‘What the hell happened?’


  As if time had come to a stop, everyone came to s standstill .

  Sungyoon’s comrades, the demonic monster, and the ambushers all stared at Sungyoon . Sungyoon had no idea what was going on, and everyone else felt the same .

  As Sungyoon took a firmer grip on his sword, he felt his sword seemed more reliable than ever . The electricity flowing across the surface of the sword went into a frenzy as if it were celebrating .

  Sungyoon looked at the demonic monster .

  Previously, it had been on a rampage . However, in stark contrast, it was now quiet and expressed a human reaction, surprise .

  “Whew!”


  Sungyoon let out a deep sigh . He was in front of the demonic monster, yet his heart was tranquil . The fear in the depth of his heart had vanished, and his legs no longer felt rooted to the ground .

  He could laugh in the face of the demonic monster now .

  ‘What caused this change?’


  This was a favorable situation for Sungyoon since the fear was gone .

  Moreover, he still heard the heartbeat, and that was why his lightning had been so fierce .

  ‘Still, something feels off . ’


  The fear was gone, but the heartbeat felt unpleasant . Sungyoon placed his hand on his left chest, at the brooch type Device, and remembered that he had put the newly-acquired Gem on this Device .

  This Gem had consumed all the magical energy inside Sungyoon .

  Using a newly-acquired Gem with an unknown ability might be forgivable in a desperate situation, but it was a disservice to use it when cooperating with other Connectors . It might ruin the balance between the Connectors, and so, Sungyoon hadn’t been using it when he had arrived at the battle .

  However, he didn’t have the luxury to think about such consequences during a life-threatening situation . As a last-ditch effort, he had pushed his magical energy into all his Gems, and he had been proven right for trying this move . He had found the right answer .

  At the very least, Sungyoon had escaped the fear . His body felt refreshed, and he was sure the reason behind it was the influence of this new Gem .

  Despite the positives, Sungyoon felt flustered .

  ‘I can’t find out its ability . ’


  Sungyoon had used many Gems before, but this was the first time he couldn’t find out the ability of a Gem . The information about the ability would usually appear in his head, but right now, he felt as if his mind was clouded with white fog -

  You…… .

  The demonic monster opened its mouth .

  It was an odd situation . The monster wasn’t speaking Korean, yet everyone could understand what it was saying -

  How do you have that power . . .

  Kevil, who sounded a bit lost, flinched .

  ***

  Kevil felt its strength drain away at serious speed . It hadn’t thought about the consequences before using its power, so it had to suffer the side effect of its rash actions now .

  ‘Shit!’


  It inwardly cussed, but cursing wouldn’t change the situation .

  ‘If it wasn’t for them . . . ’


  As Kevil glared at the ambushers, a strange idea suddenly came to his mind . It looked between Sungyoon and the Connectors .

  ‘They don’t seem friendly with each other . No . I’m sure they are enemies . ’


  Kevil’s eyes headed toward the ambushers .

  ‘Their king’s token . . . ’


  Its gaze then fell on Sungyoon .

  ‘He has it?’


  However, Kevil couldn’t speculate any further due to the danger it was in . It looked at its target, the 1st Gen Connector lying on the ground behind Sungyoon .

  It ground its teeth once and spread its wings . It flew into the air, but this was the first time it had suffered a defeat . Its immense pride wouldn’t allow it to just leave this place without a retort -

  When I meet you next—


  Kevil abruptly stopped . Like a snapshot . Sungyoon’s wings unfurled . He flew straight at Kevil .

  Sungyoon instantly reached Kevil and swung his halberd . Kevil quickly flapped its wings in order to back out, but the spear blade of the halberd pierced through its chest -

  Koo-ahhhhhhhhhk!

  Bright blue blood sprayed into the air as Kevil clutched at its chest -

  You son of a bitchhhhhhh!

  It used one of its hands to stem the blood and furiously swung the other .

  Kevil’s attack was fierce . Since Sungyoon couldn’t dodge midair, he brought up his shield .

  Boom!

  Kevil’s long fingernails struck the shield and pushed Sungyoon back . However, Sungyoon didn’t suffer any damage . Even as he was sent flying backward, he threw his ax .

  The ax spun in the air and pierced Kevil’s arm .

  “Ahhhhhhhhk!!”


  Kevil let out an unsightly and ugly scream . It pulled out the ax and threw it aside .

  A large wound opened up on its arm, and blue blood flowed down its forearm . However, Kevil soon realized that something insidious had entered its body, something more dangerous than the wound .

  ‘Poison?’


  The poison started to spread through its body .

  Kevil felt fear . Normally, it could’ve burned the poison out of its body, but its power was bottoming out right now, and this wasn’t a normal poison either . Kevil used its remaining power to create a flame sword, and without hesitating, it cut off its arm .

  Kwah-doo-dook!

  The sharp and hot flame sword crushed its scales and sliced through flesh . Kevil’s severed arm fell to the ground .

  Kevil desperately turned its body around . This was its first failure and also its first loss . It tried to keep down its anger and resentment as it ran away for its survival . The escape was a desperate, unsightly, and pathetic one .

  Boom!

  Sungyoon’s feet touched the ground .

  He turned his head upward and saw the demonic monster flying away in the distance . Sungyoon summoned his halberd, reversed his grip, and assumed a throwing stance .

  However, he gave up on that idea .

  The demonic monster had used its remaining flames like a propellant and became a shooting star in the distant sky . Sungyoon could easily throw his halberd that far, but accuracy would be a problem .

  In the end, Kevil disappeared into the distant sky .

  However, the battle had yet to end .

  Sungyoon lowered his gaze and caught sight of the ambushers, who looked like hedgehogs with their quills raised . He still feel the heartbeat, so he took a step toward them .

  The ambushers flinched as they took a step back . At that moment, someone stepped forward from the group of ambushers .

  It was the archer .

  He yelled at Sungyoon, but Sungyoon couldn’t understand what he was saying . However, by the tone of the voice, Sungyoon could tell the archer wasn’t speaking kind words .

  The archer angrily drew back his bow .

  Sungyoon raised his sword . Kevil had left, and Sungyoon didn’t know when the sound of the heartbeat would stop . He had to kill the archer while he had this power .

  The black-armored man also stepped forward . Sungyoon became tense as he thought the black-armored man would join the archer .

  Boom!

  However, the black-armored man ruthlessly struck the head of the archer with the broad side of his greatsword .

  The explosive sound was so loud it made everyone flinch .

  Even if the archer had a helmet on, he would have taken significant damage from the attack . As expected, the archer fell to the ground, and it almost made all of them wonder if the archer was dead .

  The other ambushers were stunned into standing still .

  The black-armored man calmly picked up the archer . He put the archer on his shoulder and signaled his group . Two of the ambushers quickly raised their staffs .

  ‘I won’t let you!’


  Lightning erupted from Sungyoon’s sword . His body was still overflowing with power, and he had no intention of letting the ambushers escape .

  However, the activation speed of the ambushers’ spells was too fast .

  Puh-uhng!

  Earth shot up from the ground, and a gust of wind erupted in the surroundings .

  In an instant, dust obstructed everyone’s vision . Even if Connectors possessed extraordinary vision, it was useless in front of this dust storm .

  Sungyoon swung his sword .

  Kwah-roo-roong!

  The lightning rang out and ripped through the winds . The dirt was flung aside, and the winds screamed while dying out .

  Even Sungyoon was surprised by the extent of his own power .

  However, the disappointment that came when his sight was cleared overwhelmed whatever he felt about the increase in his power .

  ‘They are gone?’


  In just a couple of seconds, the ambushers had vanished .

  Sungyoon looked at his surroundings, and then, up at the sky . But the only thing that greeted him was empty air .

  Kwah-jeek!

  He wondered if they had hidden underground and stomped his foot, but his foot only crushed the blameless dry hay .

  ‘It’s the same as when I lost them in the labyrinth . ’


  Sungyoon’s suspicions grew . The ambushers had some special way of transporting themselves . However, Sungyoon could only flex his fingers as he came up with empty conjectures .

  “Hoo-ooh~!”


  He took a deep breath and squeezed out the air from the deepest parts of his lungs .

  ‘It can’t be helped . ’


  Sungyoon let go of any lingering emotions and turned around . The explosive power within him started to dissipate .

  The other Connectors gathered their injured comrades as they moved their heads to look for the missing ambushers . With a regretful expression, Sungyoon rejoined his group as he stared at the spot where the ambushers had disappeared .

  ***

  Sungyoon received incredible amounts of praise . He had defeated the scary demonic monster and pushed back the ambushers who had attacked Armstrong city’s research team .

  After receiving the report of the battle, the admin gushed with praise about the Knight . He gushing about how the Knight’s reputation and fame would soar once again . When the admin moved to send out his report, Sungyoon took the opportunity to return to his standby room .

  After taking a shower to wash off all the grime, Sungyoon lay on the bed .

  He was mentally exhausted, and he wanted to sleep for a very long time . However, he had to check something before that .

  ‘What the hell is this?’


  Sungyoon observed the Gold Gem he had acquired a short while ago .

  There was no mistaking its golden light . It was indeed a Jewel rank Gem .

  However, considering what had happened today, Sungyoon was sure this an unordinary Gold Gem . He kept staring at the Gem until he felt his eyes would pop out .

  ‘Huh?’


  Sungyoon tilted the Gem a little bit . Was it because of how the Gem was cut? Its color changed a little bit .

  It was still gold, so Sungyoon wondered if he was seeing things . He wondered if the faint red light flashing between the gold light was a figment of his imagination .

  ***

  The archer felt that someone had struck his head with a large hammer as a head-splitting pain engulfed him . His memory was fuzzy . He got up and reflexively shook his head while gripping it .

  “Are you awake, Aruwan-nim?”


  His subordinate, who had served his forefathers and his family, approached him .

  Many of his people ignored his bloodline, yet this man had remained always loyal to him . This subordinate was admirable for his dedication .

  “What happened? Why am I lying here?”


  “That’s . . . ”


  The subordinate hesitated .

  Aruwan furrowed his brows . His subordinate always gave prompt answers to his questions, and the only time he hesitated was when it involved that person .

  As expected, Aruwan heard her voice .

  “I hit you on the back of the head and brought you here . ”


  Plu-El spoke .

  ‘Back of the head?’


  Did it have something to do with his splitting headache? Aruwan searched his mind to piece together his memories . As he remembered everything, he stood up .

  “You bastard!”


  He strode toward Plu-El and stood in front of her . His face was red from the anger, but Plu-El’s expression remained the same .

  “You’re the one at fault for blindly charging forward . ”


  She spoke in a calm manner .

  “Its effect was weak, but he did activate the Royal Gem . ”


  Aruwan’s face hardened .