Moon's Labyrinths

Sungyoon’s hammer had stopped in front of Kevil's hand, and it seemed that the hard scales covering Kevil's arm shone.

Hoohng!

Kevil moved its tail. Sungyoon quickly retreated as he put up his shield.

Kwahnnng!

The sound generated from the clash was on a different level.

Like a dead leaf, Sungyoon flew through the air.

Koo-oong!

“Koohk!”

“Ooh-ooht!”

Tim caught Sungyoon, who was flying through the air. As their armor collided against each other, a harsh sound rang out.

Tim slid backward for a while until his feet created a deep divot.

“Thank you.”

“You're welcome.”

Tim placed Sungyoon on the ground. Thankfully, both of them had come out pretty much unscathed.

“It powered up when it was in danger. Isn’t that a trope that shows up in movies or novels for the main characters?”

Tim jokingly spoke to Sungyoon.

“If this world were a novel, they might be the main characters, and the humans might be the main antagonists.”

“I can guarantee such a novel won't sell. It’ll go straight to a warehouse or the dumping ground. Who would want to read a novel like that?”

“Who knows what will sell or not? It might become a cult hit for a certain segment of the population.”

Grace, who had approached them, joined their conservation.

Emily also approached them alongside Grace and checked the condition of the two men.

“Thankfully, you two are fine.”

“I’m quite sturdy. I would have to give up on raiding the Great Labyrinth if a blow of that magnitude could injure me.”

As Tim spoke those words, he raised his shield again.

Kevil was slowly heading toward them.

“The power behind its attacks is no joke. Can my shield hold up against it?”

The overwhelming presence of his foe pressured Tim. His shield had always been sturdy and reliable, and it had been a while since he felt his shield was inadequate.

Sungyoon placed a hand on Tim’s shoulder.

“Let me fight it.”

“Are you sure you’ll be ok?”

“Yes. I still have plenty of power to spare.”

Sungyoon's heart was pumping and circulating an unprecedented amount of power in his body. At times, he felt all-powerful.

‘Of course, I’m not that strong.’

He had barely blocked Kevil’s attack. If Tim hadn’t caught him, he would have been sent flying further. It was proof that he wasn’t all-powerful, yet he was still confident in his abilities.

Tuhk!

Sungyoon stood in front of Kevil, who had stopped after walking for a certain distance toward him.

“Are you really going to face me alone?”

“Yes. I think it'll be possible.”

“Is that so?”

Kevil laughed. A smile appeared on its devil-like face, and as expected, the smile looked out of place on that face.

However, its next action fit its profile.

“Then die!”

Hwah-roo-roo-roo-roohk!

The fire sword burned once again in Kevil’s hand. However, the sword was different from before; it had grown in both length and width. Sungyoon was standing at a distance, yet he could feel the heat. It was clear the temperature had significantly gone up.

Puhl-luhk!

Kevil flapped its wings, and its enormous body rose.

Hoo-oohng!

It flew upwards, then brought down the fire sword toward Sungyoon.

This sequence of actions happened very fast.

Sungyoon held his shield with both hands.

Kwahhhhhng!

The flames exploded, and his feet sank. The intense heat had surrounded his body, but he had successfully blocked the attack this time.

Kevil’s expression fell. It didn’t like the fact that Sungyoon had blocked its attack so easily.

It kept pushing with its sword and swung its tail.

Sssk!

Hwee-chung!

Sungyoon’s shield disappeared. Kevil couldn’t pull back, so it lurched forward. Sungyoon turned to the side to dodge the sword and tail, then swung his halberd.

Kevil moved its wings.

Puh-uhnk!

The sharp horns attached to the wings aimed for Sungyoon, but Sungyoon was right on time as he deflected the wings with his halberd.

He used the momentum generated from the blow to retreat.

“Arms, legs, wings, and tail. You have a variety of ways to attack me since you have a lot of appendages.”

“It's one of the many reasons we are superior to humans.”

“I guess you guys determine superiority by how many appendages one has? I’ve met a monster with a lot of tentacles in the labyrinth. It must be superior to you. Was that Grenoid? He was weaker than I expected.”

Kevil ground its teeth once again.

‘Mr. Sungyoon is on his A-game today.’

The nervous Tim was prepared to act as Sungyoon’s shield when needed. Sungyoon’s demeanor impressed him.

‘No matter what happens, I must never fight him.’

Whether it was in terms of strength or words, Tim had no chance against Sungyoon.

“Today will be the last day you can flap your mouth like this!”

“Grenoid made a trash tentacle monster, and you're trashier than that monster! What can you do!”

Kwahhhhhng!

The two clashed once again.

Tim, Emily, and Grace wanted to help in the fight, but they could do nothing.

“… There's no opportunity for us to join in.”

Grace, who had been aiming at Kevil, lowered her staff.

“Is the battle too fast for you?”

“Yes. Is it the same for you, Ms. Emily?”

At some point, Emily had also lowered her hands.

“One needs to properly lock onto the target to use attack spells. If I’m not careful, I might harm Mr. Sungyoon.”

“Aim doesn’t matter since I have to be close to use the healing spell. My problem is that I have to get in the middle of that fight.”

Their problems differed, but at the end of the day, both of them were of no help to Sungyoon right now.

“We can only wait and trust that he can pull through.”

“We should also make preparations.”

The two of them kept their eyes fixed on the battle as they made preparations to immediately move if Sungyoon needed them.

It would be useless to worry more than it was needed, but Tim kept his shield up. He was ready to charge forward in case Sungyoon fell in danger.

Kwahhhhng!

Kevil’s fire sword clashed against Sungyoon’s sword. Fire and lightning attacked each other. The two of them kept their swords locked in a contest of strength.

“I can tell what you're thinking.”

Kevil taunted Sungyoon.

“You plan on dragging this out. You're waiting for your comrades to get here.”

It was true Kevil would be at a disadvantage if reinforcements came for Sungyoon. Connectors like Russell and Bruce were troublesome foes even for Kevil.

“Why do you think you’ll last that long? You're being too arrogant just because you can use my master’s power!”

Puh-uhk!

Kevil kicked Sungyoon. Sungyoon blocked the kick with his elbow, but the force of the attack sent him sliding backward.

“I’ll just kill you before they come!”

Kevil’s fire sword burned hotter. The ground rang as he charged toward Sungyoon.

“Even if you can use his strength, you're a lowly being! You can't handle that power! I just regained a little bit of my power, yet you're losing! Just die!”

As Kevil had said, even though Sungyoon was putting up a good fight, he was at a disadvantage.

The flame sword swung toward Sungyoon to burn him.

Tuhk!

Sungyoon took a powerful step. He stared at the sword coming toward him.

Sssssk!

His armor disappeared, surprising Kevil.

‘What the hell!’

Puh-uhhhhhhhk!

“Koo-oooooooooooh!”

Sungyoon clenched his mouth shut. He tilted his body, but he couldn't completely avoid the attack. However, he hadn’t planned on dodging it. Kevil’s sword pierced his side. The heat from the sword melted his flesh outward in the shape of a circle. It was a critical wound. However, he was a high rank Connector, and it was very hard to kill a high rank Connector.

Duhp-suhk!

Sungyoon used his left hand to grab Kevil’s hard left arm and raised his ax with his right arm.

“Ooh-ahhhhhh!”

As if he wanted to forget his pain, Sungyoon yelled. His thoughts had turned white from the pain, yet he used all his strength to bring down his ax.

Puh-uhhhhhhhk!

“Koo-ahhhhhhk!”

The ax pierced Kevil’s shoulder. Nevertheless, Kevil was also a veteran. It pushed through the pain as it increased the size of the flames on its fire sword. Sungyoon felt as if his body would combust in a flash.

Sssk!

Even though he wasn’t wearing his armor, Sungyoon still had his wings. The wings unfurled as he flew backward.

As soon as Sungyoon put some distance, the ax disappeared from Kevil's shoulder.

Kevil clutched his shoulder.

“You… bastard!”

Kevil raged as it tried to track down Sungyoon. However, something clashed against its sword. That something wasn't Sungyoon's sword, but Tim’s shield.

Tuh-uhng!

“GET OUT OF MY WAAAAAAAY!”

Its rage-filled fist kept pounding the shield, but Tim just gritted his teeth and endured the attack.

At that moment, Emily started healing Sungyoon. Sungyoon's melted flesh regained its original appearance, and the hole in his side disappeared. Moreover, his organs, bones, muscles, and skin also returned to their original state.

Kwahhhhhng!

“Goo-oooohk!”

Kevil’s attacks finally broke through and sent Tim flying away.

Grace used this moment to hit Kevil with her spell.

Ooh-roo-roo-roong!

The yellow lightning that shook heaven and earth once again shot toward Kevil.

“Ggoo-hoohp!”

The last time, the spell had failed in injuring Kevil. However, something had changed now. Sungyoon had created an open wound, and the lightning flowed through that wound and scrambled Kevil’s innards.

“You fucking bastards!”

Kevil roared in anger as it ripped the lightning away from its body. It then tried to attack Sungyoon’s party. However, the first thing it saw after the lightning went away was a sharp halberd.

Puh-uhng!

It quickly deflected the incoming halberd, which immediately disappeared in the air.

Sungyoon once again stood in front of Kevil.

“Do you like the wound on your shoulder, you bitch?”

Sungyoon had already recovered and worn his armor once again. He raised his sword.

“Let’s start the second round!”

“You think you gained an upper hand because you wounded me once!”

“It isn’t just a wound!”

Sungyoon raised his ax and playfully tossed it between his hands.

“How’s the poison? It would've taken down a normal monster by now. As expected of an officer, you're different.”

‘It's indeed poison.’

Kevil narrowed its eyes. It had realized that its wound was healing slower, and it was feeling more pain than usual.

The poison was doing its best in trying to reach deeper into Kevil's body.

‘I can get rid of this poison in short order.’

If Kevil used its fire, the poison was no threat to it. It just had to burn the poison, but it needed a little bit of time to do that. The only problem with that was Sungyoon wouldn’t give Kevil the time.

“We knew you would power up in due time. We expected it, and we prepared for it. We meticulously searched for locations where magical energy pooled. We couldn’t find all of the locations, but we had enough manpower to thoroughly search the sites where you might carry out your rituals. We knew you would regain some of your power in a place like this.”

Sungyoon waved his arm and felt the flow of magical energy brush against his arm.

“That's why, as you surmised, the plan was supposed to buy enough time for reinforcements. However, I don’t need to do that now.”

Sungyoon pushed off the ground. He approached Kevil in a flash and swung his ax.

Koo-oo-oong!

“Koo-oohk!”

Kevil groaned. Sungyoon’s attack felt much heavier than before, and this shocked Kevil.

“Unlike you, I don’t regain my original power here. I just received a boost to my already-existing power. Of course, I couldn’t properly use it in the beginning. I was unfamiliar with it.”

A hammer appeared in Sungyoon’s other hand.

“But I’m finally used to it now.”

Kwahng!

The explosion from the hammer shook the ground.