CH 191

#71. Deal

It was as expected. The sudden return of the Naga Warriors was the deal offered by the Grand Labyrinth.

“And what you want is probably a Baron’s Seal, isn’t it.” When Kim Jin-Woo pulled out his Seal, the Grand Labyrinth’s cores flashed dazzlingly.

Keeek.

Seeing the blatant longing radiating from the blue and yellow flashes, Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t help but laugh. “What a sight. A labyrinth offering a deal to its master.” With a calm look on his face, he swayed to and fro while pretending to drop the Seal, and the Grand Labyrinth let out an indescribable noise.

Gripping the Seal, Kim Jin-Woo stared at the blinking Labyrinth Core and asked, “Are all the Grand Labyrinths like you? Or are you just that special?”

The Grand Labyrinth didn’t respond. It only had eyes for the Seal.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway.” While the Grand Labyrinth had been giving him a big headache for a long time, Kim Jin-Woo finally seemed to have made up his mind, and he strode closer to the altar.

“I accept the deal, Grand Labyrinth.” He threw one of the Seals onto it, and with a bang, it was engulfed in a halo of light and vanished.

[An Ancient Power Fragment—the Baron’s Seal—has been offered on the altar.]

[The Grand Labyrinth is an insatiably greedy creature that has consumed thousands of mobs and even more Moai. But even such a Grand Labyrinth had no choice but to be satisfied with the pure energy contained in the Baron's Seal.]

[Satiety level has risen to the maximum instantly, and will not decrease for a while.]

[The Power Fragments are the source and foundation of the enormous energy that the Highlords and the Grand Labyrinth utilize. The Grand Labyrinth has absorbed the Baron's Seal and has begun to grow on its own.]

[The Grand Labyrinth desires more Power Fragments.]

Perhaps its name ‘Greed’ hadn’t been given for nothing, as it consumed one Seal and immediately sought out another.

More, a little more…

The voice of the Grand Labyrinth, even though it didn’t even have one in the first place, almost seemed to be whispering in Kim Jin-Woo’s ear.

Seeing the Grand Labyrinth’s blind sense of greed and desire, Kim Jin-Woo withdrew from the altar with a cold expression, saying. “If you want something, pay the price.” The Seal in his hand flashed.

***

Following the return of the Naga Warriors, the other Nagas began to return as well. A hundred Naga Fighters first appeared, followed by a few Priests and Sorcerers.

And all the Nagas who returned were more valiant than before. They seemed too much more valiant and glorious than before to attribute to just their return alone, so Kim Jin-Woo tested them out himself. He could see for himself that the Nagas truly had grown more powerful than before.

The Warriors had become sturdy enough that they couldn’t be hurt by any ordinary sword, and the Fighters had become stronger and more ferocious than before. The spells cast by the Priests and Sorcerers were also much more profound than they had ever been.

However, they still couldn’t hold a candle to the Dragon Knights, who had yet to make a return.

“Does this mean that two Seals aren’t enough?” Kim Jin-Woo muttered.

The Grand Labyrinth had returned the Nagas, much stronger than before, in exchange for the Seal. However, it hadn’t returned the Dragon Knights, who were undoubtedly the labyrinth’s greatest soldiers. It was almost as if the Grand Labyrinth was silently protesting and demanding more seals if Kim Jin-Woo wanted them back.

“How cute.” Kim Jin-Woo laughed at its rather childish and blatant feat. Now that he knew what the Grand Labyrinth wanted, it was only a matter of time before the labyrinth would be restored to the Fortress’ former glory.

Perhaps with just one more Seal, the Grand Labyrinth would return the Dragon Knights it was holding on to so dearly.

“The problem is, there are no more Nobles left on the 10th Floor,” Kim Jin-Woo mused.

There hadn’t been many Nobles who could withstand the Moai's offensive for so long, and even the surviving Nobles had either disappeared somewhere or been put to death by the Black Merchants. In fact, it wasn’t wrong to say that the 10th Floor had been completely annihilated.

“Phew.” Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

Whatever the situation might be, he would never give up so easily on what he wanted. His survival had always been threatened, and he had always fought against the strong and the powerful.

But he had never failed to get what he wanted. That was how he ended up being the sole Conqueror of the Underworld. The Undefeated Commander. The Lord of Greed.

If he couldn’t find one on the 10th Floor, all he had to do was find one on the 11th Floor.

As he recalled his past, Kim Jin-Woo saw Ariane scurrying around the labyrinth from the corner of his eye.

***

When Ariane had first been released, she had been too afraid of the Conqueror to roam the labyrinth freely.

But not long after, when she realized that the labyrinth master had left, she gathered up the courage to explore the Grand Labyrinth. And after a month passed with the Conqueror yet to return, little by little, she became more daring and started to wander around freely by herself.

“Go back. You’re not allowed here,” the Ancient War Hero that blocked Ariane’s path said, staring at her with his sharp gaze.

“I’m just taking a stroll; I’m bored.” Ariane was angry that she had to be wary of a mere summon, when she had once been the ruler of hundreds of Nightmares. Still, she kept that anger within herself.

After all, from the labyrinth master to the summons in this labyrinth, not a single one of them could be called ‘normal’. It was so extreme that even the lowliest class of slaves, the Beastfolk, had a sense of secrecy and tenacity about them, something that was hard to find even on the 11th Floor.

“I have to be careful. How much did I have to suffer to survive until now…” Ariane muttered, clenching her teeth and bowing her head. She turned to walk away from the Dawn Rooster. Feeling his cold gaze following her, she started wandering through the Grand Labyrinth again.

The Grand Labyrinth probably resembled its master, as it thoroughly distinguished its allies from its victims. Due to it, Ariane’s sense of direction and distance was a mess. But she couldn’t stop this possibly meaningless hunt. Only then would she not be beaten relentlessly by her master when she returned to the 11th Floor.

“Perhaps this is the master room.” On the sloppy map she had drawn in her head, she carved out what she assumed to be the master room.

“Mm?” After wandering around the Grand Labyrinth for a while, she saw a woman in the distance and stopped without realizing it.

“Kargh.” A woman from the Tigerfolk Tribe suddenly appeared, baring her fangs at Ariane.

“Ah, I’m just.. No, I guess this way isn’t it,” Ariane mumbled. She had bowed even to the lowliest Beastfolk, but the Tigerfolk didn’t care.

“It’s her! She’s the descendant of the Fairy Lord that Master was looking for!” Ariane said to herself. She had thought that her target, the descendant of the Fairy Lord, would have been hidden deeply, but in fact, she was openly striding through the labyrinth. Ariane subtly tracked the Under-Elf with her eyes, while avoiding the gaze of the Tigerfolk who was still viciously staring at her neck.

“Kaargh!” Seeing Ariane hanging around in her vicinity, the Tigerfolk woman bared her long claws.

“Ah, okay, okay. I’m going. I said I’m going. I was just dizzy for a while.” Ariane wasn’t able to communicate with her Tigerfolk opponent. After all, the Tigerfolk were known for baring their fangs at anyone but their master. If she were to recklessly offend the Tigerfolk woman, she would be severely injured by her sharp claws.

Ariane hurriedly left, her face red from excitement and anticipation.

From that day on, her search became more specific, with a single goal in mind. She sniffed around several times, until she was barely able to find the passageway where she had first encountered the Under-Elf. As a result, she was finally able to see the long-awaited descendant of the Fairy Lord again.

“I wasn’t mistaken. She’s definitely the descendant of the Fairy Lord,” Ariane remarked.

The Under-Elf, with her slender body and light armaments, was rushing somewhere, perhaps on a mission. If she could, Ariane wanted to follow her further, but she was forced to turn back after noticing a Watcher staring at her. As she returned with graceful steps, the corners of her eyes shone, brimming with life like never before.

The two pairs of eyes watching Ariane disappeared into the darkness.

“She’s more passive than I thought. I thought she would be on the move immediately.”

“That’s probably because she was punished by Master before, so she’s being extra cautious.”

The two who had suddenly appeared—Kim Jin-Woo and Dominique—started to talk.

“It’d be boring to wait any longer,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

Dominique seemed to have some sort of plan, as she asked without any reservations, “Shall we shake her up?”

“We gave her two months and yet, she hasn’t let down her guard at all. If we leave her as is, I’m sure she won’t make any move until she’s a hundred percent certain.”

With Kim Jin-Woo’s answer, which was as good as explicit permission, Dominique nodded and asked him to leave the matter to her. Kim Jin-Woo saw her laid-back expression and gave her a few words of caution. “Be careful, she’s a strong woman that has yet to give up, despite her death being imminent. If you let your guard down, it’ll only serve for us to lose our bait as well as the main prize.”

Ariane had been half-broken out of fear for her life, but surprisingly, she had yet to reveal her truest, innermost feelings.

“That’s why I need Master’s help with something.” Despite his concerns, Dominique still looked as confident as ever.

***

“Your Master isn’t being sincere anymore. Isn’t this just a complete waste of time?”

Unlike the last time they had met, the Conqueror was in a foul mood. He had a ferocious look on his face, as if all the talk about how he was friends with Master and that he would treat Ariane gently had been a lie.

“Keep hoping and hoping. Hope that your Master will finally act before my patience runs thin.”

It was an obvious threat, and the murderous intent behind those words couldn’t be overlooked. The stigma of violence that had nearly faded came alive once more, and Ariane found herself lying flat on her stomach against the floor, trembling subconsciously.

“I’ve treated you as a guest because the deal offered by your Master was a pretty good one. The moment the deal is canceled, you’ll no longer be my guest. When that time comes, your situation will be incomparable to what it is now.”

“I-I’ll keep that in mind,” Ariane stammered.

Like a predator looking down on his prey, the Conqueror stared down at Ariane with his piercing eyes. She hurriedly left, if only to avoid his presence.

“I have to find a way. He’s really going to kill me for good this time.” Although she had relaxed a fair bit after finding the descendant of the Fairy Lord, her heart was once again pounding, as if she had been thrown into an inescapable boiling pot.

She was certain that neither her Master nor the Conqueror was going to easily reveal their cards. And she was the one who would be the collateral damage. She knew that the ruthless Conqueror would be more than willing to kill her in order to suppress her Master.

Thinking of the Conqueror’s merciless tendencies, she trembled, her face pale. “I have to see Master.” After a while, she composed herself; her eyes lit up as if she had made up her mind.