“Why are you here?”


  Plu-El tilted her head in puzzlement when she saw Aruwen look at Sungyoon .

  “I have a request that I want to ask of Mr . Woo Sungyoon . I hope he can give me a bit of his time . ”


  “Request?”


  According to her knowledge, Sungyoon and Aruwen hadn’t come into contact with each other in recent days . In the past, their relationship had been frosty to the point where both men wanted to kill each other .

  Aruwen stood in front of Sungyoon and spoke .

  “Do you mind if I borrow the Royal Gem?”


  “.…… What are you talking about?”


  A harsh expression instantly appeared on Plu-El’s face . Her party members and Aruwen’s party members all looked at Aruwen with disagreeable expressions . The atmosphere had turned awkward .

  ‘This bastard still can’t throw away his foolish ambition?’


  Aruwen’s obsession with the Royal Gem had caused many unfortunate events . Did he still not understand that? This was especially true in the case of Tiotudo’s death . Tiotudo’s death couldn’t all be blamed on Aruwen, but he bore the brunt of the responsibility .

  However, after that event, Aruwen had become a completely different person, and Plu-El had assumed he was no longer obsessed with the Royal Gem . Moreover, he hadn’t shown any dissatisfaction when she had negotiated an alliance with Earth . This had contributed to a significant increase in her trust in Aruwen .

  But now, the possibility that Aruwen had never discarded his obsession had appeared . Worry, anger, and confusion gripped Plu-El’s heart .

  Sungyoon silently stared at Aruwen, but Aruwen’s eyes remained calm; they didn’t contain greed or desire . In some ways, Sungyoon felt like he was looking at a high priest who had been liberated from all desires .

  When they had first met, Aruwen had glared at him with eyes full of killing intent . That man was no longer present in front of him .

  “You should give up—”


  Plu-El had been about to unleash her anger, but Sungyoon held her back .

  “How long do you need it for?”


  “I just need it for a brief moment . I’ll return it to you right here . ”


  Sungyoon took out the Royal Gem from his Device and threw it toward Aruwen . The absence of any hesitation in his action surprised everyone .

  Aruwen slowly looked at the Royal Gem .

  Click!

  After putting the Royal Gem into his Device, he sent his magical energy into the Gem, but nothing happened .

  “I knew it . ”


  Without any hesitation, Aruwen took out the Royal Gem and returned it to Sungyoon .

  “Thank you for humoring my request . ”


  “It was no problem . If it isn’t too much, may I ask what was the point of all that?”


  “It was a lingering attachment that I wasn’t able to let go of . ”


  Aruwen looked at the Royal Gem in Sungyoon’s hand .

  “After my best friend died, I thought I had completely given up on it . However, I felt greed start to rise within me after I awakened the Warrior Gem . I do not want to relapse into who I was in the past . I already lost one friend, and I’m afraid I will lose the other if I’m unable to let this go . ”


  Aruwen’s gaze landed on Plu-El for a moment .

  “I thought if I try to unnecessarily internalize this struggle, I would get strange ideas once again . So, it was better to end this once and for all . ”


  Aruwen shrugged and continued .

  “It seems I was right to do this . It didn’t activate for me, and it means I’m not suited for the Royal Gem . ”


  “You look relieved”


  “Yes . When I look back, I have no idea why I was so obsessed with it . If I wasn’t, Tiotudo might still be—”


  “Aruwen . ”


  Plu-El placed her hand on his shoulder, but Aruwen shrugged it off .

  “I don’t want pity from you . I haven’t fallen so far that I need your pity . ”


  Even if he had changed, he still had his special brand of pride . However, this version of his pride was cute compared to his pride from the past .

  Plu-El could only catch glimpses of his past self, so she grinned .

  “In the past, the Royal Gem was used by those who stood at the top of our people . Please use it in an honorable fashion . ”


  “I’ll do so . ”


  Sungyoon once again slotted the Royal Gem into his Device .

  ***

  A portal opened . Of course, the destination was the Great Labyrinth Hyunwoo had informed them about . Teams consisting of high rank Connectors exited into the Great Labyrinth .

  Even though this was the Great Labyrinth, monsters near the front entrance didn’t stand a chance against these Connectors, who slaughtered all the monsters in their path .

  The traps they had been worried about weren’t there . It was just like the Great Labyrinth located inside Armstrong city, and the Connectors only faced the sinister monsters . In a flash, they pushed past the 3rd floor, the floor where the advanced party had stopped their reconnaissance .

  The focus was on speed rather than safety as the teams quickly pushed through the floors . However, they couldn’t push past the 10th floor with impunity .

  “In the end, it splits . ”


  Sungyoon tilted his head as he looked at the three tunnels that had been created by the bumpy walls .

  “Ah, shit! What should we do?”


  “We knew this might happen . We’ll continue to carry out our plan . ”


  Russell calmed down Bruce even though he also had a sour expression on his face . He then gave orders to the rest of the group .

  “We’ll split as planned! Make three groups!”


  All the Connectors knew how to split themselves up, and they followed the order without any difficulty .

  Sungyoon’s party was in Bruce’s group .

  “Good! Let’s move!”


  Bruce took the lead and headed to the middle tunnel . Their group had decreased by one-third in size, but their speed never slowed down . It was easy to kill the monsters on these floors even with one-third of their force . In the first place, all the members participating in this mission were powerful .

  However, they continued to encounter tunnels, and their progress stalled each time as they split the group again . By the time they arrived on the 15th floor, the only group left was Sungyoon’s party .

  Sungyoon used his previous experience in the Great Labyrinth to his advantage as the party slowly descended .

  “It has been a while since we moved through a labyrinth as a party . ”


  “Indeed . ”


  Grace agreed with Tim, who had spoken in an enthusiastic manner . She then resumed drawing a map of the Great Labyrinth .

  “It has been a long time since we entered a labyrinth . We had to deal with various incidents, and it made us feel much more keenly . ”


  As Emily had said, they had been so busy that they felt like years had passed since they had last entered a labyrinth . There was this sense of dissonance between reality and what they felt .

  “They are coming!”


  The four of them had been on alert even as they talked to each other . Therefore, when Sungyoon shouted, everyone went into their battle formation in an instant .

  “What’s that?”


  Tim narrowed his eyes . Something was coming toward them from a distance . Here, the ground looked like the regular floor of a labyrinth, and an open blue sky was above their heads .

  It was a phenomenon commonly seen in a Great Labyrinth, so the party wasn’t surprised . The more important matter was the four monsters flying toward them .

  “They look like . . . Griffons?”


  Emily mumbled .

  “They shouldn’t be much of a threat to us . ”


  Tim spoke . The party had killed these monsters before in the Great Labyrinth . They got into their familiar formation, and as always, the first one to start was Grace .

  Gwah-roo-roo-roong!

  A streak of lightning struck one of the Griffons .

  Gweeeeeeeeeek!

  Its hard and stiff feathers stood on end, and the Griffin became unable to flap its wings . It helplessly fell to the ground .

  Koo-oohng!

  A heavy thump rang out as the ground shook a little, and the Griffon lay motionless on the ground . While this happened, the other three Griffons approached Sungyoon’s party .

  Sungyoon summoned his halberd .

  “Hoohp!”


  He strained his muscles as he threw it . His strength had increased a lot compared to before, so his halberd shot forward like a cannon . The destructive sound of the halberd splitting the air resembled the screech of a bird .

  However, the distance it had to travel was too far to accurately hit the Griffons . Moreover, the halberd was flying in a straight line, so the Griffons easily dodged it . After losing its target, the halberd continued to travel higher into the sky .

  However, Sungyoon hadn’t thrown the halberd without any plan .

  As the halberd continued to soar, from behind it, an ax flew toward one of the Griffons .

  The Griffon belatedly noticed the attack and tried to twist its body in midair .

  Suh-guhk!

  Gwehhhhhhhhhk!

  It avoided the worst-case scenario, but the blade of the ax still scratched its neck . The wound was shallow, yet painful . The Griffon screeched in anger . Someone had dared to hurt it, and it wanted to rip the culprit into pieces .

  Sway!

  It tried to use its wings to fly, but something was wrong with them . The Griffin was having trouble moving them, and it felt the strength in its wings diminishing at a rapid rate .

  Ggoo-roo-roo-roohk!

  It tried to scream, but no sound came out . The Griffin’s body shook as it rapidly approached the ground . Chills traveled through its body, and its eyes spun as it felt pain . Everything was signaling that something was very wrong .

  Boo-gool boo-gool!

  The poison had started to break down its body . The Griffin tried with all its might to move, but it crashed into the ground . Then, it no longer moved .

  Two Griffons had died before they could reach the party, but the remaining two continued to fly . It seemed the death of their comrades hadn’t scared them . They might have thought they had a chance at victory since they had gotten closer while the other two died .

  However, a shield got in their way .

  “Ooh-ryahhhhhhhhht!”


  Tim rooted his feet on the ground and stopped the charge of the Griffons .

  Kwahng! Kwahng!

  Keeeeeeeeeeeek!

  Kyahhhhhhhhhhk!

  “Koo-ooohk!”


  The Griffins managed to push back Tim’s body a little, but Tim stood his ground . Even though the Griffins had bashed into Tim’s shield, they couldn’t breach his defense . In fact, due to the shock from the impact, the Griffons fell to the ground .

  Sungyoon had been standing behind Tim all this time, and his eyes shone .

  “Hahhhhhhht!”


  He stabbed his long spear-blade of the halberd into the body of the Griffin on the left .

  The Griffin let out a scream as it flapped its wing . It then stood up on its hind legs and threatened Sungyoon with its forelegs . Sungyoon deftly moved his halberd and aimed it low to the ground . The hook of the halberd cut into one of the hind legs, and Sungyoon pulled it .

  Ggweeeeeeeek!

  Boom!

  The Griffin flapped its wings, but in the end, it lost its balance and fell to the ground . Sungyoon immediately raised his hammer, but the other Griffon tried to attack him .

  “I won’t let you!”


  Tim got in the way again . His sturdy shield blocked the Griffon’s charge . At that moment, Sungyoon had moved closer to the fallen Griffin .

  Hweeeeek!

  Kwahhhhhng!

  When the hammer struck the monster, an explosion detonated on the Griffon’s head, and the Griffon’s gruesome scream rang out . Sungyoon continued to swing his hammer and cause explosions . He kept at it until the Griffon stopped screaming .

  Only one was left now .

  Three Griffons had already died before they could do anything, so of course, what could one of them achieve?

  Tim’s ax cut down the last Griffon .

  “Ha-haht! As always, we work so well together!”


  It had been a while since they had hunted as a party, and Tim felt proud of the way they easily dispatched the monsters . The others felt the same way .

  However, Sungyoon’s expression was different from that of the others .

  “Mr . Sungyoon?”


  Tim carefully called out to Sungyoon .

  Sungyoon shook his head a little bit as he felt a strange sensation .

  At that moment, the holographic screen in the royal city was changing . The blue color had expanded and spread to half of the rooms displayed on the cross-sectional diagram . A sound rang out in the building, and the Royal Gem in Sungyoon’s Device started to sparkle .