Moon's Labyrinths

Chul-puhk!

Grace’s hardened boots stepped into a puddle, and she felt the odd sensation of her feet sinking deep into the wet and soft mud .

“Thankfully, my robe is waterproof . ”

The rain slipped off the surface of Grace’s robe, but she was still wet . She grumbled in irritation as she shook her robe .

Tim cackled when he heard her joke .

Enduring their current miserable situation, the party continued to stay vigilant of their surroundings .

The densely packed trees, the tall grasses, and the downpour obstructed their field of vision . Moreover, the sound of the rainfall made it difficult for them to hear anything else .

Ssk!

Sungyoon came to a stop and raised his hand . His ears had picked up something .

Everyone instantly went quiet and became vigilant of their surroundings . However, the only things they could see were the trees and the overgrown grasses battered by the rain .

‘This is the worst . ’

All of them considered this floor as the worst out of all the ones they had visited in the Great Labyrinth so far .

Crunch!

This time everyone heard it . The party turned to the direction the sound had come from .

Too-hwhak!

Something shot forward . Its long body extended forward toward Emily .

“You dare!”

Tim raised his shield and stepped in front of his sister . The monster landed on Tim’s shield but couldn’t pierce through .

Sungyoon looked past Tim’s shield to see the monster . It looked like a snake, and its skin was colorful which allowed it to blend into the surroundings .

‘Is that the Giant Snake?’

However, Sungyoon soon realized that this monster looked smaller than a Giant Snake, and its mouth had sharp poisonous fangs .

The Giant Snake didn’t hunt using poisonous fangs .

‘That’s...!’

Sungyoon’s eyes widened and he moved as fast as he could .

His shield covered the defenseless Grace .

Too-hwahk!

Steel plates appeared out of the edges of his shield . It was the ability of its shield to automatically defend against attacks .

Chaeng!

The party heard the hair-raising screech of metal being scratched . The head of a snake had jumped at Grace, but Sungyoon’s shield had stopped it .

Grace finally realized what was going on . She became surprised .

Sss-roo-roohk!

The snake had not given up yet . It retracted its terrifying poisonous fangs and quickly crawled over the shield .

The monster flinched as its hard scales grated against the shield .

Sungyoon immediately swung his ax .

The snake flicked its tongue and dodged using very agile movements . It was much faster than it looked .

However, Sungyoon’s Gems had long since evolved past the average level of the initial floors of the Great Labyrinth .

Suh-guhk!

His ax cut through the neck of the snake before it could retreat .

Toohk!

Blood gushed out of the snake’s neck as it slumped over dead . Its body looked like a rotten old tree . However, Sungyoon didn’t let his guard down .

‘I’m pretty sure these guys are . . . ’

He lifted his foot . The snake’s headless body was violently twitching on the ground, and its head lay nearby with its mouth wide open .

Sungyoon stepped on the head .

Kyahhhhhhhk!

Surprisingly, the severed head let out a scream .

The head flashed its fangs in a threatening manner, but Sungyoon silently put his weight behind his foot and crushed the head .

Koo-doo-doohk!

The sound of bones being crushed rang out, and the half-flattened head became buried within the mud . Sungyoon finally retracted his foot .

His party members had moved up next to him, and Tim was still engaging the other head of the snake .

“It’s the Twin-Headed Cobra . ”

When Sungyoon spoke its name, the monster revealed its entire body .

The snake was wrapped around a large tree, and it was flicking its tongue at the party .

The Twin-Headed Cobra, as the name suggested, had two heads . Moreover, its survival power was immense . Even if its head was separated from its body, the head could still live for a while . This troublesome monster liked to ambush careless Connectors .

Even though one of its heads had been severed, the Twin-Headed Cobra in front of Sungyoon’s party didn’t run away . It waited for an opportune moment to attack the party .

However, it started to act in a strange manner .

Ggahhhhhhhhhhk!

Its remaining head let out a horrifying shriek, and foam escaped the corners of its mouth . Severe rot and stench emanated from the neck that had been severed .

Everyone turned to look at the ax in Sungyoon’s hands . Tim decided to ask the question that was on everyone’s mind .

“... You decided to use the ax?”

“Yes . I thought it would be the ideal weapon for the jungle since I can cut down vines with it . I think the Twin-Headed Cobra has some innate resistance against poison, and that’s why it took the poison some time to take effect . ”

The monsters on the previous floors had immediately rotted away the moment the ax had touched them . However, the Twin-Headed Cobra could still move for a while after being attacked as if nothing were wrong .

However, in the end, it couldn’t overcome the poison .

Tuhl-suhk!

Its body shook as it fell to the ground . After twitching for a while, the monster became limp .

“That weapon is a bit too gruesome . ”

Emily’s body shook . However, Sungyoon didn’t blink an eye as he took up the ax once again .

“Another one is coming . ”

Sssssssk!

Something sleek moved past the trees and pushed through the grass . However, the monsters this time didn’t number just one or two .

“How many are there...”

The tensed Tim raised his shield and assessed his surroundings .

At a glance, the party could see two Twin-Headed Cobras moving above through the trees . Another one was sliding across a puddle formed on the ground .

However, judging by the sound, the party could tell that many more were hidden in their surroundings .

Sungyoon summoned his halberd and swung it .

Kwah-jeek! Puh-uhk! Kwah-doo-doohk!

The halberd boasted a long reach, and Sungyoon used the ax blade to cut down the trees around them .

Sungyoon then took up his hammer .

Boom! Boom!

He struck the trees that were falling toward his party members . The explosions that followed obliterated the trees and sent wood pieces flying into the surrounding .

Sungyoon brushed off the chips of wood on his body as he looked at his surroundings .

“Good riddance . ”

Tim sounded happy and satisfied with what Sungyoon had done . The clearing that Sungyoon instantly created had improved the party’s poor field of vision . Spotting a Twin-Headed Cobra was easier now .

It seemed the development had shocked the Twin-Headed Cobras as they slowed down .

However, it only lasted a moment, and the monsters again moved in a violent manner .

“Which side has the most monsters?”

Grace queried .

Sungyoon did a full assessment of his surroundings .

“The highest concentration of monsters are gathered in front of you, Ms . Grace . ”

“Is that so?”

As soon as she heard Sungyoon, Grace raised her staff and activated her already-prepared spell . Magic was the most effective way of defeating a group of monsters or a single powerful monster .

Woooooong!

Cold air swept the humid and hot region around the party . The green leaves froze, and the puddles turned into sheets of ice .

Too-doo-doohk!

The raindrops turned into hail as they hit the frozen ground .

The Twin-Headed Cobras’ movements became slower . Frost appeared on their scales, and their body temperature rapidly dropped . The ones inside the puddles were encased by ice .

Kah-doo-doohk!

The monsters did their best to resist the cold and move their frozen body, but they inevitably started to turn into frozen sculptures .

Kwahng! Puh-uhng!

Two explosive sounds rang out from either side of Grace .

Two Twin-Headed Cobras had used the elasticity of their bodies to shoot their body through the air like bullets . However, before they could reach Grace, Sungyoon and Tim had deflected them .

Grace didn’t blink an eye . She had experienced this numerous times, and she and her party members fully trusted each other .

Even if they deflected one head, these monsters still had another . Each of the Twin-Headed Cobras used its second head and attacked the Connector it was facing .

Tuh-uhng!

Tim efficiently moved his shield to block the second attack . The Twin-Headed Cobra attacking him scratched at his shield with its fangs as if it were frustrated .

As for the Twin-Headed Cobra that had attacked Sungyoon, well . . .

Boom!

Sungyoon’s hammer struck the monster, and a large explosion rang out . The Twin-Headed Cobra’s head, fangs, and scales were scattered into the surroundings .

Sssk!

The hammer then disappeared, and the halberd appeared in Sungyoon’s hands . The Twin-Headed Cobra that had attacked Sungyoon tried to retreat after losing one of its head, but the spear blade of the halberd pierced through the head it still had .

Ooh-doo-doo-doo-doohk!

Grace had fully cast her Frost magic, and four Twin-Headed Cobras were frozen solid .

She had reduced the number of monsters attacking the party in half .

Splash!

The muddy water splashed to the side as Sungyoon took a step forward . He had discerned that he now had enough breathing room to charge forward .

He took up his sword .

Suh-guhk!

The Twin-Headed Cobra nearest to Sungyoon was split into two .

Boom!

Lightning flashed in the surroundings . The rainwater flowing down the trees had formed puddles in the ground, and the lightning instantly flowed forth through the water .

The trees were cut apart, and the grass was burnt to ashes . Finally, the lightning reached the Twin-Headed Cobras .

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Twin-Headed Cobras didn’t dare to attack Sungyoon, so they helpless suffered the wrath of the lightning, and their bodies writhed in pain .

‘Is that it?’

Sungyoon kicked the charred remains and looked at his surroundings .

He saw corpses everywhere in the razed portion of the jungle .

Ddoohk!

Suddenly, the heavy rain vanished .

“It stopped . ”

Water dripped down from the ends of Emily’s hair . She happily pulled back her hood as she looked up at the sky .

The sky of the Great Labyrinth above her was blue, and she couldn’t see even a trace of anything related to the rain .

The party gathered the moonstones .

“It’s quite cool here . ”

Emily, who had been picking up moonstones, entered the region that had been affected by Grace’s magic . It was a winter wonderland . She came to a stop as the place was too cool .

For a brief moment, cold air tickled her skin . She felt like she had found an oasis in the desert .

Tim and Grace slowly moved toward the land of ice too .

“Wow . This is amazing! I feel alive once again!”

“It’s too bad that you can only use this magic a few times before cooldown . ”

Sungyoon also joined his party members .

Grace and Emily each hugged a frozen tree . Tim laid down on the frozen floor .

The three of them turned their puppy eyes toward Sungyoon .

“Let’s rest for a little bit . ”

Sungyoon’s words made the three of them raise their arms in joy . However, Sungyoon didn’t plan on resting yet .

He took out his halberd .

Kwah-jeek! Kwah-jeek!

The nearby trees fell down, and it appeared as though Sungyoon was chopping up firewood . Soon, he had secured a clear view of their surroundings .

They didn’t have to worry about ambushes anymore .

Sungyoon sat down . He rested his back against a fallen tree and cooled himself .

As they saw their cleared surroundings, his party members realized their location was quite elevated .

They looked down at the green jungle .

“Maps will be useless in this place . ”

Tim sounded flustered .

“We’ll have to use the same method as before . We’ll periodically climb up the trees to find our way . ”

Sungyoon answered .

Emily and Grace also joined in on the conversation .

“Isn’t the next floor an island?”

“Yes . It’s like the archipelago in the Pacific Ocean . The ocean is quite shallow, and numerous islands surround the body of water . I was told it could be used as a vacation spot if one was skilled enough . ”

“I don’t care if it’s a vacation spot or not . I just want to get out of this floor . ”

Everyone agreed with Emily’s lamentation .

As the party was enjoying a picnic and Sungyoon had brought out the food, they saw a wonderful sight .

Ssssssssss .

Small sprouts appeared in the region where Sungyoon had destroyed the trees .

As if someone had accelerated the time by tens of thousands of hours, the sprouts suddenly grew, and the dense forest took shape . The ice region where the party was resting started rapidly melting .

“The restoration process has started . It’s time for us to go . ”

The party were sad to hear Sungyoon’s words, but they got up . Then they roamed around the jungle to find the entrance to the next floor .