Moon's Labyrinths

“… Are you trying to suicide using my hands?”

Was there some unknown reason Hyunwoo couldn’t kill himself? Was he trying to die by Sungyoon’s hands? Sungyoon didn't know.

“Or do you have some delusion of grandeur where you see yourself as the bad guy who the hero has to defeat?”

Hyunwoo kept saying Sungyoon was a hero, and it was odd to see him spin a hero’s tale out of this. It might seem absurd, but Hyunwoo could be viewing this situation like that. Logically, it made no sense. However, Hyunwoo's actions after he had betrayed humanity were too bizarre.

That was why Sungyoon tried to come up with a reason that sounded plausible even though it was far-fetched.

“Ha ha ha! I like the sound of that!”

Hyunwoo laughed as he attacked again. Flamberg cut in a sharp line as the flying steel plates tried to distract Sungyoon.

Kwahng! Kwahng!

Sungyoon faced the attack head-on. He blocked Flamberg with either his shield or his weapons, and at the same time, he continued to hit Hyunwoo’s shield.

‘That light is very annoying.’

Whenever Hyunwoo attacked, the blue light surrounding him enveloped Flamberg and increased the power of his attack. And when he had to defend against Sungyoon's attacks, the blue light acted like a force field and reduced the power of Sungyoon’s attack.

The Gem had an all-round ability. That was the best way to describe it.

‘But!’

Sungyoon swung his ax, and Hyunwoo’s shield moved forward to block.

Kahhhhhng!

As expected, the shield piece blocked Sungyoon’s attack. However, on a closer look, one could tell that it hadn’t completely blocked it. The center of the shield piece had firmly blocked the attack, but its edges were barely holding on.

Since the shield had to diffuse all of the power behind the attack, it shook. It also couldn’t properly keep up with Sungyoon's speed. When he saw his advantage, Sungyoon turned fiercer. The shield pieces couldn't keep up with the flurry of attacks.

Hoo-oonhng!

Finally, a shield piece couldn't catch up to the halberd, and the spear blade cut Hyunwoo's face on the side.

“Hoohp!”

Sungyoon immediately moved the halberd to the side, and the sharp ax blade flew toward Hyunwoo’s face.

Boom!

‘As expected, I was too greedy.’

Sungyoon clicked his tongue when another shield fragment blocked the ax blade. He had moved faster than the shield could react, and he had been able to stab at Hyunwoo’s face with his spear blade. However, it seemed he couldn’t chain his attacks. Still, this clearly showed who had gained the edge in the exchange.

“Koo-oohk!”

Hyunwoo groaned, and his hands moved in a dizzying fashion.

Flamberg was still as sharp as before, but it couldn't get past Sungyoon’s shield. On the other hand, Sungyoon could now dodge the shield fragments and score wounds on Hyunwoo’s body.

He swung the hammer faster than the shield fragments could react. In the end, he struck Hyunwoo’s armor with the hammer.

Kwahhng!

An explosion erupted. The flying shield fragments shook in the air, and a black scorch mark appeared on Hyunwoo's armor.

Even though a tiny crack had appeared in his armor, Hyunwoo had other things to worry about.

Hwee-chung!

One of his legs buckled due to the explosion. He lost balance, and his sword swung through empty air. Of course, Sungyoon didn't plan on letting go of this golden opportunity.

Hoo-ooooohng!

He unsummoned his shield and swung his halberd with both hands. The terrifying blade of the halberd let out a cold light. Before the flying shield fragments could obstruct him, Sungyoon reached Hyunwoo within the striking distance of his ax.

Kwahng!

Flamberg barely blocked the attack. However, Hyunwoo couldn’t neutralize the power behind the halberd.

Koo-oohng!

He lost balance and had to take on the full brunt of Sungyoon’s powerful attack. It sent him rolling across the ground.

Hoo-oohng!

Sungyoon quickly reacted. He threw his halberd at Hyunwoo. Hyunwoo’s shield fragments intercepted the halberd, but Sungyoon had approached Hyunwoo by then.

White wings had unfurled behind his back, and they flapped.

Kwahng!

Sungyoon brought down his ax. He stabbed with his sword. He swung his hammer. In the end, he stabbed with his halberd.

Kah-ahhhng!

A shield fragment blocked his halberd, but the previous three attacks had found their marks.

Sungyoon had brought down the weapons with all his might, and Hyunwoo had to take the blows without being able to do much about it.

Koo-oohng!

After facing so many attacks, Hyunwoo’s body flew like a piece of paper caught in the wind. He crashed into the wall.

“Cough!”

He put his back against the wall and lowered himself to the floor to avoid being sprawled on the ground. Then, he coughed. Even though he hadn't coughed out blood, Sungyoon's attacks weren’t something he could easily recover from.

“Koohk! In such a short amount of time, you became much stronger than me.”

The shield fragments were a step behind as they returned to Hyunwoo. Sungyoon walked toward him. In terms of Gems, there were no fundamental differences between the two of them. Both mainly used Sapphire rank Gems and strength Gems to boost their physical abilities on top of that.

The only difference between them was that Sungyoon had the Royal Gem while Hyunwoo possessed a Diamond rank Gem. However, it was also true that the Royal Gem was superior to Hyunwoo's Diamond rank Gem.

This difference allowed Sungyoon to have an upper hand against Hyunwoo.

Tuhk!

Sungyoon stopped in front of Hyunwoo.

“What? You don’t want to end this?”

“You're the one who wanted to fight me, Mr. Hyunwoo. There is no way you would give up so easily. You are taking it easy because you probably have an ace in the hole.”

“Ke ke ke!”

It was neither an admission nor a denial; Hyunwoo just ambiguously laughed. However, Sungyoon decided to take it as a confirmation.

“… Why don’t you just end this?”

Sungyoon spoke.

Hyunwoo stopped laughing and stared at Sungyoon. It seemed he had no idea what Sungyoon was trying to say.

“Why don’t you turn yourself in and return to Earth?”

“You're talking nonsense. How do you think that even makes any sense? Moreover, you should be against the idea for your wife's sake. I killed Jimin’s father. I killed your father-in-law.”

“I know that. You killed my father-in-law and duped humanity. A lot of people died because of your betrayal. You're a traitor with no excuse.”

Trucks full of people on Earth wanted to roast Hyunwoo alive.

“I don’t know the reasoning behind it, but I do know that you helped me in the past.”

Jungbum had been a barebone company that only had Jimin. Moreover, she had been swindled out of her wealth before, so she couldn’t provide much support to Sungyoon.

That was why he had to rely on his own abilities to clear labyrinths. However, Hyunwoo had later instructed him on how to hunt monsters and also given him some high rank Gems. He had helped Sungyoon in many ways.

“You can go back and confess why you betrayed humanity. You can tell Jimin why you killed her father. You should pay for your sins. Of course, there's a high chance that they won’t let you live.”

When he thought about what Hyunwoo had done in the past, Sungyoon knew Hyunwoo would get the death penalty. At the very least, he’d get life in prison.

“However, it's a chance to be a ‘human’ when you do pass away.”

Sungyoon finished his speech.

Instead of replying, Hyunwoo just lowered his head.

“Kooh!”

A small sound leaked out of his closed mouth as if he were purposefully making his vocal cord let out a rough sound. Moreover, a smirk appeared on his lips, so it didn’t seem he would agree to Sungyoon's suggestion.

“Koo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!”

His twisted laughter, which he had done his best to suppress, started to leak out. Hyunwoo had no plans of peacefully going back to Earth to stand trial. Sungyoon sighed as he once again took a firmer grip on his weapon.

“Koo-hoo-hoo-hooo! Funny! It was hilarious, but unpleasant to hear at the same time.”

Hyunwoo stood up. His body swayed, and he looked like a person who had lost their mind. However, his eyes still contained a fire, and his spirit didn’t shake at all.

“Hey, Sungyoon. You want to hear about my past?”

Hyunwoo’s voice turned soft. He left out Sungyoon’s last name and title and spoke just his first name as if they were close friends.

Even then, there was a hot but also cold madness in his voice.

“Do you know about my mother?”

“Yes, I met her once.”

“Is that so? That’s unexpected. I don’t believe you know anyone in common with her.”

“I met her once when she came to the Mayor’s office.”

“I see! She was probably aiming for my wealth.”

Sungyoon didn’t answer him. Hyunwoo's mother reminded him of his ex-wife. She was the type of person he hated the most. However, he decided not to speak ill of someone he didn’t know. Nevertheless, his silence only confirmed Hyunwoo's suspicions.

Hyunwoo stopped swaying and raised his head.

“Do you know about my and my mother's past?”

“Your mother was a working girl on the Moon. Also, she had you because she wanted a Connector as her child. That's all I know.”

“You already know a lot. My father was a 1st Gen Connector. When my siblings and I showed no signs of awakening, she treated us as a burden. Do you know about that?”

“I do.”

“Do you know that I lived a pitiful life before I awakened?”

Sungyoon nodded.

“Then this will go more smoothly.”

Hyunwoo shook his head every which way. He had been acting oddly for some time.

“If we have the opportunity, I’ll hear it from you at a later time.”

Sungyoon thought Hyunwoo could be trying to say something needless. Of course, he was also curious about Hyunwoo’s past. He wanted to know what made Hyunwoo betray humanity. However, he didn’t have the time to idly listen to Hyunwoo’s lamentation.

Sungyoon charged toward Hyunwoo and immediately stabbed with his sword. He just needed to graze Hyunwoo, and the lightning would do its work. Hyunwoo’s shield moved to block his sword, but Sungyoon didn’t care. The shield couldn't keep up with him. Even if it blocked his first attack, he just had to attack a second and a third time.

Kwah-doohk!

However, his hand didn't feel the sensation of hitting the shield, and neither did he feel the sensation of his sword parting Hyunwoo’s armor.

“What!”

Sungyoon unconsciously yelled. He wanted to outspeed Hyunwoo’s shield, so he had stabbed with all his might. However, Hyunwoo had stopped the sword by grabbing the blade with his hand.

“Don’t be so hasty. You’ll have fun if you listen to my story!”

Puh-uhk!

Hyunwoo punched Sungyoon in the stomach with his other fist. Sungyoon couldn’t defend against the blow.

Sungyoon had been shocked when Hyunwoo caught his sword barehand, and on top of that, Hyunwoo moved too quickly. His speed couldn’t even be compared to before. It was on a different level.

Ooh-dahng-tahng-tahng!

Now, it was Sungyoon’s turn to roll across the ground. Moreover, he rolled more violently than Hyunwoo had. Since he didn’t need to breathe, he wasn't breathless. However, he was in extreme pain.

Sungyoon placed a hand on his stomach and realized that his armor had cratered inward.

“Where was I?”

Hyunwoo spoke as he slowly approached Sungyoon, who was picking his body up.

“Ah! Did I stop at the part where my life was pathetic?”

He sounded like a grandfather telling a story to his grandson. His voice was very gentle. Yet, for some reason, Sungyoon started to hear something inhuman in Hyunwoo’s voice. He wondered if his ears had been damaged from the blow.

“When I was young, it was truly hell. My father was absent, and my mother was always on the Moon. On the rare occasion when she did come back, she was always drunk. When she came home drunk, my siblings and I would hide in the corner. She always beat us. She berated us for being pieces of trash who couldn't awaken as Connectors.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Hyunwoo’s footsteps started to ring out. His steps sounded heavier and ponderous. It didn’t sound like the footsteps of a human. To be precise, it sounded as if he was transforming into something inhuman.