Moon's Labyrinths

Tah-tah-taht!

Sungyoon's partycould hear footsteps approaching them from deep within the labyrinth. They turned their gaze to the direction of the sound.

Somehumans were running to their location. They were probably the other Connectors who had entered the labyrinth to rescue Grace.

It seemed several parties had banded together, as the group was large, consisting of over ten Connectors.

However, these Connectors weren’t the only ones running toward the entrance of the labyrinth.

“… It's too late.”

Emily sounded dispirited as she mumbled. She could see over twenty monsters chasing after this group.And all these monsterswere considerably high level, similar in rank to the Cyclops and the Skeleton.

“Maybe, we should still try to run away?”

Sungyoon shook his head at Tim’s question.

“Where would we go? It is obvious that the monsters will chase us out of the labyrinth.”

The man glanced down at his glowing Gems.

‘Thankfully, we didn’t stop overclocking our Gems after the fight.’

However, it was doubtful as to whether they’d be able to defeat the monsters in their current state. That was why it was imperative for them to combine forces with the Connectors, who were running away.

“Hey! Over here!”

Sungyoon yelled out.

“What are you doing! Run away! Quickly get out of the labyrinth!”

The man at the front of the group desperately shouted.

“It's useless to go outside! The monsters are capable of following us out of the labyrinth!”

“What bullshit is that guy spouting!”

Anotherman in the group cursed at Sungyoon, while the man at the front looked shocked.

By their reaction, it seemed not many in the group believed Sungyoon’s words. No, they considered him to be an obstacle preventing them from escaping this place. So their gazes toward Sungyoon weren't too kind.

‘It is as I’d expected.’

Sungyoon had no evidence for his words, and there was no trust between the two groups. On top of that, he was talking about something that went against what they all believed to be true.

So there was no way the group could accept Sungyoon’s words at face value. And at a moment like this, he needed time and evidence to make the others accept his explanation.

‘The problem remains the same. We don’t have the spare time to do that.’

But they didn’t have time to waste, and they would lose their lives if they weren’t careful.

“This person speaks the truth, everyone! We have to pool our strength together!”

Grace, who had been behind Sungyoon, stepped forward.

The Connectors who had been running away recognized her. Their eyes turned round. They hadn’t believed Sungyoon’s words and had even questioned his intent. However, all suspicion disappeared when Grace spoke up.

‘As expected, the word of the beloved Princess carries a different weight than mine.’

It seemed he would get the benefit of having Grace by his side.

“Are you telling the truth?”

One of the Connectors reached Sungyoon’s side. It was the man who had yelled at Sungyoon to run away.

“It is the truth.”

Sungyoon spoke in a calm manner. The man’s expression turned serious. He correctly caught the implication of this new information that monsters could follow them out of the labyrinth.

But just asSungyoon thought things were going pretty smoothly, something happened.

Someone brushed past him.

It was the Connector who had spoken against Sungyoon. He didn’t even turn back to look at Sungyoon’s party as he continued to run toward the entrance.

“Hey! If you run away like this, we’ll all be killed by the monsters outside the labyrinth!”

Grace yelled out once again.

But the man turned his head to look at Sungyoon’s party and raised both middle fingers.

“Fuck you, bitch! Do you really think I’ll fall for such lies! Then you should stop them!

"This has all happened because we came to save you, bitch! You should take responsibility!”

Leavingthose words, he left the labyrinth.

Grace shut her mouth, and her face turned pale. It seemed she was really taken aback by the man’s behavior.

‘Even if she has lived a hard life within the labyrinth, I don’t think any man has spoken to her like that before.’

Sungyoon inwardly clicked his tongue.

However, Grace’s shock didn’t end there.

Glance! Glance!

The Connectors who had stopped near Sungyoon’s party started glancing at the entrance. And then, they started running.

‘It seems Princess’ words had no effect.’

As if theherd mentality had given them courage, the group dashed to the entrance of the labyrinth.

The Connector who had told Sungyoon to run away was amongst the group too. He was the one that had believed the Princess’ words.

‘We have no choice.’

Sungyoon’s party couldn’t handle the monsters by themselves.

“Ms. Emily.”

“Yes?”

Emily, who was consoling Grace with a worried expression on her face, responded to Sungyoon's call.

“I want you to go unlock our Moon Surface Vehicle. Please turn on the engine.”

She had no idea what Sungyoon had in mind, but she just nodded. She trusted him.

Next, Sungyoon looked at Grace.

“Ms. Taylor, you should signal us when the Moon Surface Vehicle is turned on. And when the time comes, you’ll use your Frost magic on the entrance. Can you do that?”

Grace glanced at Sungyoon. It seemed she was still struggling to break out of the shock.

But despite it, she nodded.

‘She really is a tough person.’

Sungyoon was impressed. Lastly, he looked toward Tim.

“Mr. Tim and I will do our best to block the monsters at the entrance.”

“… What?”

For a brief moment, Tim thought he had heard wrong. He looked at Emily and Grace to check, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“There is no way the two of us can stop them.”

They had killed the Skeleton with relative ease, but the four of them had to expend a lot of power and effort in doing so.

However, Sungyoon was firm in his words.

“If we don’t, we all die here.”

Tim shut his mouth.

“We don't have to kill them. We don’t have to critically wound them either. Even if we kill a couple of them, the situation wouldn't change. However, we have to keep the monsters contained within the labyrinth until we are ready to run away.”

“… Whatever! Let’s do it!”

Tim forcefully pushed away his fear and spoke in a confident manner.It was clear he was forcing himself to be brave, but it was better than him shaking from fear.

“We'll stall the monsters. And after Emily finishes the preparations for our escape, Ms. Taylor will use her spell to stall the monsters for a short amount of time. We’ll use that opportunity to exit and get in the Moon Surface Vehicle. We'll then escape from this place.”

“Wait a moment! What about the people from earlier? What are we going to do about them?”

Grace asked.

If these people had gone inside their Moon Surface Vehicle and left as soon as possible, they would be safe.

But if they truly believed the monsters couldn’t leave the labyrinth, they might be resting outside the entrance.

“We leave them.”

Sungyoon’s eyes turned sharp.

Tim’s nose twitched, and Emily lowered her eyes.

“… Is that the only choice we have?”

Grace’s voice was unusually calm.

“We don’t even have the ability to save ourselves.”

Sungyoon was decisive.

‘Moreover, the contract only said we have to protect Princess Grace.’

Aside from protecting her, he didn’t want to put their lives in danger.

“… Understood.”

Thankfully, Grace agreed with him. She was able to put aside her emotions and listen to what he had to say. Sungyoon’s opinion of her went up a notch.

‘She resisted running away when her comrades told her to run away, but...’

Although it seemed she didn’t have a mean bone in her body, it didn’t mean she was unable to make hard decisions.

“We should run now!”

The monsters were only at a short distance from them now.

Sungyoon let Grace and Emily run in the front. He brought up the rear with Tim as they started to engage the monsters. Emily and Grace immediately exited, while the two men turned around near the entrance and raised their weapons that were still glowing.

The Connectors who had exited the labyrinth earlierwatched as two women suddenly exited the labyrinth.

They flinched when they saw who these women were, but they didn't interact with them.

Grace wanted to warn them, but there was no air. It couldn’t be helped.

‘As expected, they let their guard down, and are resting near the entrance.’

Sungyoon could see them through the entrance.

Some of the Connectors looked leery, while some looked unsure about what to do.

However, they all chose to rest in the area near the labyrinth.

‘This is why groupthink is scary. It’ll cause a lot of deaths here.’

He felt sorry for them.

Although he had chosen to not care about others, he respected and valued life.

‘Still, I have my own fish to fry right now.’

In a flash, the monsters reached him. Sungyoon blocked the incoming attack with his shield. Covering the narrow entrance, he was pulling out all stops to prevent the monsters from exiting the labyrinth. He frantically swung his sword and shield.

“Hoohp!”

A heavy blow landed on his shield arm, and he groaned. Taking advantage of this opportunity that just presented itself, a monster attacked him with its claws.

Ohh-jee-jeek!

The claws pierced through his armor, and he felt a burning sensation from the wound.Thankfully, his armor had partially stopped the attack. If he didn’t have that armor, a third of his body would have been ripped away.

Sungyoon desperately moved his waist to push the claws out, attacking the monster with his sword at the same time.

Pah-ahk!

“Koo-oohk!”

This time he felt the fist of another monster land on his side. His body lifted in the air. But he instantly cast the Gravity magic on himself to fix himself to one spot.

‘I think my ribs are broken.’

His sides really hurt. He took a glance down, and he saw his armor had been crushed inward.

‘I won’t be able to last too long.’

Sungyoon had that thought as he deflected the sword coming at him from the side.

Suh-guhk!

“Oohk!”

He was blocking the attacks much better than he had expected, but he had reached his limit.

One of the monster’s swords cut deeply into his left shoulder.

“Shit!”

He twisted his body to extract the sword, but the weapon had left a critical wound.

‘I can’t move my left arm!’

Were his nerves severed?

His left arm hung at his side like a deflated balloon. It just limply swung through the air whenever he moved his body, and it wentbeyond being a hindrance. It had become useless. So the man unsummoned the sword in his hand, and summoned a shield in his right arm.

Sungyoon gritted his teeth. But as he raised his shield toward the monsters that were mindlessly bum-rushing him, it happened.

Tah-ahk!

It was a faint noise, but he had definitely heard it. A small rock had hit the floor.

This was the reason Sungyoon and Tim weren’t fighting outside. They wanted to receive this signal through sound.

Boom!

Sungyoon blocked the incoming attack. However, he had used little effort in resisting, and instead, he used the force of the attack to send his body flying backward.

Taht!

As soon as his feet touched the ground, he turned around.

Grace had thrown a stone from a distance to signal Sungyoon and Tim. She looked tense as she extended her hand.

Sungyoonimmediately ran out of the labyrinth. His entire body hurt, and his left arm uselessly dangled. But he used all his might to run.

‘Thankfully, my legs weren’t hurt too bad.’

He was thankful for the fact that he was having no trouble running.

‘It seems Mr. Tim is safe.’

Tim was running alongside him with his body.

It appeared he had also taken a good amount of injury but was still capable of running.

‘I have to heal him as soon as possible.’

Tim was grasping at his side.At times, something grayish could be seen through his fingers. It looked like he had suffered a large wound, and his intestines were threatening to fall out.

Still, all of that had to be done after they got into their vehicle.

While they were running for their lives, a formless energy wave shot past them.

Too-hwahk!

Extremely cold energy started to freeze the entrance of the labyrinth. The monsters were rushing forward with the intent to annihilate Sungyoon and Tim. However, their movements started to slow down.

Puh-uhk!

Since he wanted to delay them as much as possible, Sungyoon used his Earth magic and Gravity magic near the entrance. And then, he ran straight for the Moon Surface Vehicle.

When Sungyoon and Tim had rushed out of the labyrinth, the Connectors finally realized they might be in danger. They started distancing themselves from the entrance.

However, it wasn't enough for them to escape the wrath of the monsters.

Sungyoon was resolute as he stopped looking at these Connectors. He kept running toward his Moon Surface Vehicle.