Moon's Labyrinths

Sungyoon felt the rough sensation of the magical energy running over his skin.

“Is the Golem going to come out?”

“I believe so.”

All of the Connectors looked tense as they kept checking their surroundings with their weapons ready in their hands.

Woo-oong!

A ball of light appeared about three meters away from the party.

Boom!

When the ball of light receded away, a Golem fell to the floor. Its spider-like eyes turned toward the Connectors.

“That’s a Golem?”

“This is the first time I’ve seen a working one.”

As soon as Sungyoon saw the Golem, he quickly raised his shield. Everyone else took things slow as they observed it.

Suddenly, one of the Golem’s eyes turned sky blue.

“Hey! A spell is coming!”

Someone yelled out loud. At the same time, a tempest erupted within the labyrinth.

“Koo-oohk!”

Sungyoon had a hard time controlling his body within this powerful wind. At the same time, many wind blades flew at him and the other Connectors. His shield released plates from its edges, and Sungyoon blocked the blades of wind.

“You bastard!”

The sound of fierce winds was ringing in his ear, yet Sungyoon heard the voice of a connector which was followed by a boom.

The winds stopped in an instant.

Sungyoon raised his head. The Golem had fallen, and in place of its eyes were deep craters.

Bruce was standing next to the fallen Golem. Large gauntlets covered his hands. These gauntlets were clearly not made for defense. He could beat his opponents with his fists when using the gauntlets.

Bruce placed a foot atop the Golem.

“The first prey is mine!”

“Son of a bitch!”

“He’s too damn fast!”

Grumbles came from the mouths of the Connectors who had been closer to the Golem than Bruce. It seemed they had been ready to kill the Golem, but their kill was stolen.

“Don’t be like that.”

Bruce spoke while pointing toward a specific location.

“You guys still have plenty of games left.”

His finger was pointed at multiple clusters of light.

‘Didn’t two Super Golems and eight regular Golems appear within the Beginner’s Labyrinth?’

Sungyoon counted the balls of light and found that their number matched Jean Fajardo’s eye witness account.

Soon the light subsided, and the Golems fell to the ground. Eight of them were normal Golems, and two were Super Golems.

“Are those the Super Golems?”

“They look sleeker than the normal ones.”

The Super Golems slightly lifted their gazes.

At that moment….

Kwahng!

An explosive sound rang out. One of the Connectors raised his shield to block the attack of the Super Golem. However, the Super Golem was too strong, and the Connector was sent flying backward.

“Get in formation!”

“These guys are no joke!”

The Connectors quickly reacted. The fighters instantly stepped forward, and the magicians started activating their spells from the rear.

However, their opponents weren’t pushovers. The two Super Golems charged the Connectors, and the normal Golems started to use various spells.

Boom!

An arm of one of the Super Golems turned into a mace, and the Super Golem attacked a large shield. The shield shivered and shook.

However, the attack was successfully blocked. The Connectors behind the shield threw long weapons like halberds and spears at the Super Golems.

Kahng! Kah-kahng!

As the abrasive sound of metal on metal rang out, the Super Golem twisted its body to dodge the attacks. The attacks that did reach it, however, didn’t inflict much damage.

The weapons imbued with all kinds of special attributes barely had any effects on the Super Golems.

All kinds of spell ran amok in the labyrinth. The attacks showed major effects on the surroundings such as the ground freezing or the air exploding, but when it came to the Super Golem, the attacks amounted to nothing more than a thin layer of frost on their surface or a little reddening of their metal bodies.

“Hey! They are way too strong!”

“Are you sure Russell went up against one by himself?”

The Connectors started bringing out everything to bear.

“We're gonna shoot them!”

Immediately after the warning, a burning white-hot fireball erupted from the back and headed toward the Golems.

Puh-uhng!

The labyrinth boiled with heat. However, it wasn’t the end of the magical assault. The Connectors sent more spells.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the scene felt like watching the angry gods bring down punishment upon humans. Grace's spells were was amazing, but as expected of the highest-ranked Connectors, their spells were on a whole other level.

The aftereffects of the spells started to subside. Everyone was tense as they waited for the next development. The concentrated attack was so powerful that no one thought the Golems would survive.

However, they were too naive in their expectations.

As their vision cleared, the Connectors saw that the normal Golems had all been destroyed, but surprisingly, the two Super Golems stood tall.

“They really are tough.”

Someone clicked his tongue. The outcome wasn't up to their expectations.

However, at the very least, these Super Golems should have been severely damaged. The Connectors thought the fight would become easier now, but their eyes inevitably turned round when they saw what happened next.

Sssssk.

As if time was being rewound, the Golems started to regenerate.

“Shit!”

No one gave the order. However, all the Connectors in the front rushed the Super Golems at the same time.

They had to kill the Super Golems before they could recover.

Kwahng! Kwahng!

The Connectors fiercely attacked, but the Super Golems recovered from every damage the attacks inflicted, no matter its severity. Moreover, the Super Golems didn't stay idle in the meantime.

Kwah-ahng!

“Koo-ook!”

The Connectors were so focused on attacking the Super Golems that their defense slipped for a brief moment. A Super Golem’s fist landed on the stomach of one Connector. His armor blocked the attack, but he screamed as he was sent flying backward.

“Fuck this shit! Russell! You never said anything about them regenerating!”

“I had no idea they had a regeneration ability! At the very least, the one that I fought didn’t have it!”

Russell was the commander, so he was in the rear watching and assessing this battle. A serious expression appeared on his face.

‘This regeneration ability is too outstanding.’

Some monsters in the Great Labyrinth also possessed outstanding regeneration ability, but their regeneration couldn’t be compared to what the Super Golems were showing. It seemed they had misjudged the strength and abilities of the Golems.

Kwahng! Kwahng! Kwah-kwahng!

Seeing an opening, Bruce sent his fists at the Super Golem. However, the Super Golem’s body was too sturdy, and his fists hurt despite being covered by gauntlets.

Boom!

The Super Golem counter-attacked, Bruce made an X with his arms to block, but the force traveled through his gauntlets and armor and pushed him backward.

‘This is no joke.’

He shook his throbbing arms.

It happened at that moment.

“Retreat! Let’s retreat out of the labyrinth!”

Russell shouted out loud.

“Hey! Are you sure that’s a good idea? We can’t communicate with each other outside the labyrinth!”

Someone yelled back.

“Still, we cannot continue to fight the Golems within the labyrinth! In my previous fight, I fought it outside of the labyrinth. They might weaken outside!”

Everyone understood the logic, so they slowly retreated while keeping the Super Golems at bay.

Soon, they were outside. They couldn't hear anything, and they could no longer feel the roughness of the Mana Stream.

However, the Super Golem still continued their berserker attacks.

The Connectors once again mounted a new series of attacks. Shallow wounds appeared all over the body of the Super Golems, but the wounds no longer regenerated.

The color returned to the Connectors' face. If sound could be transmitted out here, cheering noises would be all over the place.

Once again, the Connectors used spells.

Cracks appeared all over the Super Golem's bodies, and their arms were severely damaged. Yet, they continued to attack the Connectors.

However, the outcome of the battle was set in stone once the Super Golems had lost their ability to regenerate. Soon, the Connectors completely destroyed one of the Super Golems. The Connectors felt intense joy, and they tried to attack the remaining one with renewed enthusiasm.

However, Russell got in the way and waved his hand. His meaning was clear. This Super Golem wasn't to be destroyed.

Of course, the Connectors hated that order, but Russell was their commander. Therefore, they tried to fight the Super Golem without destroying it.

The Super Golem was amazing, but it was injured. It couldn’t do much against the Connectors. However, the Connectors were fighting a defensive battle, and the fight came to a standstill.

The fight had been going on for twenty minutes, and it had completely annoyed the Connectors.

‘Huh?’

One of the Connectors realized something when he blocked one of the Super Golem's attacks.

‘It's weakening!’

The fists of the Super Golem were losing strength, and the Super Golem's reaction speed in dodging the weapons had slowed. One by one, the other Connectors also realized something was amiss.

'Thankfully, our hypothesis was correct.’

Russell let out a sigh.

The first one to make this hypothesis was Mrs. Ross, who had fought against the first Golem. She had written her hypothesis in her diary, and Russell had heard about it from Sungyoon and the Ross siblings.

‘The Golem starts to weaken once it comes out to a region sparse with magical energy.’

It was one of the several hypotheses, but Russell had made the decision to lure the Golems out of the labyrinth where there was no magical energy. And his prediction turned out to be accurate.

Russell sent another signal and dragged his thumb across his neck. Everyone knew what that meant.

The Connectors destroyed the Super Golem.

Everyone fell to the floor. Dust covered their surroundings, but no one cared.

It was the same for Sungyoon. He had joined the crowd attacking the Super Golems and had done his best to damage them. However, he found himself a bit lacking compared to the other Connectors, so he had overworked himself.

Thankfully, he wasn’t a hindrance to the party, but it was unknown as to whether he was of help or not.

At that moment, Russell drew everyone's attention to himself and pointed toward the entrance of the labyrinth. The Connectors' faces crumpled.

‘Shit!’

Sungyoon felt the same way as everyone as he watched new Golems exit the labyrinth.

***

The third wave had four Super Golems and twelve regular Golems. The Connectors remained calm even in front of such a number.

They used their recent experience in the fight, and after a certain amount of time, the Golems weakened. It was an easy plan. Attacking the Golems at the start was only disadvantageous, so they had opted to stall.

Sungyoon did his best to help too.

The normal Golems had started to weaken after ten minutes, whereas the Super Golems had weakened after thirty minutes. The Connectors made quick work of the Golems when the Golems stopped regenerating.

However, when they saw a fourth wave of Golems appear out of the labyrinth, the Connectors seriously considered running away.

This wave had six Super Golems, and twenty normal Golems.

Thankfully, no one ran away. As always, Hyunwoo, Bruce, and the highest-ranked Connectors led the charge. Russell, who had been standing in the rear up until now, finally entered the battlefield.

The strategy was the same; wait for the Golems to weaken.

As expected, the Connectors destroyed the fourth wave, but they didn’t let down their guards.

Since a fourth wave had come out, a fifth might come out too.

‘Please don’t come out. Please don’t come out.’

Sungyoon glared at the entrance of the labyrinth as he repeated those words in his mind.

The Connectors clutched their weapons as they also did the same for the next five minutes. Thankfully, no Golems exited the labyrinth.

When they were sure of it, many Connectors flopped to the ground.

Sungyoon did the same. He was more exhausted than the other Connectors, so he just tossed his weapon as he sank to the ground.

Tap! Tap!

Someone tapped Sungyoon’s shoulder. Sungyoon looked up to find Hyunwoo with a helmet on his head. It seemed Hyunwoo wanted to talk to him, so Sungyoon quickly put on his own helmet.

“How are you doing?”

“I’m dying here.”

Sungyoon shook his head from side to side.

“Where’s Mr. Jinsoo?”

“He’s over there.”

Hyunwoo pointed at Jinsoo, who lay on the ground like a starfish. Jinsoo was less skilled than Sungyoon, so he probably had a much harder time than him.

“The Golems are no longer coming out?”

“I think so. We’ll have to confirm it, but I think the plan was successful.”

“That’s such a relief. ”

Since these words came out of Hyunwoo's mouth, Sungyoon assumed it to be true. No, he wanted them to be true.

Hyunwoo looked away from Sungyoon and gazed at the fallen Golems. Was it a trick of the light? A twisted smile appeared on Hyunwoo’s lips.