CH 188

The labyrinth was dead silent. Despite Kim Jin-Woo having invaded its realm, not a single summon appeared, and there were no signs of its active Labyrinth Core. Thus, Kim Jin-Woo headed for the master room after going around the empty labyrinth.

“Who is it?” A tired voice spoke to Kim Jin-Woo from a throne covered in dust, barely hidden within the thick darkness of the room as the faintly glowing core radiated a low, gloomy light.

“Seeing how you don’t have any foul stench on you, it seems you’re not one of those corrupted Underworld bastards,” the unknown labyrinth master that resembled a mix between a scaly blue lizard and a human said.

He looked severely weakened; his scales had fallen apart, his claws were blunt, and his few remaining teeth had lost their edge a long time ago. In addition, his cloudy eyes seemed unable to even focus, as if he had lost his sight.

“Mm.” The image of the 10th Floor Baron, who had once been corrupt and drowning in pleasure, was completely different from what Kim Jin-Woo had imagined.

“You’ve arrived earlier than I expected. I thought you'd take a longer time, but I’m glad you didn’t. I can’t bear this any longer.” The mysterious labyrinth master seemed to have mistaken Kim Jin-Woo’s identity, as he droned on by himself. “As you can see, my labyrinth is on the verge of extinction. The down gems were immediately exhausted, and all I’m left with is my Core.”

Kim Jin-Woo had no intention of wasting time over useless small talk, as he approached the labyrinth master who was weakening by the minute. He drew his blade with a deadly shrill.

But the labyrinth master, who seemed to have lost his sight, continued to chatter on in a shameful tone. “But I don’t know what use I’ll be to you.”

Despite that, Kim Jin-Woo remained expressionless as he held onto his sword while looking for the Noble’s Seal.

“Besides, I could never know what the Black Merchants were thinking,” the labyrinth master said.

Upon hearing those unexpected words, Kim Jin-Woo barely stopped his hands from cutting down the labyrinth master in time.

“At least they were here for me. Now that Master has abandoned me, they’re the only ones left that I can depend on,” the labyrinth master continued.

Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t stand it any longer and finally asked a question. “Have you traded with the Black Merchants before?

The labyrinth master, who had been quietly groaning on his throne, suddenly trembled in surprise as his expression blanked. “Are you from the 11th Floor?” he asked, visibly bewildered, once again mistaking Kim Jin-Woo’s identity.

Kim Jin-Woo made up his mind to take advantage of the other person’s misunderstanding, raising his voice and insisting, “Answer my question.” His tone sounded as if it were filled with contempt and anger.

The labyrinth master seemed to have been properly deceived. “I-I only wanted a way out of this terrible war. This lowly being had no intention of ever betraying Master and joining the side of the Black Merchants. Please, believe me.”

“I won’t repeat myself again. Answer the question,” Kim Jin-Woo repeated.

He had met the messengers of the Deep Floor Counts several times. He knew how arrogant and authoritative they were, and he also knew how reluctant the 10th Floor Nobles were as well. He slowly pushed the labyrinth master into a corner.

Once again, the terrified being dared not refute him, coming up with an excuse for his explanation. “The Black Merchants made the offer first. They said that cooperation with them would save me from this damn war.”

Kim Jin-Woo activated the Eyes of Truth, but all he could see was that the labyrinth master was frightened beyond belief, either because he was a fairly high-ranking Noble, or because his death was imminent.

“When did they come to find you?” Kim Jin-Woo asked. It had been over a year since the Black Merchants disappeared without a trace from the Underworld. His mind was clouded by the fact that they had reappeared.

“I-It must have been around two months ago. A self-proclaimed messenger of the Black Merchants came to me in the middle of fighting those terrible monsters,” the labyrinth master answered.

If it had been two months prior, that would have been when Kim Jin-Woo had awakened the power of the Highlord and the Grand Labyrinth was born.

With the Black Merchants’ secrecy and hidden dealings having been behind many of the Underworld’s events thus far, it was impossible to dismiss the timing of their reappearance as mere coincidence.

“Tell me in detail what offer they made to you, and how they said they would help. Depending on your answer, I may or may not report to Him.” Kim Jin-Woo spoke with intimidation as if he were a true messenger of the 11th Floor, and waited for the other party to speak.

“I promised that I would never do anything that would be a nuisance to my Master. All they wanted…” The labyrinth master seemed to have found some solace in the offer for reconciliation, as he desperately defended himself.“...was the Baron’s Seal.”[1]

***

“Those Black Merchants… what the hell are they thinking?” Kim Jin-Woo muttered. While on his quest to find more Noble’s Seals to increase his strength further, he had come across an unexpected event, which wasn’t good news for him.

His enemy, feeling uncomfortable despite his blinded eyes, asked with a trembling voice,” W-What happens to me now? I’ve told you everything I know, as you demanded.”

Kim Jin-Woo quietly opened a portal instead of answering his desperate plea.

As soon as the portal opened, several Hero-Grade summons who had been waiting on standby for any contingency ran out of it, exclaiming, “My King!”

“Capture him and watch over him in a suitable place. Make sure he doesn’t cross paths with the Queen of Illusions,” Kim Jin-Woo ordered.

The summons looked around the devastated master room before recognizing the labyrinth master Karkaros, looking at him with wide eyes. “He’s…”

“He may be weak now, but he’s still the Noble nicknamed the ‘Iron Armor’,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

Heimdall stepped forward as Kim Jin-Woo spoke, grabbing Karkaros.

“What happened to our promise?! You said you wouldn’t report to Him if I told you the truth!” Karkaros exclaimed, protesting injustice.

Kim Jin-Woo simply watched Karkaros being dragged by the Dawn Rooster, replying, “I’ll keep my promise. I have no intention of informing your Master about your dealings with the Black Merchant.”

Karkaros seemed to have noticed the odd way Kim Jin-Woo was speaking, as he froze up with a confused look on his face. “N-No way…”

“Yes. I’m not a messenger sent by your Master. No, I didn’t even know who your Master was in the first place,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

Only then did the poor Baron realize the situation he was in, as his legs gave way and he collapsed onto the ground.

“Ah, I almost forgot.” Kim Jin-Woo approached the devastated Karkaros and took the Seal from his finger. “You have something I want.”

The iron-clad lizard, with his seal stolen, disappeared beyond the portal as he was led away by the merciless Heimdall.

“Dominique.”

Dominique had been watching the situation unfold from the other side of the portal, and rushed over at her Master’s call.

“The Black Merchants have returned,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

Dominique had also had doubts about the Black Merchants’ sudden disappearance, and she looked completely surprised. “Why are they just now…”

“I don’t know for now. What they want, why they disappeared, and why they’re only showing up now… I don’t have any answers,” Kim Jin-Woo said as he watched Karkaros’ Seal on his hand merge into his other seals. “But if there’s one thing I’m certain of…”

Karkaros had said earlier that the Black Merchants had been collaborating with the 10th Floor Nobles as if they had been waiting for this moment, and that many Nobles had already sided with them just to see an end to the terrible war.

“It’s that if we search the 10th Floor long enough, we’ll find out their purpose.”

***

24 hours had to pass before a portal closed. In the meantime, Kim Jin-Woo searched Karkaros’ labyrinth thoroughly before heading out. There was still plenty of time until the portal closed; thus, Balzark and several other Hero-Grade summons stayed behind in the labyrinth that was now without its Core.

“Phew, that’s a real Ant Ghost,” Balzark remarked.

“Have you ever seen one before?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

“Seen one? I’ve even fought one on the 11th Floor.” Balzark didn’t seem to have any pleasant memories of fighting it, as he shook his head with an ugly expression.

“Is there any way to capture it alive?”

“To capture a being alive when it’s already so hard to kill… Wait, no way…” Balzark freaked out when he belatedly realized where the conversation was heading. “That’s impossible! It’s not a simple beast that you can just tame. Even Anatolius would immediately move his labyrinth away the moment such a beast appeared, so how could you possibly tame it!?”

Despite Balzark’s exclamations, Kim Jin-Woo remained unfazed. He asked, “You said you’ve fought it before, didn’t you?”

“I only fought it because it set itself right in my front yard. It’s not as if I fought it because I wanted to. I couldn’t even defeat it in the first place,” Balzark replied.

If even the headstrong Balzark was so terrified of the Ant Ghost, it was the real deal. But the more Balzark spoke against the Ant Ghost, the more tempting it became for Kim Jin-Woo.

“If you leave it alone, it can even swallow a labyrinth whole. To try and tame such a dangerous thing…” Balzark began.

“I like it even more,” Kim Jin-Woo cut him off.

“Say wha—” Balzark racked his brains as he tried to understand what Kim Jin-Woo meant. But for a muscle-head like Balzark who was only good for combat and nothing else, it was impossible for him to comprehend the will of his capricious Master.

“There’s no other labyrinth for it to eat on the 9th Floor, anyway,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

“Why wouldn’t there be…”

“Balzark.” Kim Jin-Woo quietly called out Balzark’s name.

“My King,” Balzark, shocked and thinking he had taken things too far, replied with his head deeply bowed.

“Tell me.” Kim Jin-Woo looked at the passageway that held the Ant Ghost as he spoke. “Between the Ant Ghost and the Grand Labyrinth, which of the two do you think is more vicious?”

Balzark shut his mouth when he remembered what kind of a being his Master was, and how terrible the Grand Labyrinth he roamed within freely was.

However, just because Kim Jin-Woo desired the Ant Ghost, that didn’t mean that a solution to tame it was readily available.

“Let’s just observe it for now.” Kim Jin-Woo sighed with regret, and for some reason, the long passageway seemed to tremble at his words.

***

Kim Jin-Woo continued to roam the 10th Floor. Intact labyrinths were still difficult to find, but it wasn’t entirely impossible.

Most of the labyrinths that he came across seemed to be preparing for migration, as if the Black Merchants’ messengers had already visited them prior. Kim Jin-Woo took as much as he could from them. He extracted every last bit of information out of the labyrinths’ residents before exiling them to the Grand Labyrinth, or killing them on the spot and taking away their Seals.

“Tsk, these guys sure are secretive,” he remarked.

He’d had high expectations for his Eyes of Truth ability, but it didn’t work on the Nobles. It seemed there were certain limitations to the Eyes of Truth that he wasn’t completely aware of. Thanks to that, he was unable to obtain specific information, and he carried on his search.

However, he soon had to come to a stop, as there was someone, or something, tailing him across the 10th Floor.

“Show yourself,” Kim Jin-Woo said. In response, the stalker hesitated before slowly appearing. Kim Jin-Woo exclaimed, “You’re…”

1. This is the same as a Noble’s Seal. Noble’s Seal is an umbrella term for all the seals that belong to each rank of Noble; e.g., the Noble’s Seal of a Baron is also a Baron’s Seal. ☜