Moon's Labyrinths

Grace raised her staff once again to end the monsters for sure. The winds whirled in front of her staff. She wanted the winds to cut apart the monsters and also fan the flames. However, she couldn’t finish her spell.

Duhp-suhk!

Sungyoon unfurled his wings. He grabbed Grace and got away from the fire pit.

“Mr. Sungyoon? Why….”

Kwahng!

A deafening roar rang out as the stalagmites fell apart.

“They are still alive?”

“I believe so.”

The flames continued to climb the wall of stalagmites as the heat became more intense. This made the spell more powerful than usual. However, it wasn’t enough.

“Still, they suffered a significant amount of damage.”

The monsters finally broke through the wall of stalagmites, and it was a frightening sight. Their skin had melted, revealing their bones in some parts. Despite that, they continued to exude murderous auras.

“They are resilient.”

“Their resilience is of no use.”

Sungyoon suddenly kicked off the ground.

Kwahhhhhng!

He dodged Kevil's whip by moving to the side with Grace. The whip once again flew toward them, but this time, Tim ran forward to block the attack. An explosive sound rang out, and Tim’s shield turned red from the heat.

“Are you ok?”

“Yes. We are fine.”

Sungyoon put down Grace.

“We wanted to kill the other monsters first, but it seems we failed.”

Tim looked at the two monsters that were still alive.

“I don’t think they can fight anymore with those injuries. Even if they are tenacious, in that state, it's not of much use—”

Tim suddenly stopped speaking. The effect was slow, but he could see the injuries healing.

“What kind of monsters are those?”

These two monsters had large bat-like wings and horns like the devil. They also had sharp and dangerous eyes.

In many ways, they resembled Kevil.

“We have no records of these monsters. However, they appeared alongside Kevil, and we decided to call them Archdemons. Considering their appearance and strength, we theorized that they are elite troops under Kevil's command.”

Sungyoon answered the question.

“So we have to kill them first, right?”

“I would prefer that. It’ll make our battle much easier. Therefore, I would like you to stall Kevil with Ms. Emily and Ms. Grace. Can you do that?”

Tim didn’t even need to ask. He knew what Sungyoon wanted to do. Tim looked at Kevil. Like the devil it was, Kevil folded its wings as it approached Sungyoon’s party.

“We can do it for a short period. We won’t last long.”

“I just need a moment.”

Sungyoon felt the power slowly rise in his body. He clenched his fist.

“Then please take care of them as soon as possible.”

Tim took up his shield as he got in the way of Kevil. Emily and Grace moved behind him to provide support.

Soon, the fight between Kevil and Tim started, and Sungyoon turned his back on the battle.

The Archdemons were steadily recovering from their wounds. Their exposed bones could no longer be seen as their flesh had regenerated, and their melted faces had also recovered.

‘They are small, but according to the report, they are stronger than the likes of the Behemoth and the Leviathan.’

It was understandable how these two had survived Grace’s spell.

‘It doesn’t change the fact that they are weakened.’

Sungyoon grabbed his sword.

Taht!

He kicked off the ground. Even though he hadn't unfurled his wings, he was astonishingly fast.

In a flash, he appeared in front of the Archdemons.

“Koo-roo?”

The two monsters were taken aback, and this provided a good opening for Sungyoon. He immediately swung his sword.

‘Koohk!’

Sungyoon groaned. He wasn't used to the increase in his strength, so he had a hard time controlling himself.

When he abruptly moved, he lost balance, and his sword shook. However, he had done enough.

Kwah-roo-roo-roo-roong!

An ear-splitting thunder rang in the air as the sword cut through half of the neck of the monster. Then, lightning poured in through the wound.

Guwehhhhhhhh!

After receiving the attack, the Archdemon let out an odd scream. However, the scream lasted only a moment. The lightning fried its vocal cords and stopped its screams. The thunder had drowned out the scream in the first place, and now, the Archdemon couldn't scream ever again.

The other Archdemon attacked Sungyoon, who had yet to regain his balance. It sent its claws toward his face, but he didn’t feel any sense of danger.

‘Slow.’

Sungyoon raised his halberd. Even in his unbalanced state, he was as calm as ever when he swung his halberd.

Suh-guhk!

The Archdemon’s arm flew high into the sky, and its partially melted face distorted further. Sungyoon lowered his halberd and rotated his body to stab the monster's thigh with the spear blade.

Puh-uhng!

Goo-ehhhhhhhhk!

Its thigh basically exploded.

With a scream, the Archdemon fell.

Sungyoon repositioned his feet to regain balance, then grabbed his hammer. However, he wasn’t planning on using it to deal the final blow on the Archdemon.

Hoo-oong!

He threw the hammer, and it spun as it headed toward Kevil, who was about to bring his fire sword down on Tim.

Kwahng!

The hammer collided with Kevil’s fire sword. The fire from the sword amplified the explosion that erupted from the hammer.

Kevil glared at Sungyoon as he summoned his ax. Sungyoon raised his ax in the air as if he wanted Kevil to see it. Then, he brought it down on the Archdemon that was flopping on the ground like a fish out of water.

Ggeeeeeeek!

He severed its arm, and the poison spread through the wound.

Kyahhhhhhhhhhk!

The Archdemon trembled on the ground due to the pain, and the poison continued spreading.

Ggoo-roohk!

Soon, a foul stench emanated from the Archdemon, and its body started to decompose.

Sungyoon left the corpse as if he were avoiding a foul item. He walked toward Kevil and glanced at his watch.

“That was forty seconds. I’m not too late, right?”

“Of course not! You came really quickly!”

Even though his face was scrunched up due to the throbbing pain in his arm, Tim enthusiastically welcomed Sungyoon.

Unlike Tim, Kevil’s eyes turned dead serious.

“You have become pretty good at using that power.”

“I’ve used it once or twice.”

It was said that experience was the best teacher. Sungyoon wasn’t like before when he wielded this power in ignorance. He had gained too much experience to do that.

‘Still, I can’t bring out the power on command.’

In order to use this power, Sungyoon needed a catalyst like Kevil.

“You're using Master’s power, yet you're so confident. How cute!”

Kevil mocked Sungyoon. However, Sungyoon had no plans of losing a battle of words.

“In the first place, Grenoid's power isn't the source of magical energy. I’ll concede that your master uses it better than others. However, are you saying it's your master’s power just because he uses it better than others? Even a five-year-old making such a braindead argument would be berated by an adult.”

Sungyoon let out a burst of small laughter.

“You serve a malformed monster created by humans. Is this conversation too hard to follow for a mentally-challenged child like you? I’m sorry! I should've considered your mental capacity before speaking.”

Ooh-doo-doohk!

Kevil ground his teeth. This lowly human dared to make fun of his master.

Despite Kevil's furious state, Sungyoon didn’t stop.

“You can grind your teeth like that? That’s surprising. It seems Grenoid did give you a modicum of intelligence when it created you.”

“Die!”

Kevil lengthened his fire sword and swung it, but Sungyoon retreated backward.

Too-hwahk!

The sword continued to increase in length as it chased after Sungyoon like a snake covered in fire.

The tip of the sword glistened like poisonous fangs.

Kwahng!

Sungyoon blocked the sword with his shield.

Zzuhk!

Kevil opened its mouth, revealing red flames rolling within.

Puh-uhhhhhhhhng!

Flames shot out of its mouth. They weren't the regular flames that could be swayed by the wind. They shot straight toward Sungyoon without facing any obstruction. Sungyoon didn’t even think about it as he dodged to the side.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwahng!

Kevil turned its head, and the flames moved according to its movements, burning everything in their path.

Thick black smoke rose into the air as the fire melted the ground.

“Hoo-ahhhhhhp!”

Suddenly, Tim approached Kevil from a blind spot and struck its jaw with his hammer.

Kwahng!

“Koo-ooh-ooh!”

An explosion occurred within Kevil’s closed mouth.

Kevil groaned in pain as it swung its fist down on Tim. However, Tim raised his shield.

Boom!

“Oooooooh!”

His elbows and knees bent, but Tim withstood the attack. He was about to bash his shield and counterattack, but Kevil’s tail grabbed his ankle.

“Oooh-ahhhhhhhhhk!”

Kevil lifted Tim into the air.

Tim was large in stature, and he had worn heavy armor, yet Kevil swung him around like a piece of paper.

Hoo-oong!

Kevil sent Tim flying away.

Kwang!

Tim slammed into the floor.

“Cough!”

He coughed.

“Tim!”

Emily dashed toward him.

“I’m... I’m fine. I’m not hurt thanks to the armor.”

Tim was telling the truth; he had not suffered any wounds. Of course, his armor couldn’t reduce the force of the attack, and he was having a bit of a hard time breathing.

However, he knew this effect was temporary. Therefore, he stopped Emily from using a healing spell.

Kwahng! Kwahng!

An explosion rang out as weapons clashed. After Kevil had thrown Tim, Sungyoon had charged at Kevil. He kept alternating between his sword, ax, hammer, and halberd to attack Kevil.

However, Kevil deflected all the attacks. Then it flapped its enormous wings to generate wind. The wind managed to slightly push back Sungyoon.

Chahng!

Kevil’s nails grew longer by almost half a meter. As if they were scythes, the nails came crashing toward Sungyoon's neck.

Kwahng!

Sungyoon raised his shield to block the nails. Kevil’s snake-like tail had been biding its time for this moment. Dodging the shield, Kevil shot its tail, which contained a sharp barb at its end, toward Sungyoon.

Boom!

Sungyoon fixed the shield in one hand and used the other to hold the sword and block the tail.

Pah-jee-jeek!

Lighting erupted from the sword, but it showed little effect on Kevil.

‘As expected, the lightning is useless unless it goes through a wound.’

At a glance, Sungyoon could tell that Kevil’s skin was covered in hard scales.

‘I just have to create a wound, and it's game over.’

Sungyoon pushed harder. He made Kevil retreat a step by pushing with his sword and shield. Then, he suddenly changed his weapons. Now, he had a hammer in one hand and an ax in the other.

Kwahng!

The hammer clashed against Kevil’s fire sword as it caused an explosion.

Chahng!

The ax stopped Kevil’s nails. Surprisingly, Sungyoon and Kevil were pretty even as they fought one on one.

No. Sungyoon held a slight edge.

“You… bastard!”

A bit of desperation was evident in Kevil’s voice. Unlike it, Sungyoon inwardly rejoiced.

‘It works!’

His amplified power was beyond imagination. He realized there was a possibility he could defeat Kevil by himself.

Sungyoon dodged the nails coming toward him. Kevil’s tail shot forward to encircle Sungyoon’s ankle, but Sungyoon brought his foot down on it. His counterattack left Kevil defenseless.

“Hah-ahhhhhht!”

Sungyoon used his hammer.

Kwahhhhhng!

A massive explosion erupted when the hammer struck Kevil. Sungyoon’s party members, who were watching the fight from a close distance, clenched their fists. They all thought that it was a clean blow, which should also be a mortal blow.

However, Sungyoon's face scrunched up.

“Whew! That was dangerous.”

His face crumpled even further when he heard Kevil’s annoying voice.