Moon’s Labyrinths (Web Novel)

‘What the hell happened?’

As if time had come to a stop, everyone came to a standstill.

Sungyoon's comrades, the demonic monster, and the ambushers all stared at Sungyoon. Sungyoon had no idea what was going on, and everyone else felt the same.

As Sungyoon took a firmer grip on his sword, he felt his sword seemed more reliable than ever. The electricity flowing across the surface of the sword went into a frenzy as if it were celebrating.

Sungyoon looked at the demonic monster.

Previously, it had been on a rampage. However, in stark contrast, it was now quiet and expressed a human reaction, surprise.

“Whew!”

Sungyoon let out a deep sigh. He was in front of the demonic monster, yet his heart was tranquil. The fear in the depth of his heart had vanished, and his legs no longer felt rooted to the ground.

He could laugh in the face of the demonic monster now.

‘What caused this change?’

This was a favorable situation for Sungyoon since the fear was gone.

Moreover, he still heard the heartbeat, and that was why his lightning had been so fierce.

‘Still, something feels off.’

The fear was gone, but the heartbeat felt unpleasant. Sungyoon placed his hand on his left chest, at the brooch type Device, and remembered that he had put the newly-acquired Gem on this Device.

This Gem had consumed all the magical energy inside Sungyoon.

Using a newly-acquired Gem with an unknown ability might be forgivable in a desperate situation, but it was a disservice to use it when cooperating with other Connectors. It might ruin the balance between the Connectors, and so, Sungyoon hadn’t been using it when he had arrived at the battle.

However, he didn’t have the luxury to think about such consequences during a life-threatening situation. As a last-ditch effort, he had pushed his magical energy into all his Gems, and he had been proven right for trying this move. He had found the right answer.

At the very least, Sungyoon had escaped the fear. His body felt refreshed, and he was sure the reason behind it was the influence of this new Gem.

Despite the positives, Sungyoon felt flustered.

‘I can’t find out its ability.’

Sungyoon had used many Gems before, but this was the first time he couldn’t find out the ability of a Gem. The information about the ability would usually appear in his head, but right now, he felt as if his mind was clouded with white fog.

- You….

The demonic monster opened its mouth.

It was an odd situation. The monster wasn’t speaking Korean, yet everyone could understand what it was saying.

- How do you have that power...

Kevil, who sounded a bit lost, flinched.

***

Kevil felt its strength drain away at serious speed. It hadn’t thought about the consequences before using its power, so it had to suffer the side effect of its rash actions now.

‘Shit!’

It inwardly cussed, but cursing wouldn’t change the situation.

‘If it wasn’t for them...’

As Kevil glared at the ambushers, a strange idea suddenly came to his mind. It looked between Sungyoon and the Connectors.

‘They don’t seem friendly with each other. No. I’m sure they are enemies.’

Kevil’s eyes headed toward the ambushers.

‘Their king’s token...’

Its gaze then fell on Sungyoon.

‘He has it?’

However, Kevil couldn’t speculate any further due to the danger it was in. It looked at its target, the 1st Gen Connector lying on the ground behind Sungyoon.

It ground its teeth once and spread its wings. It flew into the air, but this was the first time it had suffered a defeat. Its immense pride wouldn’t allow it to just leave this place without a retort.

- When I meet you next—

Kevil abruptly stopped. Like a snapshot. Sungyoon’s wings unfurled. He flew straight at Kevil.

Sungyoon instantly reached Kevil and swung his halberd. Kevil quickly flapped its wings in order to back out, but the spear blade of the halberd pierced through its chest.

-Koo-ahhhhhhhhhk!

Bright blue blood sprayed into the air as Kevil clutched at its chest.

-You son of a bitchhhhhhh!

It used one of its hands to stem the blood and furiously swung the other.

Kevil’s attack was fierce. Since Sungyoon couldn’t dodge midair, he brought up his shield.

Boom!

Kevil’s long fingernails struck the shield and pushed Sungyoon back. However, Sungyoon didn’t suffer any damage. Even as he was sent flying backward, he threw his ax.

The ax spun in the air and pierced Kevil’s arm.

“Ahhhhhhhhk!!”

Kevil let out an unsightly and ugly scream. It pulled out the ax and threw it aside.

A large wound opened up on its arm, and blue blood flowed down its forearm. However, Kevil soon realized that something insidious had entered its body, something more dangerous than the wound.

‘Poison?’

The poison started to spread through its body.

Kevil felt fear. Normally, it could've burned the poison out of its body, but its power was bottoming out right now, and this wasn’t a normal poison either. Kevil used its remaining power to create a flame sword, and without hesitating, it cut off its arm.

Kwah-doo-dook!

The sharp and hot flame sword crushed its scales and sliced through flesh. Kevil’s severed arm fell to the ground.

Kevil desperately turned its body around. This was its first failure and also its first loss. It tried to keep down its anger and resentment as it ran away for its survival. The escape was a desperate, unsightly, and pathetic one.

Boom!

Sungyoon’s feet touched the ground.

He turned his head upward and saw the demonic monster flying away in the distance. Sungyoon summoned his halberd, reversed his grip, and assumed a throwing stance.

However, he gave up on that idea.

The demonic monster had used its remaining flames like a propellant and became a shooting star in the distant sky. Sungyoon could easily throw his halberd that far, but accuracy would be a problem.

In the end, Kevil disappeared into the distant sky.

However, the battle had yet to end.

Sungyoon lowered his gaze and caught sight of the ambushers, who looked like hedgehogs with their quills raised. He still feel the heartbeat, so he took a step toward them.

The ambushers flinched as they took a step back. At that moment, someone stepped forward from the group of ambushers.

It was the archer.

He yelled at Sungyoon, but Sungyoon couldn’t understand what he was saying. However, by the tone of the voice, Sungyoon could tell the archer wasn’t speaking kind words.

The archer angrily drew back his bow.

Sungyoon raised his sword. Kevil had left, and Sungyoon didn’t know when the sound of the heartbeat would stop. He had to kill the archer while he had this power.

The black-armored man also stepped forward. Sungyoon became tense as he thought the black-armored man would join the archer.

Boom!

However, the black-armored man ruthlessly struck the head of the archer with the broad side of his greatsword.

The explosive sound was so loud it made everyone flinch.

Even if the archer had a helmet on, he would have taken significant damage from the attack. As expected, the archer fell to the ground, and it almost made all of them wonder if the archer was dead.

The other ambushers were stunned into standing still.

The black-armored man calmly picked up the archer. He put the archer on his shoulder and signaled his group. Two of the ambushers quickly raised their staffs.

‘I won’t let you!’

Lightning erupted from Sungyoon’s sword. His body was still overflowing with power, and he had no intention of letting the ambushers escape.

However, the activation speed of the ambushers' spells was too fast.

Puh-uhng!

Earth shot up from the ground, and a gust of wind erupted in the surroundings.

In an instant, dust obstructed everyone’s vision. Even if Connectors possessed extraordinary vision, it was useless in front of this dust storm.

Sungyoon swung his sword.

Kwah-roo-roong!

The lightning rang out and ripped through the winds. The dirt was flung aside, and the winds screamed while dying out.

Even Sungyoon was surprised by the extent of his own power.

However, the disappointment that came when his sight was cleared overwhelmed whatever he felt about the increase in his power.

‘They are gone?’

In just a couple of seconds, the ambushers had vanished.

Sungyoon looked at his surroundings, and then, up at the sky. But the only thing that greeted him was empty air.

Kwah-jeek!

He wondered if they had hidden underground and stomped his foot, but his foot only crushed the blameless dry hay.

‘It's the same as when I lost them in the labyrinth.’

Sungyoon's suspicions grew. The ambushers had some special way of transporting themselves. However, Sungyoon could only flex his fingers as he came up with empty conjectures.

“Hoo-ooh~!”

He took a deep breath and squeezed out the air from the deepest parts of his lungs.

‘It can’t be helped.’

Sungyoon let go of any lingering emotions and turned around. The explosive power within him started to dissipate.

The other Connectors gathered their injured comrades as they moved their heads to look for the missing ambushers. With a regretful expression, Sungyoon rejoined his group as he stared at the spot where the ambushers had disappeared.

***

Sungyoon received incredible amounts of praise. He had defeated the scary demonic monster and pushed back the ambushers who had attacked Armstrong city’s research team.

After receiving the report of the battle, the admin gushed with praise about the Knight. He gushing about how the Knight’s reputation and fame would soar once again. When the admin moved to send out his report, Sungyoon took the opportunity to return to his standby room.

After taking a shower to wash off all the grime, Sungyoon lay on the bed.

He was mentally exhausted, and he wanted to sleep for a very long time. However, he had to check something before that.

‘What the hell is this?’

Sungyoon observed the Gold Gem he had acquired a short while ago.

There was no mistaking its golden light. It was indeed a Jewel rank Gem.

However, considering what had happened today, Sungyoon was sure this Gold Gem was not an ordinary Gem. He kept staring at the Gem until he felt his eyes would pop out.

‘Huh?’

Sungyoon tilted the Gem a little bit. Was it because of how the Gem was cut? Its color changed a little bit.

It was still gold, so Sungyoon wondered if he was seeing things. He wondered if the faint red light flashing between the gold light was a figment of his imagination.

***

The archer felt that someone had struck his head with a large hammer as a head-splitting pain engulfed him. His memory was fuzzy. He got up and reflexively shook his head while gripping it.

“Are you awake, Aruwan-nim?”

His subordinate, who had served his forefathers and his family, approached him.

Many of his people ignored his bloodline, yet this man had remained always loyal to him. This subordinate was admirable for his dedication.

“What happened? Why am I lying here?”

“That's...”

The subordinate hesitated.

Aruwan furrowed his brows. His subordinate always gave prompt answers to his questions, and the only time he hesitated was when it involved that person.

As expected, Aruwan heard her voice.

“I hit you on the back of the head and brought you here.”

Plu-El spoke.

‘Back of the head?’

Did it have something to do with his splitting headache? Aruwan searched his mind to piece together his memories. As he remembered everything, he stood up.

“You bastard!”

He strode toward Plu-El and stood in front of her. His face was red from the anger, but Plu-El’s expression remained the same.

“You're the one at fault for blindly charging forward.”

She spoke in a calm manner.

“Its effect was weak, but he did activate the Royal Gem.”

Aruwan’s face hardened.