Moon's Labyrinths

Did Hyunwoo pick up on Sungyoon’s gaze? He said to Sungyoon.

“What? Are you jealous of my Gems?”

“… Honestly, I am.

“I cannot imagine myself wielding such power in the future.”

Sungyoon had worked diligently to get stronger, and he had put together a good amount of high rank Rainbow Gems. However, it was in no way a match for the power wielded by Hyunwoo.

“If the quality of your magical energy continues to increase at a steady pace and you acquire good Devices and Gems, it’ll be possible. For your information, the difference between the Rainbow rank and the Jewel rank is massive. There is a good reason why the Gems are separated into two groups. And even amongst the Jewel rank Gems, the difference in power is massive.”

Basically, one’s power increased steeply after one started accumulating Jewel rank Gems.

“Moreover, your Gold Gem will reveal its true power when you start using other Jewel rank Gems. If I’m being honest, its ability to increase the power of Rainbow rank Gems isn’t as important as its ability to increase the power of the Jewel rank Gems.”

When Sungyoon's Gold Gem was used, it would increase the power of Rainbow Gems by fourfold, and for the Jewel rank Gems, the amplification was two times.

On the surface, it looked as if the Gold Gem would be more efficient when using a Rainbow rank Gem. However, one had to take into account the massive power difference between a Rainbow rank Gem and a Jewel rank Gem. Therefore, it was much more efficient to double the power of a Jewel rank Gem.

“Of course, this is assuming you continue to progress in the future.”

Hyunwoo had said it in passing, but his words cut deep.

It was proven that Sungyoon could activate a Gold rank Gem, but the possibility that it might be his limit also existed.

Sungyoon had no idea if he could activate any of the higher Jewel rank Gems. He might become an advanced version of Kim Soobin.

However, he wiped such thoughts away.

He decided to leave this worry for when he would reach that point.

An odd look appeared in Hyunwoo's eyes as he gazed at Sungyoon, who was worrying over his troubles.

There was some kind of expectation and desire mixed in his gaze. It wasn’t a good look.

At that moment, another light appeared, a sign that another monster was about to appear.

Of course, Hyunwoo was familiar with this phenomenon. Sungyoon was also getting used to it. They stared at the light that dyed their surroundings white.

The light soon disappeared, leaving behind a monster.

Sungyoon observed it. The first things to enter his eyes were its four legs.

It looked like a monster with the lower legs of a horse. Its muscles were powerful. One could tell this monster would be very effective as an attack-type monster with great mobility.

However, its upper body was different compared to its lower half. It had the upper body of a human. No, it had a humanoid shape.

Its skin was black. It had long protruding fangs, and hair erupted from its back like a mane. It was hard to call it a human.

“It is a Centaur.”

It was a being from the mythology on earth, a fictional existence usually portrayed as being very wise. However, Sungyoon couldn’t see an ounce of wisdom in the monster in front of him. This monster had been named Centaur only because it kind of resembled a Centaur. But this monster held no relationship to the Centaurs in the myths.

“Mmm. What shall we do?”

Hyunwoo kept looking between Sungyoon and the Centaur. A deep conflict appeared in his eyes. Sungyoon had never seen this side of Hyunwoo before.

“Is there a problem?”

“This monster is a bit ambiguous. It is at the edge of the monsters you can handle. It truly might go either way.”

Basically, he was wondering if he should let Sungyoon fight the Centaur or not.

Sungyoon looked at the monster once again. It possessed a weapon like the Goblins and Cyclops, but each of its four arms held a different weapon, such as a sword, a spear, a mace, and an ax.

Moreover, its red eyes were filled with killing intent. Sungyoon, who didn’t know much about this monster, felt plenty threatened by it. So he asked.

“… Are you willing to rescue me if I’m in trouble?”

Hyunwoo turned to look at Sungyoon.

“You want to attempt it?”

“Yes.”

Hyunwoo tapped his chin with his finger.

“Alright.”

Accompanying those words, a plate detached itself from Hyunwoo’s shield. It flew towards Sungyoon’s chest and stuck to the region where his heart should be.

“You’ll avoid the worst outcome if you keep that with you. Do as you wish. Go gain some experience.”

Sungyoon thought he was asking for something a bit unreasonable, but Hyunwoo agreed to it without hesitation.

As thanks, Sungyoon lowered his head once, and then he stood in the path of the Centaur.

Boom!

The monster stamped its front feet. But its actions didn’t end there. It started hitting its four weapons against each other, a gesture looking similar to a gorilla pounding its chest. The Centaur was trying to intimidate Sungyoon, who dared to advance with killing intent in his eyes.

However, the man didn’t blink at all. He had fought too many monsters to this point.

Still, he didn’t underestimate his opponent. No, he was a bit more careful than normal as he assessed the monster.

It was a half-humanoid, half-animal type monster with four weapons.

‘It probably can attack me in a variety of ways.’

As always, Sungyoon raised his shield first. However, he was ready to summon his ax at any moment.

‘Since it has so many ways to attack me, it won’t be enough with only my shield.’

Most monsters he had faced up until now had only used their nails, claws, fists, and feet. Sometimes they would headbutt and body slam. However, their attacks were very limited. But the Centaur was different from those monsters. Therefore, the man felt the need to change his tactics against this monster.

Koo-roo-roo-roo-roo!

When it let out a low growl, Sungyoon could see the Centaur's sharp teeth from its opened mouth.

Koo-wuhhhhhhh!

It lifted its forelegs high and then started to run toward Sungyoon. Its horse-like lower body wasn’t all for show. The Centaur was faster than any other monster he had seen up until now.

All its four weapons were terrifying. Moreover, a great momentum powered the monster's attacks. Sungyoon felt that if he tried to block a head-on attack at full charge, he would be sent flying like a leaf caught in a storm.

In a flash, the Centaur arrived in front of Sungyoon.

Hwooong!

Exactly four sounds of clashing rang out. On the other side of the shield, the four weapons came at him in succession. Of course, the Centaur didn’t stop moving after its attack.

Tah-aht!

Sungyoon jumped to the side, trying his best to deflect those attacks.

Kwahng! Kwahng! Kah-ahng!

He felt three heavy blows on his shield. However, the attacks were almost instantaneous, so they had felt like a single attack.

“Koo-ook!”

He thought he had deflected the blows, yet his body was sent flying. Fortunately, he wouldn’t be trampled. However, the monster wasn’t done attacking. Only three blows had impacted the shield, and one was still left.

Hoo-oong!

It used its large body to stab down from above with its spear. Sungyoon had worried this would happen.

‘Tsk!’

However, he was prepared for it. He summoned his ax and immediately swung it.

Boom!

Another deafening sound rang out when the spear and ax clashed. Sungyoon had already been losing his balance prior to this, and he couldn't stay rooted in place after the clash.

Chwahhhhhhhk!

He was pushed backward as his feet slid on the floor. He barely regained his balance.

‘As expected, it is too hard to fight it head-on.’

He could clearly see that the Centaur was taking its time changing its direction. It moved in a leisurely manner.

It seemed the monster had made an assessment of his power and concluded that the man wasn’t much of a threat.

This treatment should've hurt his pride, yet it didn’t bother Sungyoon. Instead of worrying about his pride, he was thinking about how to defeat the Centaur.

Tah-daht!

It once again galloped towards Sungyoon, who extended his hand toward the approaching monster.

Twoo-hwahhhhk!

He activated his Earth magic Gem.

The Centaur was at the epicenter, and stalagmites erupted around it. They extended upwards like spears, threatening the Centaur.

Sungyoon didn’t expect to kill it or give it a serious wound. However, he expected the Centaur would stumble at the very least. But it seemed he had made a mistake in judgment.

Tah-aht!

The Centaur jumped into the air. Its four legs pushed off in an explosive manner. It used its elastic muscles and the power of its leg to jump high.

Sungyoon’s mouth fell open in surprise. However, the Centaur’s acrobatics hadn't ended. The stalagmites were very tall, and they soon reached the midair Centaur. But it reacted in a very simple manner.

Puh-suhk!

It brought down its hooves on a stalagmite. The top of the stalagmite broke, and the monster used the rebound to jump to the next stalagmite.

Puh-suhk!

The hooves once again broke a stalagmite.

The Centaur kept jumping from one stalagmite to the next as if they were stepping-stones.

It reached the outer edge of the spell. It started running down the outermost stalagmite at an almost vertical slope.

Sungyoon felt a chill run down his spine. The monster was running straight down from up high, so the power of its charge would be on a different level than before.

Boom!

The Centaur finally reached the floor, yet it didn’t lose any momentum. It ran straight towards Sungyoon.

“Shit!”

He extended his hand once again towards the Centaur. This time he activated his Gravity magic Gem.

Too-hwahk!

Soon, the Centaur’s body was put under the spell. But strangely, its charge didn’t slow down too much.

The monster was having a harder time moving, but it was hard to think that it was operating under 16 times the normal gravity.

Koo-uhhhhhhh!

The spell just made it angrier. It let out a roar as it continued to charge towards Sungyoon. It then swung its weapons.

‘Shit!’

Sungyoon quickly raised his shield.

Kwah-ahng!

The impact couldn’t be compared to its previous attacks.

“Koo-ook!”

The hand which had been holding the shield went past the point of throbbing to numbness. Sungyoon’s body flew through the air.

Its charge had been strengthened, and all the four weapons had hit him at the same time. The Centaur’s attack was too powerful.

Tah-taht!

But the monster didn’t let up in its attack. It tracked down Sungyoon, who was still in the air, and brought down its sword, ax, and spear. This time the weapons weren’t coming from the same direction.

The Centaur was attacking from three different directions at the same time. Sungyoon knew his future outlook was dark.

He subconsciously overclocked his Gems, and he was about to activate his Gold Gem.

It happened at that moment.

The piece of shield stuck to his chest started to move. It pushed Sungyoon’s body backward.

Hoo-oong!

The three weapons whiffed, and they clashed against each other. Fortunately, Sungyoon was not wounded. The attacks had landed on empty air.

Tuhl-suhk!

The man flew for a while before he rolled across the ground in an unceremonious manner. However, he was still alert and immediately got up.

“You got smashed.”

Sungyoon had never expected to be sent flying this far. Hyunwoo stood next to him and laughed. He made fun of Sungyoon a little bit.

“Do you want to continue?”

Hyunwoo pointed forward. It seemed the Centaur was frustrated at losing its prey. It blew steam off its nose as it looked towards their direction.

Sungyoon had taken a direct blow, so his left arm had turned numb. He massaged his left arm as he glared at the Centaur.

“… do I have a chance of winning?”

Hyunwoo had said this monster was on the edge of him being able to defeat it. However, he had been beaten too easily for that to be the case.

Of course, he became a bit suspicious of Hyunwoo’s words.

However, Hyunwoo didn’t hesitate as he gave a definite answer.

“Of course. Are you doubting my work because you were defeated so easily?”

“….”

Sungyoon didn’t reply. However, the silence was an answer in itself.

“I’ll be honest. In terms of abilities, the Centaur holds a slight advantage. You shouldn’t have lost so badly. The reason for your loss is your magic spells.”

“My magic spells?”

“Yes. To be precise, you didn’t take the Magic Resistance into account.”