Moon's Labyrinths

The party kept walking down the tunnel . They could see the traces of battle left behind by Mrs . Ross and the Golem all over the place . Since they now knew the story behind the creation of these marks, they couldn’t help but look at it through different eyes . Tim and Emily occasionally looked at the traces with sadness in their eyes .

However, Sungyoon was worried about something more urgent .

‘Does the entrance from which Mrs . Ross came here still exists?’

Mrs . Ross had defeated the Golem that had tried to seal the door . However, there was evidence of multiple Golems existing . What if a second Golem had appeared after Mrs . Ross killed the first Golem? That Golem might have sealed the entranceway .

‘Please . I hope that didn’t happen . ’

If what he thought was the reality, they would suddenly have to become miners . They’d have to dig their way out through the thick bedrock .

Finally, the tunnel came to an end .

But it seemed Sungyoon’s worries weren’t unfounded . The party didn’t come across a door through which they could exit the cave . Only a wall as thick as a bedrock faced them .

“N . . . no way...!”

Tim mumbled to himself in a dejected manner when he saw the rock wall blocking their way . They had found the broken Golem and their mother’s corpse . They had gained much in acquiring the Gems and Devices, their mother’s keepsakes . However, if they couldn’t escape this place, it would all be for naught . Sungyoon and Emily didn’t express it out loud like Tim, but they were also dejected when faced with the reality in front of them .

“Let’s look around for now . ”

After speaking those words, Sungyoon started to inspect the rock wall . Tim and Emily pushed down their heavy hearts and also joined in .

Sungyoon tried tapping on the wall . He could tell it was hard, but there was also a bit of softness to it .

‘We’ll have a hell of a time breaking through this . ’

They had avoided the worst-case scenario of the rock being too thick and hard to dig through . Sungyoon walked parallel to the rock wall with his eyes wide open . He didn’t want to miss any small information that might benefit them .

Fortunately, fate hadn’t abandoned them .

‘This is . . . !’

He had found tiny portions of the door peeking out through a pile of rocks . From what he could gather, it was a double door where two doors swung open from the same frame . When entering this place, Mrs . Ross had opened only one of them . Sungyoon wondered if the Golem thought the hole was only as big as the opened door . It might have thoroughly covered up only that door .

Of course, most of the other door was buried in rock . However, they were regular rocks compared to the bedrock covering the other door . The party could break through the regular rock . At the very least, it would be much easier than trying to break through the bedrock .

There was hope now . They could get out of here . Sungyoon quickly approached the door . He raised his hand and knocked .

Boom! Boom!

There was space beyond the door . Sungyoon subconsciously made a fist .

He quickly called out to the Ross siblings .

“Mr . Tim! Ms . Emily! There is a door here!”

When they heard this news, the Ross siblings immediately ran toward him .

“There’s a door?”

Tim swiveled his head as he looked for the door . Emily stood next to him, and she looked at Sungyoon with anticipation in her eyes . Sungyoon didn’t say anything as he pointed in front . The Ross siblings could clearly see the door buried within the rocks .

“Oh shit! It really is a door!”

Tim immediately ran, and like Sungyoon, knocked on the door . He could hear the sound ring out on the other side, and his face brightened .

“Awesome! Let’s immediately destroy it and...!”

Ddah-ahk!

He had been about to summon his newly-acquired ax when his sister smacked the back of his head with her staff . Tim was wearing his new helmet, so it didn’t hurt . However, this didn’t mean he appreciated the gesture .

“What the hell! Why did you hit me!”

He grabbed the back of his helmet, frowning at Emily . However, Emily glared at him with sharp eyes .

“You never think before you act . If you make a hole in the labyrinth, the Golem will show up . You want to call that thing into existence without making any preparation?”

Tim had no rebuke for Emily’s sharp words . He kept rubbing at the back of his helmet as he backed off from the door . While Emily chewed Tim out, Sungyoon inspected the door more closely .

The door looked as if it was carved from a stone . Its surface was smooth . He could see the bumpy bedrock suddenly became a flat and smooth surface . However, fancy geometric symbols were carved on the surface . It was a telltale sign that this wasn’t an ordinary wall .

It had taken a lot of damage, and cracks were present everywhere . But from what he could tell, the doorknob was still intact .

“Where did this come from?”

Emily moved up to Sungyoon’s side as she asked the question . However, Sungyoon had no answer .

“I’m not sure . ”

He could only say this .

“Anyway, let’s get out of here . ”

They couldn’t stay in this cave forever . However, Sungyoon remembered Emily’s words, so he had a hard time taking action .

“Will a Golem show up?”

“The probability is high . ”

The Golem had shown up as soon as a hole had appeared in the labyrinth . Mrs . Ross’ diary also mentioned that one had appeared not too long after she opened the door . It would be wise to assume that a Golem would show up if it detected large damage to a labyrinth, like a hole in the wall .

“Still, we can’t stay here indefinitely . ”

Tim, who had been sulking the back, spoke up when he heard Emily’s words . Sungyoon and Emily agreed with him .

“We have to exit this place . Let’s come up with a plan assuming a Golem will show up . ”

Sungyoon’s words were the starting point . The three of them started discussing an escape plan .

“Mother was able to defeat it . Won’t we be able to defeat it too? Emily and I have become stronger with the newly-acquired Gems, and there are three of us . ”

It seemed Tim wanted to defeat the Golem as soon as it appeared . He didn’t like running away, and in some ways, the Golem was his mother’s killer . Even if his mother had taken down the Golem that had critically wounded her, Tim saw all Golems as his enemy .

However, Sungyoon shook his head from side to side .

“She only faced it head-on when she was sure the Golem had weakened . In other words, we won’t stand a chance when it initially shows up . Moreover, we have no idea how to weaken the Golem . ”

“As expected, running away is the only option?”

Emily agreed with Sungyoon’s pessimistic view, and she gave her own opinion . Tim didn’t sound too thrilled as he replied .

“However, it chased after mother . Isn’t a fight with the Golem inevitable?”

“Not really . When we encountered the Golem for the first time, it was quietly fixing up the labyrinth . If we attacked it on sight, our party would have been wiped out . ”

“I agree with Ms . Emily’s opinion . This was the case with the Goblins and Mrs . Ross . What if it only reacts like that on being attacked?”

Sungyoon brought up a good point . Tim came to the conclusion that Sungyoon’s theory held a lot of merit .

“So we won’t be in danger if we don’t attack it?”

“No . I think it’s too premature to assume that . We really don’t have a lot of information . There is the possibility it might attack anyone that enters into a fixed area around its body . ”

Sungyoon pushed back on Tim’s opinion . The three of them once again mulled over the problem, but they couldn’t come up with a clear solution .

However, they couldn’t just stand here doing nothing . It wasn’t as if they were going to gain more information as time passed .

“As soon as we get out, we have to run away as fast as we can . That’s the only solution . ”

It was such a simple idea that it made them shameful that they had spent so much time pondering . Still, Tim and Emily nodded at Sungyoon’s suggestion .

“As expected, that’s our only choice . ”

“Thankfully, the Golem doesn’t appear as soon as the labyrinth is damaged . At the very least, the appearance of a Mana Stream will tip us off, not to mention the bright light preceding its appearance . ”

Their discussion came to a conclusion, and the only thing left was to carry out the plan . The three of them firmed their resolve .

Tim possessed the strongest weapon amongst them, so he was tasked with destroying the door and killing any monsters barring their path on the other side . Emily would be in the middle . Her battle capability was too low, and she had to be protected . Sungyoon would bring up the rear, protecting their backs as they would run away .

Hoohng!

Emily cast all her support spells on the party .

“I’m doing it!”

Tim raised his ax . Nervousness was clear in his eyes . He had to break through this stone door as fast as he could . If he failed to make a big enough hole, the party wouldn’t be able to pass through . It would be the worst-case scenario if the Golem showed up while they were stuck .

“Hoohp!”

He let out a short shout as he put strength into his body . His ax flew towards the stone door at high speed .

Zzuhk!

Fortunately, the White rank weapon easily damaged the stone door . They could see the space beyond . However, creating a crack in the door wasn’t enough . He had to make it big enough for a person could pass through it . So, Tim raised his ax once again .

Puhk! Puhk! Puh-uhk!

He continued to swing his weapon . Debris started to rain down as the door started to show signs of significant damage .

After a short amount of time . . .

Kwahhhhng!

The door crumpled to the ground, and the labyrinth was revealed .

“Run!”

Tim yelled out loud as he jumped through the hole . Emily followed next with Sungyoon bringing up the rear .

As soon as they exited through the hole, they could tell that they were back in the labyrinth . Thanks to the abundance of magical energy in their surroundings, their vision cleared in an instant .

-Ggoo-roo-roo-rook?

They saw two monsters standing in front of them . These monsters were muscular and around 180 cm tall . They looked so ugly that a person of faint heart would be afraid to see such a face in their dreams . The most noticeable feature of their bodies was their rough gray skin . Sungyoon had never seen these monsters before .

“They are Orcs!”

Emily, who had been running in front of him, yelled out .

The Orcs were taken aback when the party suddenly jumped out of a newly-made hole in the wall . The monsters just froze in place, and the party didn’t waste this golden opportunity .

“Hoo-ahhhhht!”

In a flash, Tim closed the distance to the nearest Orc and brought down his ax .

Kwah-jeek!

The weapon smashed through the Orc’s defensive gear, cutting through the shoulder to the opposite hip . The monster couldn’t even let out a scream before it died . Tim immediately turned to kill the other monsters, but Sungyoon’s halberd was faster than his ax .

Poo-shoohk!

Sungyoon had thrown his halberd with great strength . The spear blade of the halberd went toward the Orc’s head, squarely piercing the region between its brow and destroying the brain . Then the halberd disappeared from the ruined head . Tim saw Sungyoon resummon the halberd back into his hand .

“What’s wrong, Mr . Tim?”

“Ah . It is nothing . ”

His head had been getting a bit bigger because he had become somewhat stronger after taking possession of his mother’s keepsake . However, that feeling was squashed in an instant . He once again realized that Sungyoon was an amazing person .

At that moment, a sensation washed over their skin . It was the sensation of magical energy moving in a turbulent manner . Their faces stiffened .

It was the Mana Stream .

It didn’t matter who went first . They all started running at full speed .

Flash!

A light flashed behind them . Something was being summoned . They already knew what would show up, so they put more strength into their legs . In a flash, they had moved far away from the hole that they had exited . They could hear a large boom ring out from behind them . A chill went down their spines . They thought the Golem might be chasing after them, so they concentrated on their hearing even as they ran full tilt .

Fortunately, they didn’t hear the heavy footfalls of the Golem chasing after them . However, this didn’t mean they stopped running . All the forks in the tunnel had been labeled in the past by Mrs . Ross, so they followed the directions . They didn’t care about formation . They just did their best to minimize the risk and cut down the monsters with one strike before moving past them . Sungyoon didn’t hold back on using his magic spells . Of course, they didn’t have the luxury to pick up the moonstones .

How long had they run like that? They saw the staircase leading up to the next floor, and climbed it in one go .

They finally stopped after arriving on the 7th floor .

“It isn’t following after us, right?”

Emily was fearful as she looked down the stairway . Sungyoon approached the stairway and focused his hearing downstairs .

It was quiet .

“I think we got out fine . ”

Tim and Emily flopped down to the floor at the same time .