Chapter 150
Chapter 150
Silence descended amongst them . Neither Grace, who had just finished telling her story, nor Sungyoon’s party, who had patiently listened, uttered a word .
The Ross siblings looked at Grace with a sympathetic gaze . But unlike them, Sungyoon went over Grace’s words once again and became lost in his thoughts .
‘Another anomaly popped up . ’
Connectors were already putting their lives on the line when working . So any changes to the norm weren’t good news to them .
But Sungyoon soon broke out of his thoughts, and thanked Grace .
“It must have been hard for you to tell us your story, yet you willingly did it . Thank you very much . ”
“No . It was actually cathartic for me . ”
Her blue eyes looked toward Sungyoon .
“I know I’m very late in asking this, but who are you?”
Now that they thought about it, the party had forgotten to introduce themselves .
“My name is Woo Sungyoon . First name Sungyoon, last name Woo . ”
“I do remember Asian names being structured like that . Thank you for helping me, Mr . Woo . ”
She gave her thanks . However, Sungyoon shook his head from side to side .
“You don’t have to be so polite with us . We are going to receive rewards, and Ms . Taylor had helped me in the past . I’m just repaying the favor . ”
“… are we acquaintances?”
Grace furrowed her brows as she carefully observed Sungyoon’s face . It seemed she didn’t remember him .
“I wouldn’t go so far as to call us acquaintances . You helped me out some time ago in Armstrong when a Connector tried to pick a fight with me . ”
Grace thought hard, and an old memory came to her mind .
“Ah!”
She clapped her hands .
“You were with your lover at the time!”
Emily was the first to react to Grace’s words, not Sungyoon . Her eyes turned round as she looked toward the man she loved .
“As I’ve told you before, we aren’t lovers . ”
“Ah . Right! You did say that . ”
When Sungyoon denied it in no uncertain terms, Emily’s surprised face returned to its normal expression .
“Is that why you came to rescue me?”
“It is part of the reason . We were also tempted by the reward . ”
Grace was surprised . Although the memory was fuzzy, she remembered meeting him . But from her perspective, she hadn't done something extraordinary in helping him .
However, this man had come to rescue her because of that small encounter . Of course, he probably had considered many other factors in making the call to rescue her, but the fact that it had influenced his decision was an amazing thing .
The Princess' heart developed a little trust toward Sungyoon . She then greeted the Ross siblings, and just as the siblings kindly responded by giving their introduction, something happened .
Flinch!
Sungyoon’s hands started to shake . He waved his hands through the air as if he were moving it through water .
It seemed Grace and the Ross siblings felt the same thing . The Ross siblings also waved .
Grace looked like a mouse frozen in front of a cat .
‘Mana Stream!’
He could feel it through his hands . The current of magical energy was starting to turn turbulent . It meant they were in danger . After all, the rest of Grace’s party had been wiped out due to the appearance of an abnormal Mana Stream .
“Run!”
Sungyoon immediately came to a decision and gave the order . The Ross siblings and, of course, Grace didn’t raise any objection, and they started running for all they were worth .
Moments later . . .
Hwahhhhhk!
The labyrinth became filled with light .
Thankfully, not many monsters had appeared in front of them . It wasn’t like what Grace had experienced, and a dozen monsters didn’t appear all at once . Moreover, the new arrivals weren't powerful monsters .
“Hoo-ryahhh!”
Zzuhk!
Tim ruthlessly struck down any monster in their way with a single strike . He didn’t even bother confirming his kills .
Even if a monster could get up, Sungyoon was behind him . He would stab the recovering monster with his halberd .
They ran for a long time . And after climbing several floors in a short amount of time, they finally reached the 1st floor . But they didn’t slow down as they ran straight toward the entrance .
Grace and the Ross siblings let down their guard when they saw the entrance in the distance .
However, Sungyoon was different .
He had almost died in a Mana Stream when a Bigfoot had appeared near the entrance .
Sure enough . . .
Pah-aht!
A light appeared in front of them . Sungyoon gritted his teeth .
“Just keep running!”
Thankfully, the entrance wasn’t too far away, and it'd take the monster some time to emerge from the light . So the party quickly ran past the expanding light .
Hoo-ook!
Soon, the light disappeared, and a monster revealed itself .
The party turned their heads to look at the newly-arrived creature .
“Fuck!”
Tim cursed . It seemed everyone felt the same way as him .
The monster in front of them was clad in heavy armor, which covered its chest, arms, and legs . Moreover, the monster had worn a helmet with a long horn attached to it, and its arms held a sharp sword .
However, this monster was special in a different way .
It had no skin, no muscles, no blood, no arteries, and no organs . The only things its body had were its white bones and the red flames inside the eye sockets of its skull .
“Skeleton . ”
Sungyoon groaned .
In the video games he used to play, the Skeleton was a weak monster . But here in the labyrinths, it was a different story .
In many ways, it was more powerful than the Cyclops .
The ominous fiery eyes buried deep inside the dark eye sockets moved in all directions . The monster soon caught sight of Sungyoon’s party .
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
Its jaws started to move as its teeth rattled against each other . Since it didn’t have vocal cords like other monsters, it didn’t let out a roar .
But the clattering of its teeth felt very creepy .
Taht!
The skeleton started to chase after the party .
It was fast, but the party would be able to exit the labyrinth before it could catch up .
Fortunately, they were able to do so . It had been a close call .
When they realized they had finally escaped, their bodies became filled with relief . They came to a stop .
The entrance to the labyrinth was in a similar state as when they had entered it . The only difference was the fact that more Moon Surface Vehicles were present now . More reinforcements had arrived .
The employees dispatched from the UK government looked at Sungyoon’s party with wide eyes . Sungyoon had spoken to some of them before he had gone inside the labyrinth .
When these employees saw Grace amongst Sungyoon’s party, all of them raised their hands into the sky .
One could see through their visors . They were cheering within the spacesuits .
They ran toward Sungyoon’s party .
Sungyoon’s party members enjoyed the feeling of safety that couldn’t be enjoyed inside the labyrinth . It was the same for Sungyoon .
‘That was a close call . ’
He would have to report this new anomaly to Jimin, and he thought about consulting Chelsea . But as he thought, something happened .
Hoo-oong!
A soft sensation tickled his hands .
In the beginning, he had thought it was a light breeze . But he realized that there should be no winds on the Moon, and this was the sensation of magical energy moving .
Sungyoon felt a chill run up his back . He looked backward . Those red eyes were looking at them from the entrance .
Monsters never went to places without magical energy . That was why they never exited the labyrinth . This was common knowledge .
Of course, the Skeleton should be no exception .
However, the ominous feeling within Sungyoon started to deepen .
‘If an anomaly can occur to the Mana Stream, other anomalies can occur too . I should've anticipated that . ’
He thought about what Grace had said earlier .
Tuh-uhk!
The monster in front of him placed its feet at the border of the entrance and bent its knees .
‘Shit!’
He wanted to warn them in desperation, but he couldn’t talk here . Moreover, it seemed no one else had picked up on the abnormality .
‘I have no choice!’
Sungyoon summoned his spear . He threw it in the direction of the people who were running toward his party . They all came to a stop in surprise .
He then extended his arms and hugged Emily and Princess Grace, who were nearest to him . They turned to look at him in surprise, but they were more shocked by what came next .
‘I’m sorry for doing this . ’
Puh-uhk!
Tim was a bit farther away from him, so Sungyoon had no choice but to kick him . Tim looked shocked as he was sent flying backward . Sungyoon had kicked him hard, but the kick's location was above his armor . Tim shouldn’t haven’t been hurt by it .
After that, Sungyoon kicked off the ground .
He jumped backward with Emily and Grace in his arms .
From beginning to end, his movements flowed naturally like water . It all had happened at high speed .
And then—
Puhhhhhhng!
Although they couldn't hear any sound, it looked as if an explosion had taken place . The vibration swept through the ground and dust spread into the surroundings .
The people who had been staring at Sungyoon as if he had lost his mind, finally realized something was wrong . They looked on in shock as a pillar of dust rose into the sky .
Sungyoon lightly landed on the ground . He put down Emily and Grace behind him and looked toward the pillar of dust .
‘I can’t see . ’
His vision had been completely blocked, and it was annoying . However, this meant his enemy couldn’t see them either .
Ssssk!
But it soon walked out of the large pillar of dust . The slow and easygoing monster looked like a predator approaching a cornered prey .
‘What should I do?’
Sungyoon looked tense as he pointed his sword toward the monster .
This opponent was stronger than the Cyclops .
He had done it out of necessity, but his action had created a distance between him and Tim .
‘Should we run away?’
That was the best option . However, he had no idea how far the magical energy would spread .
If the magical energy had spread into a very large region, the monster would probably kill them before they could escape the influence of the magical energy .
‘How are the regular humans still alive?’
He could see the employees scrambling backward on their butts on seeing the Skeleton . They should be within the domain of magical energy . Normal humans couldn't enter the labyrinths because they would become poisoned by the magical energy . He didn’t think that was happening right now .
‘That's a problem for later . ’
He could satisfy his curiosity after surviving . Sungyoon tried to give orders to Emily and Grace, who were still behind him .
However, he really hated the fact that he couldn’t easily communicate with anyone due to the lack of air .
Tah-aht!
The Skeleton moved . Its targets were the employees, who were scrambling backward on their butts .
‘Shit!’
Sungyoon immediately used his Earth magic .
Too-hwhak!
Stalagmites shot through the thick dust . His spell successfully stopped the Skeleton in its tracks, but Sungyoon couldn’t rejoice .
The monster had stopped running, but it stood atop a half-broken stalagmite and glared down at Sungyoon . All of the stalagmites had been destroyed, failing to damage the Skeleton .
‘Even the Centaur didn’t have that much magic resistance . ’
Sungyoon knew this fight would be very difficult .
The only saving grace was the fact that the employees had gotten back on their feet, and they were running away .
Tim had used this opportunity to run toward Sungyoon’s side .
Hoo-ong!
Sungyoon's body felt lighter, and he overflowed with strength . It seemed Emily had placed support magic on him .
But the effects were stronger than normal . Emily had probably overclocked her Gems .
Sungyoon immediately overclocked his own Gems too .
‘What should I do about the Princess?’
It would be best to move her to safety .
He pointed backward to tell Grace to run away . However, she shook her head from side to side . Sungyoon was about to frown at her when she raised her Device .
‘… They’ve recovered . ’
He could clearly see that the colors had returned to the Gems equipped on her Device . Moreover, two of them were Silver rank Gems .
Thankfully, she had avoided the fate of her Jewel rank Gems turning into dust .
‘She’s a damage dealer, right?’
Her spells were probably very powerful . If her abilities had returned, she would be a great asset in this fight .
Sungyoon decided to let her participate in the battle .
However, the ability to communicate with each other would be crucial in this fight . So Sungyoon pointed towards the labyrinth and started running .
“What the hell is that bastard!”
As soon as Tim entered the labyrinth, Sungyoon yelled out loud .
“We'll investigate later . We have to save our lives first . ”
Sungyoon then looked at Grace .
“I don’t have time to discuss plans or formations with you, Ms . Taylor . When your spells are ready, use them whenever you think it is appropriate . Of course, do not forget to yell at us to move aside . ”
“Understood . ”
“Let’s go, Mr . Tim . ”
The Skeleton had followed after Sungyoon’s party and re-entered the labyrinth . Sungyoon and Tim charged towards the monster .