Moon's Labyrinths

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 voice 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. 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 again.

“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 isn't?”

“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. The party quickly moved. Sungyoon stepped forward and moved up behind Tim to support him.

Emily and Grace immediately started to cast their spells.

“Die!”

Udocus swung his staff. A massive flame washed through the room.

Puh-uh-uhng!

The flame hit Tim’s shield, and Tim blocked Udocus’s attack like a mountain. Since his shield had stopped the flame, Udocus's attack couldn’t cause any damage to the others. In the end, the flame died out.

“As expected, he's a mage.”

Tim poked out his head above his shield. Udocus was dressed like a mage, so Tim wasn’t saying anything earth-shattering.

“This might mean the fight could go easier than expected.”

For better or worse, mages 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, the party's opponent was a monster.

“Please don’t let your guard down.”

Sungyoon said as he stepped forward. His entire body overflowed 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 close-range combat. 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, the battle could be a tough one.

Grace agreed with Sungyoon.

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

“Now that I think about it, it indeed was.”

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

“We shouldn't underestimate our opponent. However, 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 had finished the preparations for her spell. A white light filled the room. As if Grace’s spell had been a signal, Sungyoon charged toward Udocus.

***

The room they were fighting in was protected by magical energy. None of the spells could damage it. Unlike the constant existence of the walls, the battle started to heat up.

‘Something's off.’

Sungyoon was puzzled by what was happening. As he thought, several large ice spears came flying toward him. He tilted his body and dodged the ice spears like an acrobat.

‘Something's really off.’

A stream of lava shot toward them like a laser. At the same time, Udocus’s shadow extended in a bid to keep Sungyoon in place. It was a parade of various spells. In terms of variety, power, and speed, Udocus was peerless amongst mages.

As expected of one of Grenoid's officers, he was powerful. However, this was also the reason Sungyoon felt something was off.

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

‘Bastard.’

Udocus swung his staff. Shadows rose from the ground and took the shape of monsters. Three shadow monsters rushed Sungyoon.

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

Sungyoon then threw his halberd, but a forcefield appeared in front of Udocus and blocked the halberd. Using this opportunity, Sungyoon closed the gap and swung his hammer.

Kwahnng!

The explosion from the hammer broke apart the forcefield. Sungyoon changed his weapon to an ax and brought it down on Udocus.

Kwah-jeek!

“Koo-uhhhhk!”

A scream emanated from within the cowl. Udocus swung his staff toward Sungyoon. Clear, dark energy flowed through the staff.

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

Kwah-roo-roo-roohng!

A powerful lightning bolt crashed into Udocus, and his body shook. The party could hear a horrifying scream alongside the powerful sound of the lightning.

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

‘Why is he so weak?’

That was the biggest question that he had. Udocus was amazing. He could send out a variety of spells without making much preparation. In the beginning, Udocus’s prowess had dazzled Sungyoon. However, he got used to Udocus’s fighting style with time. Udocus could no longer intimidate him.

‘Is this a trap?’

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

“You... you lowly wormsssssss!”

Udocus’s entire body emanated smoke, and the anger in his voice was evident. He had been struck by several attacks, yet he didn't show any signs of collapsing. It seemed the ax’s poison had a 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 this were all an act, Udocus would get this year’s Academy Award for Best Actor. In the end, Sungyoon accepted it.

‘The current Udocus is weak.’

What was the reason he was weak? All the officers that he had faced up until now had been powerful. When he had met Kevil for the first time, the fear of Kevil had left a deep impression on him. As for Glaia, he had barely defeated with the help of Bruce and Russell.

Udocus was supposed to be on par with those two, yet he wasn’t faring well against Sungyoon’s party.

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

That naturally left only one answer.

‘We became stronger.’

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

In terms of individual power, they rivaled Bruce and Russell. No, they might be stronger than the two.

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

In defeating Glaia, Sungyoon had to fight with Russell and Bruce. Since the three of them were very powerful, the team successfully killed Glaia. However, it was also true that their teamwork hadn’t been perfect.

It had been a party missing a tanker and a mage. 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 synergistically worked. 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 that he had miscalculated. It filled him with confidence.