Moon's Labyrinths

The enraged Leviathan’s attacks only got fiercer with time.

Hweek!

Boom!

Its tail exited the water to strike a powerful blow against the floor of the labyrinth. The party quickly dodged, and seeing the unharmed labyrinth, they felt renewed respect for the floor of the labyrinth.

After leaving the water, the Leviathan opened its mouth.

Kwahhhhh!

It shot its water breath once again. At Sungyoon’s instruction, the party jumped into the water droplet next to them.

When they reached as deep as possible into the water, Tim raised his shield.

Puh-uhng!

The water breath pierced through the water drop to hit Tim, but due to all the water it had to push through, the attack had lost a lot of its power.

‘It's still so powerful!’

Tim pressed the shield close to his body and used all the strength in his body to push against the attack. Yet, his body was being pushed backward, and it seemed, he wouldn’t be able to last long.

Sungyoon escorted Grace out of the water.

Fortunately, the Leviathan had become enraged when it saw Tim had blocked its attack. The colossal monster only directed its water breath toward Tim.

Grace raised her staff.

Pah-jee-jeek!

Soon, enormous lightning erupted from the staff. The Leviathan had been focused on the impertinent human blocking its attack, so it flinched in surprise. It could tell that a serious amount of electricity was flowing through that staff.

Chwahhhhhhhk!

The monster desperately whipped around its head toward Sungyoon and Grace in a bid to redirect the water breath toward them.

However, it was too late.

“Ha-aht!”

Grace let out a shout as she waved her staff. The electricity swirled around in the air, and the deafening thunderclaps caused the water droplets to vibrate.

The Leviathan felt threatened. It immediately ended its water breath and rushed inside the water.

Pah-jee-jee-jeek!

The lightning shot toward the Leviathan.

Ooh-ohhhhhhhhhhh!

Unfortunately for the Leviathan, the water droplet wasn’t that effective in stopping the lightning attack. A massive amount of electricity traveled through every fiber of the Leviathan’s being.

Splash!

Tim and Emily exited the water drop, and the party looked toward the Leviathan. They all hoped the monster was done for the count. However, Sungyoon didn’t let his emotions dictate his actions. He ordered their next move as soon as Grace’s spell ended.

“Please prepare the ice spell, Ms. Grace.”

Grace blinked in surprise at the words. However, she immediately complied and shook her staff, which still sparked with electricity. Her magical energy lit up a different Gem.

Sungyoon then turned to Tim.

“Can you block its charge one more time, Mr. Tim?”

“What?”

Tim looked shocked by the question, but he calmed down when he saw the look in Sungyoon’s eyes. Seeing Sungyoon's trust, Tim knew Sungyoon didn’t say any bullshit.

“Understood! I’ll block it with my life on the line! Where should I block it??”

Sungyoon pointed at the water droplet right next to the one that the Leviathan had occupied. The two water droplets were very close to each other. Tim scurried off to the water droplet. He walked a bit deeper inside until Sungyoon gave him the sign to stop. Then, Tim turned around and pushed his shield forward.

“Ms. Emily, I want you to prepare a healing spell from the rear in case Mr. Tim gets injured.”

Emily’s face hardened a little when Sungyoon mentioned that her brother might get injured. However, she silently nodded and prepared the healing spell. When she was done, she pointed her staff toward Tim’s back.

After giving the orders, Sungyoon stepped into the water droplet that the Leviathan had run to.

Koo-ahhhhhhhhhhh!

The Leviathan had survived the lightning attack. Even at a glance, one could tell that it had suffered a significant amount of damage. However, all that mattered was that the Leviathan was still alive.

The monster moved with the goal to squash the little bugs who had given it such horrible pain. Vengeance and viciousness appeared in the Leviathan's already-violent eyes.

Splash!

When the Leviathan saw Sungyoon approach it without fear, it decided to attack him.

As the Leviathan shot forward. Sungyoon came to a stop. He threw his halberd, ax, and other weapons to anger the Leviathan. Facing such sharp weapons, the Leviathan flinched a bit, but it did its best to remain on its course. It deflected the weapons and charged at Sungyoon.

Sungyoon turned around and dashed out of the water droplet. Then he entered the nearby water droplet.

Puh-uhng!

The Leviathan followed Sungyoon into the other water droplet, and the surface of the water violently rippled as if it had been hit by a cannon. Sungyoon gestured with his hand, and stalagmites shot out of the ground. At the same time, he increased the water pressure using the gravity spell.

Ooh-ohhhhhhhh!

The Leviathan didn’t pay attention to Sungyoon’s antics. It had only taken heavy damage the last time because the attack had been so unexpected. The colossal monster diligently dismantled the stalagmites by biting it, and thus, it only had to deal with the water pressure. However, it knew it just had to move enough to bite its foe once.

The Leviathan pushed past the water pressure into the direction of Tim and Sungyoon.

Boom!

It tried to swallow Tim in one bite. Tim brought down his ax toward the monster's lower lips. At the same time, he blocked the fang descending toward him with his shield. His Gems shone as he had overclocked them.

Tim had to strain so much that his face turned red, and air bubbles appeared from his mouth. He knew he wouldn’t be able to last long, and his gaze unconsciously headed toward Sungyoon.

Sungyoon signaled Grace.

Woooong!

Grace held up her staff and activated her spell.

At that moment, the Leviathan was straddling both water droplets. Its head was advancing toward Sungyoon, Tim, and Emily, while its tail remained in the original water droplet. The middle part of its body was exposed to the air.

Grace accurately aimed toward this very exposed part that lied between the two water droplets.

Zzuh-juhk! Zzuh-juh-juhk!

A part of the Leviathan’s body froze, but it wasn’t effective. However, the ice spread outward. Grace hadn't been aiming to directly freeze its body; her target was the water surrounding it.

Koo-ohhhhh?

The Leviathan was surprised, and it twisted its body. Even if the spell wasn’t directly effective against the Leviathan, it was still a spell from a high rank Gem. The water froze to imprison the monster's body.

Splash!

Sungyoon, Tim, and Emily used this opportunity to exit the water droplet.

Ooh-ohhhhhhhh-ahhhhhhhh!

Kwah-jee-jeek!

The Leviathan struggled in earnest, and cracks rapidly formed in the ice. They could just tell by a glance that the ice wouldn’t last long.

“Please prepare the lightning spell.”

As soon as he gave the order to Grace, Sungyoon ran toward the Leviathan. His goal was the exposed part of the Leviathan's body that lied in the open air.

Taht!

With a push off the ground, Sungyoon landed on top of the Leviathan’s body. Grace's magic spell had shown some effect, as Sungyoon saw a thin layer of ice. He raised his hammer and brought it down.

Kwahhhng!

An explosion detonated on the Leviathan’s body. The Leviathan screamed and struggled even more. The cracks were getting bigger, but the ice layer was still holding up and fixing the Leviathan’s body in place. Sungyoon was standing atop the Leviathan, but the part he was standing on wasn’t shaking that much.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Sungyoon brought the hammer down several more times, and the monster's scales broke apart. When its tough flesh was revealed, the sword's time had arrived.

Poo-oohk!

The blade of Sungyoon's sword pushed past the resistance posed by the monster's flesh. Sungyoon successfully pierced his sword halfway in the Leviathan's body.

Ggoo-ahhhhhhh!

The Leviathan screamed louder, and its body vibrated harder. The lightning that flowed out of Sungyoon's sword tortured the Leviathan, but Sungyoon had yet to stop.

He raised his hammer again.

Kwahng!

Kwah-doo-dook!

The hammer slammed the handle of the sword, and the resulting explosion sank the sword deeper into the Leviathan.

“Mr. Sungyoon! The ice won’t last any longer!”

Tim correctly assessed that the ice was about to break apart.

Sungyoon jumped off the Leviathan’s body and yelled at Grace.

“Shoot it towards the sword!”

Grace discharged the staff charged with lightning. The lightning accurately hit the sword embedded within the Leviathan.

Kwahhhhhhhhh!

Koo-ahhhhhhh!

In the end, the Leviathan broke all the ice around its body as it thrashed. As it had twisted itself, Grace’s lightning missed the mark. However, enough lightning had entered into the Leviathan’s body through the sword, and this lightning continued to scorch its scales and skin.

The Leviathan thrashed for a long time. It couldn’t even think about counterattacking due to the excruciating pain.

Ssssk.

Grace’s spell came to an end.

Boom!

At the same time, the Leviathan’s body slumped. The part of its body exposed to the air hit the ground, and the parts within the water sank to the bottom of the water droplets. The Leviathan had stopped moving.

“Did... did we win?”

Emily peeked over Tim’s shield, and she spoke in disbelief at what she saw. Sungyoon summoned his halberd and stabbed the Leviathan.

Poo-ook!

The halberd pierced the region of the Leviathan where it had lost its scales. Steam came off it, but the monster didn’t move.

It was dead. Everyone had the same thought as they relaxed a little bit.

However—

Hoo-oong!

The Leviathan’s tail moved. It swung in a large arc to exit the water droplet and headed straight toward Sungyoon’s party.

“Shit!”

Tim immediately stepped forward.

Boom!

He had to block the tail with his shield.

“Koo-ooo-ook!”

Tim furrowed his brows and gritted his teeth. His entire body creaked, but he had blocked it.

‘I was worried I would be sent flying.’

Fortunately, the Leviathan was too injured. However, as soon as the party relaxed a bit again, the head of the Leviathan shot out from the other water droplet.

Koo-ahhhhhh!

Its outer skin was scorched black, and it was in immense pain. Yet, it ignored all of that and attacked the ones who had harmed it.

The party was too close to run away. Sungyoon tried to raise his shield, but the Leviathan’s teeth had already appeared right in front of him. The faces of his party members turned pale. The vivid image of the sharp teeth ripping through their armor and bodies appeared in their minds.

Death.

This ominous word danced in their minds as if it were ridiculing them. They were about to disappear into the mouth of the Leviathan when—

Boom!

A large explosion rang out. The Leviathan’s head exploded into pieces, and chunks of its flesh spread into the surrounding.

“Uh? Uh uh?”

At some point, Emily had grabbed Sungyoon’s clothes, and she had closed her eyes. When she opened them, they only contained shock at the sight of the surroundings. Tim and Grace were the same. Instead of seeing the sharp teeth or the repulsive sight of the monster's inner mouth, they only saw the dark labyrinth.

Boom!

The headless body of the Leviathan fell to the ground.

Blood and flesh of the Leviathan were smeared all over their bodies, but the three of them had no idea what had happened. They just vacantly stared at the corpse. However, Sungyoon’s reaction differed from them.

He had just blown apart the Leviathan’s head with one blow. With a firm grip on his hammer, he looked down at a certain Gem; the Gold Gem with a hue of red to it. The Gem emitted a subdued light as if it were trying to calm down Sungyoon.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

The familiar sound of the heartbeat receded away, and the power which had filled his body to the brim slowly dissipated.