Chapter 305
Chapter 305
“Why are you here?”
Plu-El tilted her head in puzzlement when she saw Aruwen look at Sungyoon .
“I have a request that I want to ask of Mr . Woo Sungyoon . I hope he can give me a bit of his time . ”
“Request?”
According to her knowledge, Sungyoon and Aruwen hadn"t come into contact with each other in recent days . In the past, their relations.h.i.+p had been frosty to the point where both men wanted to kill each other .
Aruwen stood in front of Sungyoon and spoke .
“Do you mind if I borrow the Royal Gem?”
“… What are you talking about?”
A harsh expression instantly appeared on Plu-El"s face . Her party members and Aruwen’s party members all looked at Aruwen with disagreeable expressions . The atmosphere had turned awkward .
‘This b.a.s.t.a.r.d still can’t throw away his foolish ambition?’
Aruwen’s obsession with the Royal Gem had caused many unfortunate events . Did he still not understand that? This was especially true in the case of Tiotudo’s death . Tiotudo’s death couldn’t all be blamed on Aruwen, but he bore the brunt of the responsibility .
However, after that event, Aruwen had become a completely different person, and Plu-El had a.s.sumed he was no longer obsessed with the Royal Gem . Moreover, he hadn’t shown any dissatisfaction when she had negotiated an alliance with Earth . This had contributed to a significant increase in her trust in Aruwen .
But now, the possibility that Aruwen had never discarded his obsession had appeared . Worry, anger, and confusion gripped Plu-El"s heart .
Sungyoon silently stared at Aruwen, but Aruwen’s eyes remained calm; they didn"t contain greed or desire . In some ways, Sungyoon felt like he was looking at a high priest who had been liberated from all desires .
When they had first met, Aruwen had glared at him with eyes full of killing intent . That man was no longer present in front of him .
“You should give up—”
Plu-El had been about to unleash her anger, but Sungyoon held her back .
“How long do you need it for?”
“I just need it for a brief moment . I’ll return it to you right here . ”
Sungyoon took out the Royal Gem from his Device and threw it toward Aruwen . The absence of any hesitation in his action surprised everyone .
Aruwen slowly looked at the Royal Gem .
Click!
After putting the Royal Gem into his Device, he sent his magical energy into the Gem, but nothing happened .
“I knew it . ”
Without any hesitation, Aruwen took out the Royal Gem and returned it to Sungyoon .
“Thank you for humoring my request . ”
“It was no problem . If it isn’t too much, may I ask what was the point of all that?”
“It was a lingering attachment that I wasn’t able to let go of . ”
Aruwen looked at the Royal Gem in Sungyoon’s hand .
“After my best friend died, I thought I had completely given up on it . However, I felt greed start to rise within me after I awakened the Warrior Gem . I do not want to relapse into who I was in the past . I already lost one friend, and I’m afraid I will lose the other if I’m unable to let this go . ”
Aruwen’s gaze landed on Plu-El for a moment .
“I thought if I try to unnecessarily internalize this struggle, I would get strange ideas once again . So, it was better to end this once and for all . ”
Aruwen shrugged and continued .
“It seems I was right to do this . It didn’t activate for me, and it means I"m not suited for the Royal Gem . ”
“You look relieved”
“Yes . When I look back, I have no idea why I was so obsessed with it . If I wasn’t, Tiotudo might still be—”
“Aruwen . ”
Plu-El placed her hand on his shoulder, but Aruwen shrugged it off .
“I don’t want pity from you . I haven’t fallen so far that I need your pity . ”
Even if he had changed, he still had his special brand of pride . However, this version of his pride was cute compared to his pride from the past .
Plu-El could only catch glimpses of his past self, so she grinned .
“In the past, the Royal Gem was used by those who stood at the top of our people . Please use it in an honorable fas.h.i.+on . ”
“I’ll do so . ”
Sungyoon once again slotted the Royal Gem into his Device .
***
A portal opened . Of course, the destination was the Great Labyrinth Hyunwoo had informed them about . Teams consisting of high rank Connectors exited into the Great Labyrinth .
Even though this was the Great Labyrinth, monsters near the front entrance didn’t stand a chance against these Connectors, who slaughtered all the monsters in their path .
The traps they had been worried about weren’t there . It was just like the Great Labyrinth located inside Armstrong city, and the Connectors only faced the sinister monsters . In a flash, they pushed past the 3rd floor, the floor where the advanced party had stopped their reconnaissance .
The focus was on speed rather than safety as the teams quickly pushed through the floors . However, they couldn’t push past the 10th floor with impunity .
“In the end, it splits . ”
Sungyoon tilted his head as he looked at the three tunnels that had been created by the b.u.mpy walls .
“Ah, s.h.i.+t! What should we do?”
“We knew this might happen . We’ll continue to carry out our plan . ”
Russell calmed down Bruce even though he also had a sour expression on his face . He then gave orders to the rest of the group .
“We’ll split as planned! Make three groups!”
All the Connectors knew how to split themselves up, and they followed the order without any difficulty .
Sungyoon’s party was in Bruce’s group .
“Good! Let’s move!”
Bruce took the lead and headed to the middle tunnel . Their group had decreased by one-third in size, but their speed never slowed down . It was easy to kill the monsters on these floors even with one-third of their force . In the first place, all the members partic.i.p.ating in this mission were powerful .
However, they continued to encounter tunnels, and their progress stalled each time as they split the group again . By the time they arrived on the 15th floor, the only group left was Sungyoon’s party .
Sungyoon used his previous experience in the Great Labyrinth to his advantage as the party slowly descended .
“It has been a while since we moved through a labyrinth as a party . ”
“Indeed . ”
Grace agreed with Tim, who had spoken in an enthusiastic manner . She then resumed drawing a map of the Great Labyrinth .
“It has been a long time since we entered a labyrinth . We had to deal with various incidents, and it made us feel much more keenly . ”
As Emily had said, they had been so busy that they felt like years had pa.s.sed since they had last entered a labyrinth . There was this sense of dissonance between reality and what they felt .
“They are coming!”
The four of them had been on alert even as they talked to each other . Therefore, when Sungyoon shouted, everyone went into their battle formation in an instant .
“What"s that?”
Tim narrowed his eyes . Something was coming toward them from a distance . Here, the ground looked like the regular floor of a labyrinth, and an open blue sky was above their heads .
It was a phenomenon commonly seen in a Great Labyrinth, so the party wasn’t surprised . The more important matter was the four monsters flying toward them .
“They look like . . . Griffons?”
Emily mumbled .
“They shouldn’t be much of a threat to us . ”
Tim spoke . The party had killed these monsters before in the Great Labyrinth . They got into their familiar formation, and as always, the first one to start was Grace .
Gwah-roo-roo-roong!
A streak of lightning struck one of the Griffons .
Gweeeeeeeeeek!
Its hard and stiff feathers stood on end, and the Griffin became unable to flap its wings . It helplessly fell to the ground .
Koo-oohng!
A heavy thump rang out as the ground shook a little, and the Griffon lay motionless on the ground . While this happened, the other three Griffons approached Sungyoon’s party .
Sungyoon summoned his halberd .
“Hoohp!”
He strained his muscles as he threw it . His strength had increased a lot compared to before, so his halberd shot forward like a cannon . The destructive sound of the halberd splitting the air resembled the screech of a bird .
However, the distance it had to travel was too far to accurately hit the Griffons . Moreover, the halberd was flying in a straight line, so the Griffons easily dodged it . After losing its target, the halberd continued to travel higher into the sky .
However, Sungyoon hadn"t thrown the halberd without any plan .
As the halberd continued to soar, from behind it, an ax flew toward one of the Griffons .
The Griffon belatedly noticed the attack and tried to twist its body in midair .
Suh-guhk!
Gwehhhhhhhhhk!
It avoided the worst-case scenario, but the blade of the ax still scratched its neck . The wound was shallow, yet painful . The Griffon screeched in anger . Someone had dared to hurt it, and it wanted to rip the culprit into pieces .
Sway!
It tried to use its wings to fly, but something was wrong with them . The Griffin was having trouble moving them, and it felt the strength in its wings diminis.h.i.+ng at a rapid rate .
Ggoo-roo-roo-roohk!
It tried to scream, but no sound came out . The Griffin"s body shook as it rapidly approached the ground . Chills traveled through its body, and its eyes spun as it felt pain . Everything was signaling that something was very wrong .
Boo-gool boo-gool!
The poison had started to break down its body . The Griffin tried with all its might to move, but it crashed into the ground . Then, it no longer moved .
Two Griffons had died before they could reach the party, but the remaining two continued to fly . It seemed the death of their comrades hadn"t scared them . They might have thought they had a chance at victory since they had gotten closer while the other two died .
However, a s.h.i.+eld got in their way .
“Ooh-ryahhhhhhhhht!”
Tim rooted his feet on the ground and stopped the charge of the Griffons .
Kwahng! Kwahng!
Keeeeeeeeeeeek!
Kyahhhhhhhhhhk!
“Koo-ooohk!”
The Griffins managed to push back Tim"s body a little, but Tim stood his ground . Even though the Griffins had bashed into Tim’s s.h.i.+eld, they couldn"t breach his defense . In fact, due to the shock from the impact, the Griffons fell to the ground .
Sungyoon had been standing behind Tim all this time, and his eyes shone .
“Hahhhhhhht!”
He stabbed his long spear-blade of the halberd into the body of the Griffin on the left .
The Griffin let out a scream as it flapped its wing . It then stood up on its hind legs and threatened Sungyoon with its forelegs . Sungyoon deftly moved his halberd and aimed it low to the ground . The hook of the halberd cut into one of the hind legs, and Sungyoon pulled it .
Ggweeeeeeeek!
Boom!
The Griffin flapped its wings, but in the end, it lost its balance and fell to the ground . Sungyoon immediately raised his hammer, but the other Griffon tried to attack him .
“I won’t let you!”
Tim got in the way again . His st.u.r.dy s.h.i.+eld blocked the Griffon’s charge . At that moment, Sungyoon had moved closer to the fallen Griffin .
Hweeeeek!
Kwahhhhhng!
When the hammer struck the monster, an explosion detonated on the Griffon’s head, and the Griffon’s gruesome scream rang out . Sungyoon continued to swing his hammer and cause explosions . He kept at it until the Griffon stopped screaming .
Only one was left now .
Three Griffons had already died before they could do anything, so of course, what could one of them achieve?
Tim’s ax cut down the last Griffon .
“Ha-haht! As always, we work so well together!”
It had been a while since they had hunted as a party, and Tim felt proud of the way they easily dispatched the monsters . The others felt the same way .
However, Sungyoon"s expression was different from that of the others .
“Mr . Sungyoon?”
Tim carefully called out to Sungyoon .
Sungyoon shook his head a little bit as he felt a strange sensation .
At that moment, the holographic screen in the royal city was changing . The blue color had expanded and spread to half of the rooms displayed on the cross-sectional diagram . A sound rang out in the building, and the Royal Gem in Sungyoon"s Device started to sparkle .