Moon's Labyrinths

When they jumped off the spaceship, unlike in skydiving on Earth, their bodies didn’t fall like a rock.

That was because the Moon's gravity was one-sixth of earth's. However, even if it was weaker here, gravity was gravity. The Moon unfailingly dragged the Connectors toward its surface.

Armstrong city was surrounded by monsters, and it wasn’t a good idea to fall through the air right now.

If they could skillfully land inside Armstrong city, it would be great. However, if they fell outside, monsters would attack them from all sides.

Moreover, these Connectors didn’t have any parachutes or any other tools that could help them land in their desired locations. Even if they had parachutes, it would only be a hindrance since the Moon had no atmosphere.

However, humans weren’t idiots. The Connectors had a plan in their back pockets.

‘We're almost there.’

Sungyoon got ready to land.

The Connectors were still far away from Armstrong city. They had a long way to go before reaching the surface. However, the Connectors weren’t trying to land inside Armstrong city.

Sungyoon and the Connectors landed at their destination. The landing jolted their bodies, but they were fine. The sturdy body of a Connector and the weak gravity of the Moon allowed them to land unharmed.

Moreover, they hadn’t been in the air for long.

‘Shall we get down?’

They had landed on the flipped over Mage city, specifically on the large foundation that used to be the city's floor.

The ancient civilization had left behind four special cities, and the Mage city was one of the largest among them. Its foundation was enormous.

The Connectors could land on it without any problems.

Because of this landing location, there was less danger to the spaceships. It also meant that Connectors didn't have to worry about landing amongst the monsters. It was the ideal landing location. Still, the Connectors couldn't deny that the plan to jump out of a spaceship with no parachutes was a ridiculous one.

After they had safely landed, they realized that there was no tunnel connecting the foundation to the tower.

The Connectors carefully scaled the side of the foundation to reach the tower that acted as a stake placed in the ground. They had to use the tower to descend.

However, Sungyoon didn’t need to go through all those unnecessary steps.

He gestured to Woosang and Woosung, who had landed near him.

When the two of them followed him, Sungyoon ran toward the end of the foundation. The sight of Armstrong city entered his vision.

Sungyoon grabbed Woosang's and Woosung's hands, and they jumped toward Armstrong city.

‘Thankfully, we can land without much problem.’

If they were off target, Sungyoon could use his wings to change their trajectory.

Most of the Connectors were using the tower, but some directly jumped toward Armstrong city.

They were the Connectors who could change direction in the air.

However, there were always those who acted rashly through bravado.

‘That guy...’

Sungyoon looked in front of him.

He saw someone jump off the foundation, which was being held up by the stake.

The problem wasn’t that the Connector had slipped. The problem was that the man was way off in terms of his trajectory toward Armstrong city.

Of course, he just had to change direction in midair. All the Connectors who had decided to go straight toward Armstrong city could do that.

However, it seemed this person didn’t have any abilities that would allow him to do so.

The proof was that he was desperately waving his arms and legs in the air.

‘I want to save him, but…’

Sungyoon was already transporting Woosang and Woosung.

They were his brothers-in-law. They were several times more important than a stranger, who had gotten carried away by ill-advised bravery. Moreover, even if Sungyoon wanted to help, the Connector was too far away from him.

The Connector steadily fell toward the mass of monsters, and the monsters caught sight of him. The monsters that stood at his estimated landing location went into a frenzy. In the end, the Connector fell in the sea of monsters.

It seemed he was a powerful Connector, and in desperation, he killed a good number of monsters.

However, his success only lasted a moment.

The monsters allowed him to attack only a couple of times, then they swarmed him with their numbers.

In the end, the Connector soon got completely swallowed up by the sea of monsters.

Sungyoon was worried about losing them, so he tightened his grasp on Woosang's and Woosung's hands. They silently descended toward Armstrong city.

When they landed, they stepped on the long landing strip of the Aldrin spaceport.

Sungyoon turned on his communication device. Each communication device had a unique identifier, so the headquarters could identify who had just turned on the communication device.

- You're here, Mr. Sungyoon!

Sungyoon heard the Mayor's happy voice through the bone-conducting communication device.

He then tapped his device once to answer in the affirmative.

- Ms. Grace is fighting on the west side of Armstrong city. I’ll send you her location right now.

Sungyoon took out a little tablet that he had received for this mission.

It was made for use in space, so it worked flawlessly on the Moon's surface.

All the Connectors were assigned the communication device and the tablet. They were tools that would be used in the fight against Grenoid.

Sungyoon looked at Woosang and Woosung.

Each of them was assigned to a different location.

The three of them bade goodbye to each other as they ran toward their designated locations.

***

A soundless war, it was the aptest description of the battle occurring outside Armstrong city. The battle was different from the wars that occurred on Earth, but it was the same in the sense that humans were desperately fighting for survival.

No, the Connectors were fighting with more desperation when one considered their opponents.

However, the silence of the cold space buried their passion, determination, and desperation.

Maybe, that was the reason the battle looked crueler.

Sungyoon arrived at the location marked on his tablet. It seemed the fight wasn't going well as the battleline was about to be overrun by monsters.

‘The Mayor did say this location was unstable.’

Russell was in the south, and Bruce was in the east. The north had the strongest Connectors protecting it. Therefore, out of all the locations, the west side was the most unstable one.

Thankfully, Sungyoon and the reinforcements had arrived on time. If they hadn’t, the Mayor would have had to shift Connectors from the other locations.

The first thing Sungyoon did was locate Grace. The screen of his tablet flashed with Grace's location.

‘There!’

Holding her staff, Grace was surveying the battleline.

Since Connectors like her only had limited magic spells, they had to look for the most opportune moment. They had to kill as many monsters as they could with each spell. Grace had been waiting for such an opportunity.

She raised her staff.

Flash!

The lightning split toward the surface of the Moon and detonated at a location with a lot of monsters.

The lightning spell was a spell Grace liked to use most.

However, the power of the spell was a bit different now.

Of course, no screams rang out. Even if the Moon contained air, the sound of the lightning would've drowned out the screams of the monsters anyway. Sungyoon was sure of it.

The Connectors specialized in close combat had to retreat. They felt as if the lightning would also swallow them if they weren't careful.

The spell came to a stop, and the spot the lightning hit was singed black.

Grace looked shocked by the result, and she stared at her staff.

Then, she suddenly realized something.

She whipped her head around to look at her surroundings and spotted Sungyoon.

A bright smile blossomed on her lips.

As Sungyoon approached her, her mouth moved.

It seemed she was saying something.

However, Grace soon realized that she couldn't make a sound here, and it left her embarrassed.

It seemed she had forgotten for a moment that she was on the Moon, which had no air.

She raised her arm and pointed toward her bracelet.

‘Mage Gem.’

After the Mage Gem, Grace pointed toward something else, toward the corpses of monsters that she had decimated.

‘Is she trying to talk about the performance of the Mage Gem?’

Kevil's death had led to some significant changes.

After that, Grace, Tim, and Emily had awakened their special Gems for the first time.

If Sungyoon were to make an analogy, Kevil had been a game's mid-tier boss who gave enormous EXP to Sungyoon’s party members.

Of course, it was good news. It meant they could also open portals in the near future.

However, it seemed the four of them had gained more unexpected powerups from the special Gems.

Sungyoon tapped Grace’s shoulder.

They were still on the battlefield, so they couldn’t waste time on personal matters.

Grace realized the meaning behind his gesture and nodded. She raised her staff, and Sungyoon summoned his weapons.

He held his sword in one hand and the ax in the other.

‘Let’s start.’

Sungyoon dashed toward the defensive battle line, which was on its last legs.

His first goal was to kill the monsters that were attacking injured Connectors.

‘What the hell is that?’

Sungyoon thought he had seen this monster in the illustrated guide, but he couldn’t remember its name. At the very least, he had never fought it before.

‘I have to remember its special characteristics and weaknesses.’

He would have to search through his memories after helping the endangered Connectors.

Sungyoon swung his ax to deflect the monster’s attack.

However, his ax cut through the monster as if it were tofu. The monster’s arm flew into the air as blood fountained from the wound.

‘Weak.’

He still couldn’t recall the information regarding the monster, but he knew that he wasn’t fighting a weak monster. At the very least, he knew this was a monster that could be found in the Great Labyrinth.

However, his ax had cut through the monster too easily. He didn’t feel like he was cutting down a monster from the Great Labyrinth.

‘No. That’s not it.’

The monster wasn’t weak.

‘I’ve gotten stronger.’

He didn’t even look as he swung his sword backward. Lightning crawled down his sword.

The lightning that shot forth was puny compared to the lightning from Grace's spell. However, it was enough to scorch the innards of the monster.

The monster fell after the lightning cooked its innards.

The injured Connector looked at Sungyoon with a dumbfounded expression. Sungyoon unsummoned his ax, then signaled to the Connector.

The higher-ups had come up with several hand gestures that all Connectors knew about. Sungyoon used one of those signals.

‘Come back after you get treated.’

The injured Connector's eyes widened when he realized who had rescued him. He vigorously nodded as he moved away from the battle line.

‘I’ll leave the rest to the healers.’

Sungyoon summoned his ax once again.

‘Let’s go nuts.’

Once again, Sungyoon charged into the fierce battle.

He swung his sword. He brought down his ax. His hammer caused explosions. His halberd pierced through the monsters that were away from him.

Sungyoon was classified as a high rank Connector, but his movements were beyond that of a high rank Connector.

‘I’m pretty sure Kevil was a mid-tier boss that gave us a lot of EXP.’

He jokingly thought about it. However, Kevil’s death had indeed been a boon for him. All of his Gems had evolved, and that evolution wasn't limited to just one level. His Gems had gone through explosive growth.

‘I’m walking a fine line.’

It was great that all his Gems had evolved, but it would all be for naught if he didn’t have the corresponding Devices to activate the Gems.

Sungyoon’s best Device had slots for six Sapphire rank Gems, ten Emerald rank Gems, and ten Ruby rank Gems.

Thankfully, they were all universal slots, so he could slot in all his Emerald rank Gems. However, many of his Gems had evolved to Emerald rank. If those Gems evolved one step further, he would be out of slots to equip those Gems.

‘I need to find another good Device.’

It was a good problem to have, but it was also an urgent problem that he had to solve.

‘I also have to find a way to increase the rank of the Evolution Gem.’