Chapter 344
Chapter 344
Thankfully for the party, the staircase didn’t change direction at a steep angle, and neither did it diverge into other staircases . It went straight toward the entrance that let out light . The entrance was a long way up, but they were Connectors . It didn’t take them long to climb the stairs .
When they reached the entrance, the four of them looked at each other . Everyone was nervous, but the deep resolve was evident in their eyes . They nodded then stepped inside the entrance . They didn"t face any attacks, yet, none of them put their guard down until they fully exited through the entrance .
The party arrived at a large room that was five meters high . It was shaped like a square, and its area was around 200 square meters . Considering how the tower looked from the outside, there was no way it could have a room this big . It seemed s.p.a.ce was distorted within this room too .
The exit of the entrance was on the floor of this large room .
“There is nothing here . ”
Tim said as he looked around . The room didn"t even have a single item; it was a complete waste of s.p.a.ce .
However, Sungyoon soon found another staircase heading upward . It was located on the opposite side of the stairs they had just climbed .
“There’s a staircase here . It seems we aren’t at the top yet . ”
“Let’s immediately head up . ”
Tim almost blasted the air out of his nose as he tried to run up the staircase . However—
“No . I won’t let you guys do that . ”
A dark and ominous interrupted him . Everyone in the party immediately raised their weapons as a robed figure descended from the stairs connected to the upper floor . He creepily moved down the stairs like a snake .
“Udocus . ”
Sungyoon called out his name .
“Him showing up means we found the right place . ”
“Ha ha! That’s good! Let’s start our work after we crush this guy . ”
Tim took a firmer grip on his ax . He looked like he wanted to immediately swing his ax toward Udocus .
Udocus"s frightening eyes glared toward Tim, who had insulted him . His gaze was creepy, but it made Tim jut out his chin in defiance .
It seemed Udocus wanted to cuss out Tim, but he managed to hold back . He kept looking at Sungyoon’s party as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing .
“What the h.e.l.l? Why is he acting like that? He’s creeping me out . ”
Tim could laugh in the face of anyone who glared at him with killing intent, but Udocus was dispa.s.sionately observing his party . It made him shudder a little .
“Why are you here?”
“What? What are you talking about? We are here to kill you . ”
Tim confidently spoke .
“The simple-minded fool should stay quiet . ”
“What?”
Tim seethed, but Emily kicked his s.h.i.+n .
“Don’t get baited by the monster, you idiot . ”
While Tim and Emily bickered with each other, Sungyoon went over what Udocus had just said .
‘He isn’t showing it much, but he"s fl.u.s.tered and uncomfortable . . . ’
Sungyoon decided to speak for now .
“Why? Don’t we usually hold hands and play together? Why do you think we are here?”
“I asked the wrong question . ”
Udocus asked the right question this time .
“How did you get in here?”
“You speak as if we entered an inaccessible place . ”
“That’s right . ”
Udocus sounded annoyed and disgusted .
“I wanted every one of you to wander around this tower until you felt powerless . ”
It seemed Udocus had twisted the s.p.a.ce around each path like a pretzel to make the Connectors suffer . He planned on watching the Connectors howl in frustration .
‘His taste is as bad as his looks . ’
A s.a.d.i.s.tic being like Udocus was annoyed right now . It was proof that Sungyoon’s party had messed up his plan . Conversely, this was a good development for humanity .
“Your plan got all messed up . It seems that really offended you . I’m happy to hear it . As for how we got in here, we were going around in circles as you had planned . However, we suddenly found ourselves here . ”
Udocus"s mood worsened . He had put in a lot of work to create the labyrinth within the tower . He had thought Sungyoon’s party had pulled off some miraculous plan to get in here, but in reality, they had been wandering . There wasn"t anything special about it .
“Maybe, your shoddy work was the reason something went wrong?”
Tim pounced at the opportunity and tried to provoke Udocus .
However, Udocus didn’t get mad .
“There’s no way . ”
The only reaction from him was clear denial .
“There"s no way I made a mistake . ”
Udocus"s voice contained absolute confidence . He didn’t doubt his abilities at all .
“Now that I think about it, you hold the Royal Gem . ”
Udocus ground his teeth as he looked at Sungyoon .
“That cursed Gem must"ve done something . ”
Sungyoon had the same thought .
“Well, it"s fine . I’m just annoyed that a crack appeared in my plan . The fact that you lowly b.a.s.t.a.r.ds reached this room makes me angry, but this doesn’t change my plan . ”
Udocus took a step forward .
Sungyoon and his party members became vigilant .
“It’ll end once I kill you all here . ”
“We feel the same . ”
Sungyoon raised his sword and pointed it toward Udocus . It was as if he was calling his shot .
“I’ll kill you here, then go upstairs . I’m sure it has a way to put the Moon back in its place . ”
“Koo-hoo! What if I say there is no way?”
“Of course, I won’t trust you . I have to check it out for myself . ”
“Arrogant b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
Udocus’s robes fluttered in the air as he raised his staff . Sungyoon’s party quickly moved . Tim stepped forward and moved up behind to support Sungyoon .
Emily and Grace immediately started to cast their spells .
“Die!”
Udocus swung his staff . Ma.s.sive flame washed through the room .
Puh-uh-uhng!
The flame hit Tim’s s.h.i.+eld . Tim was like a mountain as he blocked Udocus’s attack .
The flame was being blocked by the s.h.i.+eld, so it couldn’t cause any damage to the party members behind him .
The flame died out .
“As expected, he is a magician . ”
Tim poked his head out above his s.h.i.+eld . He spoke as he looked at Udocus .
Udocus dressed like a magician, so Tim wasn’t saying anything earth-shattering .
“That might mean this fight might be easier than expected . ”
For better or for worse, magicians had a reputation for needing a protector .
It wasn’t far off from the truth when one thought about the Connectors, who specialized in magic .
However, their opponent was a monster .
“Please don’t let your guard down . ”
Sungyoon took a step forward . His entire body was overflowing with the power from the source of magical energy .
“He may base his fighting style around spells, but there is no guarantee that he’s weak at fighting close-range battles . Moreover, he might be capable of sending terrifying spells one after another . ”
Udocus’s spell had been very powerful . If Sungyoon’s a.s.sumptions were right, this might be a tough battle .
Grace spoke in agreement with Sungyoon .
“Did you see his magic activation speed? It was very fast . ”
“Now that I think about it, you are right . ”
Tim had relaxed a little bit, but their words made him vigilant once again .
“We shouldn"t underestimate our opponent . That doesn’t mean we should let our worry paralyze us . Let us fight as we’ve always done before . ”
“Understood!”
Tim once again brought up his st.u.r.dy s.h.i.+eld .
At that moment, Grace finished her spell . A white light filled the room . As if Grace’s spell had been a signal, Sungyoon charged forward toward Udocus .
***
The room, which they were fighting in, was protected by magical energy . None of the spells could damage the room .
Unlike the constant existence of the walls, the battle started to heat up .
‘Something is off . ’
Sungyoon was puzzled by what was happening .
At that moment, several large ice spears were sent toward him . Sungyoon tilted his body . He dodged the ice spears like an acrobat .
‘Something is really off . ’
A stream of lava was shot toward them like a laser .
At the same time, Udocus’s shadow extended to try to keep Sungyoon in place .
It was a parade of various spells . In terms of variety, power, and speed, Udocus was peerless compared to the other magicians .
As expected of an officer of the Grenoid, he was powerful .
However, this was also the reason why he felt something was off .
Sungyoon blocked the stream of lava, and he dodged the shadow . Then he charged toward Udocus .
‘b.a.s.t.a.r.d . ’
Udocus swung his staff . Shadows rose from the ground as it took the shape of monsters .
A total of three shadow monsters charged toward Sungyoon .
Sungyoon swung his sword to defeat the shadow monsters . By the time he defeated them, Udocus had gained some distance from Sungyoon .
Sungyoon threw his halberd . A forcefield formed in front of Udocus to block the halberd .
Sungyoon used this opportunity to close the gap, and he swung his hammer .
Kwahnng!
The explosion from the hammer broke apart the forcefield .
He changed his weapon to an ax, and he brought it down on Udocus .
Kwah-jeek!
“Koo-uhhhhk!”
A scream emanated from within the cowl . Udocus swung his staff toward Sungyoon .
There was clear dark energy flowing through the staff .
Sungyoon desperately dodged the attack . Udocus stretched out his staff to send another spell toward Sungyoon, but Grace had gotten off her spell before he could complete his spell .
Kwah-roo-roo-roohng!
A bolt of powerful lightning impacted Udocus . His body shook .
They could hear a horrifying scream alongside the powerful sound of the lightning .
Sungyoon continued to think as Udocus was abused by Grace’s spell .
‘Why is he so weak?’
That was the biggest question that he had .
Udocus was amazing . He was able to send out a variety of spells without making much preparation . In the beginning, Sungyoon was dazzled by Udocus’s prowess .
However, he started getting used to Udocus’s fighting style as time pa.s.sed . He was no longer intimidated by what he saw at all .
‘Is this a trap?’
He inevitably had this thought, but it seemed that wasn’t the case .
“You . . . you lowly wormsssssss!”
Smoke was coming off Udocus’s entire body, and there was clear anger in his voice .
As expected of an officer, he was struck by several attacks, yet he was showing no signs of dying .
It seemed the ax’s poison hadn’t minimal effect on him .
It was proof that his defense, magic resistance, and stamina were powerful .
Yelling after getting pummeled only brought on laughter from his foes .
‘At the very least, it isn’t a trap . ’
If that was all an act, he would give this year’s Academy Award for Best Actor .
In the end, Sungyoon accepted it .
‘The current Udocus is weak . ’
What was causing him to be weak? All the officers that he had faced up until now had been powerful .
When he met Kevil for the first time, the fear caused by Kevil left a deep impression behind . Glaia had been barely defeated with the help of Bruce and Russell .
Udocus was supposed to be on par with Kevil and Glaia . Despite this fact, he wasn’t faring well against Sungyoon’s party .
‘There is no way Udocus is especially weak compared to the two other officers . ’
Naturally, there was only one answer left .
‘We became stronger . ’
His party members had Diamon rank Gems, special Gems, and Corpse Gems .
In terms of individual power, Sungyoon’s party members rivaled Bruce and Russell . They might be stronger than them .
‘Moreover, we are used to fighting as a party . That must have an effect . ’
When he took down Glaia, he had to fight with Russell and Bruce .
Since the three of them were all very powerful, the team was able to successfully kill Glaia . However, it was also true that their teamwork hadn’t been perfect .
It had been a party missing a tanker and a magician . It had been a hastily created team of three warriors . There had been no balance to how their party was constructed . Of course, they couldn’t pull out the full extent of their power .
However, it was different right now . The members of Sungyoon’s party had clear roles, and they stuck faithfully to their roles . Moreover, they had fought in life and death battles with each other for the past couple of years, so there was clear chemistry .
Sungyoon’s party worked synergistically . Their party was more powerful than the team made up of Sungyoon, Bruce, and Russell .
‘We can win this . It won’t be difficult . ’
Sungyoon welcomed the fact that he had miscalculated . It filled him with confidence .