Moon's Labyrinths

“To be precise, I programmed a system. When the person with the Mage Gem gets to the center, the people near them would all be summoned here.”

“Mage Gem?”

“I had the Mage Gem before, so I knew about its unique wavelength. I also used its wavelength to my benefit right now.”

Hyunwoo then turned toward Sungyoon.

“I used the same method to expel your party members. I was fortunate that you were far away from the Princess.”

Hyunwoo got what he wanted, and Sungyoon was left behind.

“You bastard! What the hell are you thinking!”

Udocus shouted those words. Sungyoon felt the same way.

“What am I thinking? What if I’m a spy who infiltrated your cabal for humanity's sake?”

“Bullshit!”

Udocus didn’t hesitate in denying Hyunwoo's words.

“Your hate toward humans is real! It's the most intense hatred I’ve seen in a person!”

This hate was why Udocus hadn’t been suspicious of Hyunwoo. Hyunwoo could never be on humanity's side, so Udocus assumed that he would never betray him.

“A person like you suddenly wants to help humans?”

It was not even a silly joke. Hyunwoo was spouting clear lies.

Hyunwoo laughed. However, his laughter wasn't as relaxed and warm as before. It was full of derision.

“I see. You know about it. However, you don’t know everything about me. Isn’t that why I could backstab you like this?”

Hyunwoo shrugged.

“As you’ve said, I indeed have no plans of working for humanity's benefit. Even if the Moon crashes into Earth, I don’t really care. Earth's destruction means nothing to me. However, I do have something I want to do.”

Hyunwoo arrogantly looked down at Udocus as if Udocus were a bug crawling across the street.

“In that way, you were really useful to me. No, all of you helped me push my plan forward. This includes you giving me this tower.”

A smile appeared on Hyunwoo's face. He looked truly happy, and it made Udocus's heart turn black with rage.

“I feel truly thankful to you.”

“You bastarrrrrrrrrrrrrrd!”

Udocus raised his staff. Even though he was out of strength and stamina, he wanted to kill Hyunwoo at all costs. However, his injured body couldn’t support his rage and indomitable will. Hyunwoo was faster.

Hyunwoo swung his sword, and his blue flame-bladed sword cut Udocus, leaving flames on the wound.

Kwahhhhhhhng!

An explosion erupted. After his fight with Sungyoon's party, Udocus had been heavily injured, but his body was intact. However, after Hyunwoo's attack, Udocus’s body exploded into pieces. Bits of flesh and bones scattered into the surroundings.

“I’ll say this.”

Hyunwoo spoke as he looked at where Udocus’s body had been.

“I hated you the most amongst the three officers. You had a very annoying mindset, and you were extremely ugly.”

No rage-filled voice replied to him. Hyunwoo was speaking to a being that was no longer alive. He had just spoken those words on a whim.

“Ah! I’m sorry about this.”

Hyunwoo turned around to look at Sungyoon. He acted like a homeowner who had made his guest wait.

“You're a busy man, and I made you wait because of that useless bastard. Now that I think about it, your party was close to killing him. I stole the kill. I have no excuse.”

Hyunwoo sounded truly apologetic, and his bizarre behavior surprised Sungyoon.

“Why are you doing this?”

As Sungyoon went over the conversation between Udocus and Hyunwoo, he could tell that Hyunwoo had his own plan that had nothing to do with either humanity or monsters. It was something Hyunwoo desired only for himself.

“Let me do this before I talk.”

Hyunwoo again flicked his finger, and something subtle in the air changed.

Sungyoon kept Hyunwoo in his vision as he glanced at his surroundings.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing much. I made sure no one can enter this room. I don’t want any interruptions.”

“This place is like a steel cage. Portals don’t work here.”

Sungyoon had thought about using his portal to return to his previous location, but the portal didn’t open.

Hyunwoo rubbed his hands with a satisfied expression.

“Good. The stage is set. In the distant past, I was pessimistic about whether my plan would work or not. I never expected this day to really come.”

For a moment, Hyunwoo felt deeply moved. However, he soon broke out from that emotional state, and his eyes turned fierce once again.

Hoo-oohng!

He swung his sword through the air with great force, then put on his helmet and got fully geared.

“Fight me!”

He oozed an extreme killing intent.

Sungyoon reflexively raised his sword toward Hyunwoo.

“In the end, we have to fight?”

“Of course! Didn’t I tell you? I’ve been waiting for this moment!”

Hyunwoo felt as if his heart was raising and all his nerves were lit up. It was exhilarating. He soon emanated a blue light.

“That’s….”

Sungyoon had fought with Hyunwoo numerous times. However, he had never seen this blue ball of light before.

“Ah! Are you curious about this? It isn’t much. When I wiped out Gagarin·Yang city, I took it from Volkov.”

Volkov, Sungyoon had heard of that name before. This person was supposed to be on par with Hyunwoo, Russell, and Bruce. He was considered missing and dead when Gagarin·Yang city fell.

“It's a Diamond rank Gem, and it has been quite useful to me.”

Sungyoon groaned. Hyunwoo had been frighteningly powerful even without a Diamond rank Gem, and the Diamond rank Gem would only make him more frightening.

“I’m coming!”

Hyunwoo dashed toward Sungyoon and swung his Flamberg.

Sungyoon raised his shield.

Kwhahhhng!

The Flamberg shot forth a flame that burned everything in its surroundings. The flame did its best to turn Sungyoon into a pile of ashes, but it was unable to even approach him.

“Ha ha ha! Good! Good!”

Hyunwoo laughed out loud.

“Not long ago, you struggled to kill even a Cyclops. You’ve come so far! As I expected, you're amazing!”

Strength entered into Hyunwoo’s muscles. He had been using the full power of his Gems from the start.

Hyunwoo’s Flamberg pushed hard against Sungyoon’s shield as if he wanted to cut through it. However, Sungyoon wasn’t a pushover. In terms of generating strength, Sungyoon wouldn’t lose against Hyunwoo. In fact, Sungyoon counterattacked with the sword in his other hand.

“Hoo-oohp!”

Sungyoon put strength into his arm and stabbed. Since Hyunwoo wielded Flamberg with both hands, he had no way of dealing with the attack.

Boom!

However, Sungyoon’s sword didn't stab Hyunwoo.

‘As expected, it blocked me.’

Sungyoon licked his lips as small rectangular steel plates started to surround Hyunwoo.

‘It's Mr. Hyunwoo’s shield.’

The shield broke apart into numerous pieces as it floated around Hyunwoo. It automatically blocked any attack.

“Ooh-ryahhhhht!”

As soon as Sungyoon’s attack failed, Hyunwoo used the opportunity. He leaned forward and pressed against Sungyoon’s shield. Since Sungyoon had used his other hand to attack Hyunwoo, he was at a disadvantage. He was pushed backward, and Hyunwoo reared back with his sword.

“Hoo-oohp!”

Hyunwoo brought down his sword as if he were swinging an ax. Sungyoon’s balance was off, so he would have a hard time defending against the attack.

Hoo-oohng!

Therefore, Sungyoon quickly unfurled his wings and escaped the radius of Hyunwoo’s attack.

“Oh yeah! I forgot you had that.”

Hyunwoo cheekily spoke. After gaining some distance, Sungyoon folded his wings.

“Silver Knight. You appeared alone with angelic wings on your back and defeated a monster that had appeared in London. Of course, the whole world spoke praises about you. They called you the Knight. Connectors' public image improved thanks to you. Mayor Smith and the movers and shakers of Earth favorably looked at you after that. I bet that not many people resented you. You then also distinguished yourself in the war against monsters.”

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Sungyoon was like the main character in a hero’s tale.

“It doesn’t matter what anyone says! You're a hero!”

“You speak too highly of me. I'm not that amazing of a person.”

Sungyoon humbly spoke as he looked at Hyunwoo with suspicion in his eyes.

‘What's he planning?’

This was a battle with their lives on the line, yet Hyunwoo was complimenting his opponent. Moreover, he was excessively praising him.

‘Is it an ironic remark?’

Hyunwoo sounded too sincere for it to be an ironic remark. It could be an act, but who would pretend to not make an ironic remark when making an ironic remark?

“No. You are amazing. Also, I will make you more amazing.”

Hyunwoo pointed at the place where Udocus had met his end.

“Did you hear Udocus’s ravings? This tower doesn’t have anything that’ll allow you to save Earth.”

“… I did.”

That part troubled Sungyoon the most.

“He was half-wrong and half-right.”

“What do you mean?”

“This tower is a device made to return the Moon to its regular trajectory.”

Sungyoon felt a sense of relief. He had worried he would have to watch the Moon fall toward Earth without being able to do anything. It seemed that wouldn’t happen. However, Hyunwoo had yet to finish his words.

“But, the top floor of the tower doesn’t have any mechanism to activate the tower.”

“… How do we make the Moon return to its original orbit?”

“You need the activation key, and that key is Grenoid.”

Sungyoon froze. He immediately understood what Hyunwoo had just said. This was why he felt very faint.

“Yes. It's Grenoid's job to return the Moon to its orbit. Even if you defeat me and go upstairs, you can do nothing.”

Sungyoon bit his lips, but he still raised his sword.

“You plan to fight me even now.”

“I can't be sure that you're telling the truth. I won’t let go of hope until I see it with my own eyes.”

In the macro view, Sungyoon had to do it for humanity. Personally, he had to do it for his family. He couldn’t give up.

Hyunwoo laughed out loud. He was truly satisfied. He was so happy that he couldn’t control himself.

“Yes! That’s it! If you're the hero who will save humanity, you should be tenacious! You really are the best!”

Hyunwoo crazily laughed, then continued to speak.

“I’ll give you a present right now. It's something you want above all else.”

Sungyoon questioningly looked at Hyunwoo.

“Grenoid is the key that can return the Moon to its original orbit. That was how this tower was supposed to be built. That was the design Udocus made.”

“… You said that you secretly changed Udocus’s design?”

“Ke ke ke! You're always quick on the uptake. That's why I like you. Correct. I secretly changed Udocus’s design. As you suspect right now, I added in an extra function. It might be very difficult. It might be close to impossible. However, there's a way humanity can activate this tower.”

“What do I have to do?”

Sungyoon knew that Hyunwoo wouldn’t say this without a motive. As expected, Hyunwoo spoke the terms that he desired.

“You have to defeat me.”

It wasn’t an unexpected requirement, but it was an incomprehensible requirement.

“You’ll automatically find out once you defeat me.”

Hyunwoo’s face that was hidden by his helmet was distorted in a fiendish manner. It was filled with satisfaction and anticipation.