messed up his plan. Conversely, this was a good development for humanity.

“Your plan got all messed up. It seems that really offended you. I’m happy to hear it. As for how we got in here, we were going around in circles as you had planned. However, we suddenly found ourselves here. ”

Udocus's mood worsened. He had put in a lot of work to create the labyrinth within the tower. He had thought Sungyoon’s party had pulled off some miraculous plan to get in here, but in reality, they had been wandering. There wasn't anything special about it.

“Maybe, your shoddy work was the reason something went wrong?”

Tim pounced at the opportunity and tried to provoke Udocus.

However, Udocus didn’t get mad.

“There’s no way. ”

The only reaction from him was clear denial.

“There's no way I made a mistake. ”

Udocus's voice contained absolute confidence. He didn’t doubt his abilities at all.

“Now that I think about it, you hold the Royal Gem. ”

Udocus ground his teeth as he looked at Sungyoon.

“That cursed Gem must've done something. ”

Sungyoon had the same thought.

“Well, it's fine. I’m just annoyed that a crack appeared in my plan. The fact that you lowly bastards reached this room makes me angry, but this doesn’t change my plan. ”

Udocus took a step forward.

Sungyoon and his party members became vigilant.

“It’ll end once I kill you all here. ”

“We feel the same. ”

Sungyoon raised his sword and pointed it toward Udocus. It was as if he was calling his shot.

“I’ll kill you here, then go upstairs. I’m sure it has a way to put the Moon back in its place. ”

“Koo-hoo! What if I say there is no way?”

“Of course, I won’t trust you. I have to check it out for myself. ”

“Arrogant bastard!”

Udocus’s robes fluttered in the air as he raised his staff. Sungyoon’s party quickly moved. Tim stepped forward and moved up behind to support Sungyoon.

Emily and Grace immediately started to cast their spells.

“Die!”

Udocus swung his staff. Massive flame washed through the room.

Puh-uh-uhng!

The flame hit Tim’s shield. Tim was like a mountain as he blocked Udocus’s attack.

The flame was being blocked by the shield, so it couldn’t cause any damage to the party members behind him.

The flame died out.

“As expected, he is a magician. ”

Tim poked his head out above his shield. He spoke as he looked at Udocus.

Udocus dressed like a magician, so Tim wasn’t saying anything earth-shattering.

“That might mean this fight might be easier than expected. ”

For better or for worse, magicians had a reputation for needing a protector.

It wasn’t far off from the truth when one thought about the Connectors, who specialized in magic.

However, their opponent was a monster.

“Please don’t let your guard down. ”

Sungyoon took a step forward. His entire body was overflowing with the power from the source of magical energy.

“He may base his fighting style around spells, but there is no guarantee that he’s weak at fighting close-range battles. Moreover, he might be capable of sending terrifying spells one after another. ”

Udocus’s spell had been very powerful. If Sungyoon’s assumptions were right, this might be a tough battle.

Grace spoke in agreement with Sungyoon.

“Did you see his magic activation speed? It was very fast. ”

“Now that I think about it, you are right. ”

Tim had relaxed a little bit, but their words made him vigilant once again.

“We shouldn't underestimate our opponent. That doesn’t mean we should let our worry paralyze us. Let us fight as we’ve always done before. ”

“Understood!”

Tim once again brought up his sturdy shield.

At that moment, Grace finished her spell. A white light filled the room. As if Grace’s spell had been a signal, Sungyoon charged forward toward Udocus.

***

The room, which they were fighting in, was protected by magical energy. None of the spells could damage the room.

Unlike the constant existence of the walls, the battle started to heat up.

‘Something is off. ’

Sungyoon was puzzled by what was happening.

At that moment, several large ice spears were sent toward him. Sungyoon tilted his body. He dodged the ice spears like an acrobat.

‘Something is really off. ’

A stream of lava was shot toward them like a laser.

At the same time, Udocus’s shadow extended to try to keep Sungyoon in place.

It was a parade of various spells. In terms of variety, power, and speed, Udocus was peerless compared to the other magicians.

As expected of an officer of the Grenoid, he was powerful.

However, this was also the reason why he felt something was off.

Sungyoon blocked the stream of lava, and he dodged the shadow. Then he charged toward Udocus.

‘Bastard. ’

Udocus swung his staff. Shadows rose from the ground as it took the shape of monsters.

A total of three shadow monsters charged toward Sungyoon.

Sungyoon swung his sword to defeat the shadow monsters. By the time he defeated them, Udocus had gained some distance from Sungyoon.

Sungyoon threw his halberd. A forcefield formed in front of Udocus to block the halberd.

Sungyoon used this opportunity to close the gap, and he swung his hammer.

Kwahnng!

The explosion from the hammer broke apart the forcefield.

He changed his weapon to an ax, and he brought it down on Udocus.

Kwah-jeek!

“Koo-uhhhhk!”

A scream emanated from within the cowl. Udocus swung his staff toward Sungyoon.

There was clear dark energy flowing through the staff.

Sungyoon desperately dodged the attack. Udocus stretched out his staff to send another spell toward Sungyoon, but Grace had gotten off her spell before he could complete his spell.

Kwah-roo-roo-roohng!

A bolt of powerful lightning impacted Udocus. His body shook.

They could hear a horrifying scream alongside the powerful sound of the lightning.

Sungyoon continued to think as Udocus was abused by Grace’s spell.

‘Why is he so weak?’

That was the biggest question that he had.

Udocus was amazing. He was able to send out a variety of spells without making much preparation. In the beginning, Sungyoon was dazzled by Udocus’s prowess.

However, he started getting used to Udocus’s fighting style as time passed. He was no longer intimidated by what he saw at all.

‘Is this a trap?’

He inevitably had this thought, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“You. .. you lowly wormsssssss!”

Smoke was coming off Udocus’s entire body, and there was clear anger in his voice.

As expected of an officer, he was struck by several attacks, yet he was showing no signs of dying.

It seemed the ax’s poison hadn’t minimal effect on him.

It was proof that his defense, magic resistance, and stamina were powerful.

Yelling after getting pummeled only brought on laughter from his foes.

‘At the very least, it isn’t a trap. ’

If that was all an act, he would give this year’s Academy Award for Best Actor.

In the end, Sungyoon accepted it.

‘The current Udocus is weak. ’

What was causing him to be weak? All the officers that he had faced up until now had been powerful.

When he met Kevil for the first time, the fear caused by Kevil left a deep impression behind. Glaia had been barely defeated with the help of Bruce and Russell.

Udocus was supposed to be on par with Kevil and Glaia. Despite this fact, he wasn’t faring well against Sungyoon’s party.

‘There is no way Udocus is especially weak compared to the two other officers. ’

Naturally, there was only one answer left.

‘We became stronger. ’

His party members had Diamon rank Gems, special Gems, and Corpse Gems.

In terms of individual power, Sungyoon’s party members rivaled Bruce and Russell. They might be stronger than them.

‘Moreover, we are used to fighting as a party. That must have an effect. ’

When he took down Glaia, he had to fight with Russell and Bruce.

Since the three of them were all very powerful, the team was able to successfully kill Glaia. However, it was also true that their teamwork hadn’t been perfect.

It had been a party missing a tanker and a magician. It had been a hastily created team of three warriors. There had been no balance to how their party was constructed. Of course, they couldn’t pull out the full extent of their power.

However, it was different right now. The members of Sungyoon’s party had clear roles, and they stuck faithfully to their roles. Moreover, they had fought in life and death battles with each other for the past couple of years, so there was clear chemistry.

Sungyoon’s party worked synergistically. Their party was more powerful than the team made up of Sungyoon, Bruce, and Russell.

‘We can win this. It won’t be difficult. ’

Sungyoon welcomed the fact that he had miscalculated. It filled him with confidence.