Moon's Labyrinths

The number of chain explosions and the monsters moving around had significantly decresed . The party had been running away up to this point, but they decided to mount a counterattack . They killed all the remaining monsters quickly .

They had been exposed to almost thirty minutes of constant explosions, so there was a ringing in their ears .

Sungyoon and his party members sat in a corner to rest for a little bit .

“Is this our first time fighting a large scale battle?”

When Grace spoke, the rest of them tilted their heads in puzzlement .

Tim spoke up as the representative .

“Can this really be called a battle?”

It was technically a fight, but they had mostly run away from the explosions and the crystal shrapnels . They never fought a proper battle .

“Still, they were unusually easy foes . Even if they rushed us with great numbers, we just needed to create a chain explosion and move into the space created by the explosion . Although, the Reverse Gravity did cause us a bit of trouble . . . ”

“That’s not true at all, Ms . Emily . ”

Grace shook her head from side to side .

“If we had let the crystal monsters get close to us like all the other monsters, they would have self-destructed in front of us . We would have been assaulted by the chain explosions at close range . ”

“Ah!”

Emily’s face turned a shade paler .

“Mr . Sungyoon and Mr . Tim would have been fine, but the rear support would have been in trouble . ”

They were only wearing robes that amplified their spells . It provided way less defense compared to the armor .

She let out a burst of small laughter .

“It’s like going through a hazing ritual . It’s as if the middle stages of the Great Labyrinth wanted to give us a rough greeting . ”

“It really is like that . ”

While the two women conversed with each other, Sungyoon stood up .

“I’ll go retrieve the moonstones . ”

“I’ll help you . ”

Emily stood up . Tim and Grace also followed after them .

The monsters had come to Sungyoon’s party in waves . It meant a massive amount of moonstones were spread across the floor .

The moonstones were as big as basketballs, and one could create a hill using the moonstones . If Sungyoon did it by himself, it would have taken him a very long time to gather all the moonstones . After they went through the great trouble of gathering all the moonstones, Sungyoon’s party moved on .

“This place is driving me nuts . ”

Tim mumbled to himself . However, the rest of the party felt the same way as him .

Boom!

A large ball of fire fell next to them .

The party jumped to the side, so they wouldn’t be hit by a stray spark .

Gahhhhhhhhh!

A bizarre sound rang out . It wasn’t the sound created by a living creature . It was the sound of pressurized steam forcing itself out from between the rocks .

Beings made out of large burning rocks appeared in front of them .

It was as if rocks of various sizes were put together to create a humanoid shape . Red flames leaked out from the crevices in a threatening manner .

There were three of them . Tim, who was the shield of the party, put up his guard .

‘Then there’s that... . ’

Sungyoon’s eyes headed towards the sky .

Boom!

Another fireball fell from the sky . This time it fell behind the party .

‘Is this what the end of the world would look like?’

Tim looked into the distance . The sky was full of falling balls of fire .

Boom!

Tim blocked a fist that was as big as his upper body .

Tim was busy blocking the flurry of attacks from the three monsters .

If he wasn’t careful, his party members might be attacked .

Tim focused on blocking .

Boom! Boom! Boom!

He deflected the frontal attacks to the side, and he intercepted any overhand blows with his ax . His senses were pushed to the limit .

“I got it!”

Grace, who was behind him, yelled out loud . As soon as Tim disengaged from the fight, cold energy swept forth .

Zzuhk! Zzuh-zuh-zuh-zuh-zuhk!

The flames from the monsters lessened . Their movements slowed, and in the end, they came to a complete stop .

‘They are doing well . ’

Sungyoon was watching how his party members fared . They were showing a considerable amount of teamwork even without Sungyoon, and they were taking care of the monsters by themselves .

At that moment, Sungyoon was . . .

Kwah-jeek!

He stepped on the head of the fallen monster .

Its body was destroyed, so it was powerless against Sungyoon’s stomp .

Boom! Boom!

Another monster approached Sungyoon as if it wanted to crush him .

Hoo-oong!

It swung its fist . Sungyoon dodged the attack by moving his upper body, then he swung his sword .

Kwah-kwah-kwah-kwahng!

The sound of thunder rang out as light flashed .

The giant’s arm was severed as large and small rocks fell to the ground .

The flames dissipated, and the black scorch mark from the powerful lightning was left behind .

Sungyoon took a step forward to get close to the giant’s abdomen, and he swung his hammer .

Kwahng!

The giant’s abdomen exploded . As with the arm, its body parts turned into the normal rock as it was sent flying into the surrounding .

This was the sixth giant destroyed by Sungyoon .

Sungyoon had evolved his Gems by eliminating Golems, and he had become too powerful .

He had entered the middle stages of the Great Labyrinth, yet he probably could hunt there by himself without much problem . The power difference between him and his party members was too big now .

Of course, Sungyoon was able to evolve the Gems of his comrades, but there was a limit to how much he could evolve the Gems . Their Devices were the limiting factor .

Even if they possessed high rank Gems, most of them possessed either Platinum or Gold rank Gems . He couldn’t evolve them any further .

However, Sungyoon didn’t even entertain the idea of disbanding his party .

It was hard to find people that he trusted, and he liked his current party members .

Moreover, they had entered the Great Labyrinth way ahead of schedule . This was why he planned on slowly leading them forward .

Puh-uhk!

The spear blade of the halberd cleanly pierced through the burning head of the giant .

Sungyoon returned to his party .

“Are you guys ok?”

“Of course! This is nothing!”

Tim spoke with confidence . It was clear he wasn’t lying, and Sungyoon could tell Tim hadn’t overextended himself .

Sungyoon had just become too strong, so they looked weak in comparison . However, their Gems were effective in this place .

Kwahng!

A fireball flew past above their heads to land nearby . The party quickly gathered the moonstones .

In the distance, they could see fire tornadoes razing the ground . Then there were the balls of fire that kept falling to the ground . The fire was everywhere .

“What do you think will come out next?”

Tim spoke as he looked around at the hell-like landscape . Sungyoon answered him .

“At the very least, it won’t be normal . ”

***

After clearing a decent amount of floors in the middle stages of the Great Labyrinth, Sungyoon’s party returned to Armstrong .

However, they could tell something was off with Armstrong .

“Did something happen while we were gone?”

Grace looked at her surroundings as she spoke .

“There’s no way more Golems made an appearance, right?”

“Stop saying such awful things!”

Emily shuddered at Tim’s words .

Sungyoon looked at his surroundings . Fortunately, he didn’t hear any explosions . None of the sectors of the city were partitioned off .

“At the very least, no battle had taken place in Armstrong . ”

The party relaxed a little bit .

Tim stopped a passerby to ask a question .

“Excuse me . Did something happen in Armstrong?”

The man looked a bit annoyed as he looked at Tim . However, his eyes widened when he saw Sungyoon and Grace . He spoke in a polite manner .

“Something happened to the city built by China and Russia . ”

“Something bad happened?”

“Yes . We are unable to contact them . However, they were able to send a message out before the communication was cut off . They said their city was being attacked by monsters . ”

The faces of Sungyoon’s party hardened .

“They were attacked by monsters? Are you sure about this?”

“I heard it through the grapevine . There haven’t been any official statements yet . However, I know for sure that Armstrong is gathering all their high rank Connectors . According to the rumor, it is for the defense of this city . It seems you just came out of the Great Labyrinth . You’ll probably get a call from the higher-ups soon . ”

Defense . It was an odd subject to discuss when discussing Armstrong .

The monsters didn’t come out of the labyrinths, and the only hub of humanity on the moon was Armstrong . This had been true for the longest time .

However, this common knowledge had been subverted recently . It all started when Armstrong city was attacked by the Golems .

The party started moving towards the transport company to offload the moonstones .

“Ah . Mr . Woo Sungyoon and his party members!”

The receptionist brightened when he saw them .

“The mayor wants to see all of you . ”

***

Gagarin·Yang City .

China and Russia started building their own city when they saw weakness from Armstrong city . They created the city to take away the labyrinths and moonstones from the Western civilization, which was anchored by the US . It was a city created with great ambition in mind .

However, their city was currently being destroyed as if it was a bad dream .

The city was surrounded by monsters . Monsters kept pouring into the city through the several holes created in the outer walls .

The Connectors were desperately trying to stem the tide .

Kwahhhhhng!

One of the buildings inside the city blew up .

“What the hell! Where did that explosion come from!”

“I’m pretty sure that’s the communication station . . . ”

“What?”

The Connectors, who had been desperately holding back the waves of monsters, turned to look behind them .

They caught sight of a burning building . It was completely destroyed .

“Shit! Does that mean we can’t contact earth anymore? What does that mean for our reinforcement!”

Someone yelled out loud . He sounded downtrodden .

“Even if we continue to send messages to earth, they can’t immediately send reinforcement! We already contacted Armstrong city! Hold out until they come . ”

“Why the hell would they come to save us!”

“I don’t know, you son of a bitch! Kill more monsters instead of talking!”

He had reached the limit of his patience when his comrades kept asking questions . He swung his mace at a nearby monster .

“Why did our communication station blow up suddenly!”

“I told you to just fight... I have no idea! Maybe some idiot pressed the self-destruct button!”

“Do you think monsters have already infiltrated that deep?”

“I’d rather you shut up instead of talking like that!”

However, they continued to bicker with each other . It seemed they weren’t too pressed at that moment .

“Shit! It is too hard to move because of the wind!”

Air was being sucked out of the holes in the wall . Soon, all the air inside the city would be gone .

Connectors didn’t breathe, so they weren’t worried about that . However, it would be a big problem if the Connectors couldn’t talk to each other .

‘Still, I think we can last for a while . . . ’

He became hopeful, but his hope was broken into pieces by the appearance of a particular monster .

-Hmm . Even if these are low-rank monsters, they are holding up better than expected .

The first thing his eyes went to was the breasts of a naked female .

There was something inhuman about her, but she had a beautiful face .

Moreover, she didn’t wear a stitch of clothes, so some might think she was being overtly sexual . However, none of the Connectors were aroused by her appearance .

“...what the hell is that?”

Someone spoke .

-‘That’? Are you referring to me?

Her upper body turned slowly . It looked as if her upper body was turning in mid air .

However, that wasn’t the case . Her long lower body moved in a way that reinforced this illusion .

Her lower body was that of a snake .

“...it spoke?”

-Of course, I spoke . Did you think the speech is only exclusive to humans?

“This is crazy! Shit!”

-You must be confused . It is understandable . You probably have no idea what is going on right now . However, that doesn’t matter . You guys are in our way .

Her name was Glaia, and she raised her two hands .

-Just die .

Chwahk!

Her fingernails extended forward . They were sharp as knives .

Glaia ruthlessly swung her fingernails .

Suh-guhk! Suh-guhk!

Weapons, shields, and armor were useless against her .

Everything that got in the path of her fingernails was cut .

“Ooh! Ooh-ahhhhhhhk!”

A man yelled after his arm was severed . Those that had their head or body severed died instantly .

-I’m sorry . I’m inexperienced at this, so I made you feel pain . Don’t worry . I’ll end your pain soon .

She let out a cruel laugh as she raised her hand to finish the deed .

It happened at that moment .

Tuh-ung!

A spear had flown towards her, and she deflected it .

“Back off . ”

A man slowly approached her .

Alexei Volkov .

He was always mentioned when one discussed who was the strongest Connector in Russia .

“I’ll take care of that monster . ”

He picked up his spear from the ground as he spoke .

The nearby Connectors eyed him as they slowly moved away from Glaia . They focused on attacking the other monsters .

Glaia looked at her fingernails . There was a tingling sensation coming from them .

‘Even if my power was reduced, I can tell this one will cause me some trouble . ’

The fight against all the other Connectors felt like a walk in the park . However, the man in front of her was a formidable opponent .

Glaia’s sharp eyes glared at him . However, she didn’t get to fight against Volkov .

“I’m sorry, Glaia . Do you mind if I take care of him?”

Someone walked up next to Glaia . Volkov frowned when he saw who it was . Volkov knew him well .

“...why are you standing next to her, Sung Hyunwoo?”

Hyunwoo let out a smile full of meaning .