Chapter 178

The black-armored man became surprised when confronted with the maelstrom of Mana Stream. He raised his weapon toward the light, and his party members followed suit.

“W... what the hell is this!”

A scream suddenly rang out. The researcher was still clutching at his two money bags, but now, his face was turning blue.

“Magical energy poisoning?”

“Hadn’t he said that he'd be fine because of the magical energy suppressor?”

Confusion ran rampant within the Connectors' hearts. The researcher was getting worse and worse. His skin was beyond being blue and was starting to turn purplish black.

“Ggoo-ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

The researcher felt as if ants were crawling and chewing through his veins and arteries.

He started to scratch at his body with his fingernails. His hands turned bloody from his own blood.

“L... look at him…!”

The white-robed woman turned pale as she pointed toward the researcher.

[This device blocks the magical energy of the labyrinth, but I have no idea how it’ll function within a Mana Stream. That's why we have to be very careful.]

McGregor’s warning flashed through the researcher’s brain. However, he was in too much pain. His mind turned blank as the pain ate away at his consciousness.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhk!”

He screamed until it felt as if his throat would rip apart. It was his last moments.

Puh-uhng!

Then his body blew up as if it were a balloon. Blood, bones, flesh, and innards flew into the surroundings.

Chwahhhhhhk!

It covered the nearby Connectors.

“Ooh-ahhhhhhhhht!”

“Kyahhhhhhk!”

They let out screams. They were veterans who had fought monsters for a long time, and they were used to death. Their personality was quite twisted as a consequence. But they weren’t rotten enough to be unperturbed by a human dying in front of them.

This was especially true when the victim had just blown up next to them, and they were coated in his remains. Of course, their panic would deepen.

“Calm down!”

The black-armored man yelled.

“Just focus on the enemy that shows up first! If we don’t, we’ll die a horrible death like that man!”

As expected of a leader, he caught the attention of his party in an instant. He used the fear of seeing the researcher die in front of them to his advantage, and employed it as a motivation for them to act.

His party members broke out of their stupor. They didn’t want to die a miserable death like the researcher.

Boom!

The light dissipated, and something landed on the ground.

“… So that's a Golem. It has a very apt name.”

At a glance, one could tell its body was made out of metal, and it was not a living creature.

“Let’s kill that thing first!”

When their leader shouted out an order, the party responded. They got into a familiar formation as they faced off against the Golem.

Puhhhhhhhhhhhng!

One of the Golem’s numerous eyes turned red and shot out a large flame. The largest man in the party stepped forward and blocked the flame with his shield.

“Koo-oooooohk!”

The man groaned, but he was somehow able to block the flame.

However, the Golem's attack hadn't ended yet.

Boom!

The Golem took a big jump, and in a flash, it closed the distance to the party. Then, it swung its arm in a violent manner.

“Attaaaaaaaaack!”

The black-armored man swung his hammer as he confronted the Golem, and the battle started in earnest.

The battle was fierce. The Golem was strong and fast. Moreover, it was capable of using multiple spells.

The party members were pushed to the brink when faced with a variety of attacks.

However, they weren’t pushovers. This party was pretty well-known amongst the parties that raided the Great Labyrinth.

The party somehow found an equilibrium in fighting the Golem. When they got used to the attacks from their opponent, they started to mount a counteroffensive. They started to push the Golem backward.

After a while...

Kwah-jee-jeek!

The hammer crushed the Golem’s chest.

Numerous wounds already covered the Golem's body, and this attack was the critical blow.

Boom!

It fell to the cold floor of the labyrinth. At the same time, the black-armored man and his party members fell to the ground from exhaustion.

“Huh-uhk! Huhk! What kind of monster is that!”

The black-armored man cursed.

In truth, he hadn’t believed the words of the man named Woo Sungyoon. Even if Woo Sungyoon was a high rank Connector who had entered the Great Labyrinth, he was still a novice compared to their party.

That was why the black-armored man came to the conclusion that Woo Sungyoon was weak, and that his fear was unwarranted. If the Golem was truly powerful, Woo Sungyoon would have never made it back out. That was the black-armored man's reasoning.

However, he had just fought the Golem, and it truly was monstrous.

‘Still, we killed it in the end. If I take back the piece of metal alongside the Golem, my name will be honored by the world...’

However, he couldn't continue that thought. He saw something that he didn’t want to believe was true.

Sssk! Sssk! Sssk!

Numerous lights appeared around his party.

The magical energy swirled in a crazy manner. It sounded like a cry announcing his impending death.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As expected, the light spat out Golems.

Eight Golems appeared first. However, not all of the Golems looked like the one that the party had just defeated.

Boooom!

Then, two more Golems appeared. These Golems looked different from the eight normal Golems.

They were about twice as big, and they had six arms. The normal Golems had spider-like eyes, but these two had two human-like eyes.

Sss-ooooooooh!

Eight normal Golems and two unordinary Golems, which looked much stronger than the normal Golems, all of them locked onto the Connector party in front of them.

“… Run.”

The black-armored man quietly spoke. His party members quickly got up.

The Golems, who had remained still until that moment, started to move.

“Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuun!”

The black-armored man started running like the Flash. His party members quickly followed him.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Golems started to chase them down.

***

Sungyoon’s party was resting within their lodgings. The battles against the Four-Winged Vultures had taken a turn for the better in the plateau. It meant the party was gaining experience against these monsters. It was looking like they would be able to clear the 2nd floor of the Great Labyrinth soon.

All of them went to sleep with renewed hope in their heart for tomorrow. However, their sweet dreams were interrupted by an explosion.

Boooooooooom!

Bul-duhk!

Sungyoon immediately got up from his deep sleep.

‘What the hell was that?’

The light outside was still subdued, so it was still night in Armstrong. Sungyoon didn’t have a good idea as to why he had suddenly woken up from his sleep.

However, he became fully awake when he heard the second explosion.

Boooooooooom!

This time he was fully conscious. He jumped out of his bed and ran out the door.

“Mr. Sungyoon!”

The first person he encountered was Emily, who was still in her pajamas.

“What’s that sound?”

“I have no idea.”

Slam!

Tim slammed the door open as he came out of his room.

“What’s happeni—!”

Boooooooooom!

The third explosion erupted before Tim could ask his question.

Aeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeng!

The sound of a siren started ringing out.

Armstrong was filled with Confusion. When Sungyoon looked out the window, he could see people running out into the streets in droves.

Pah-aht!

The lights should've been dimmed at this time, but they suddenly brightened.

“It seems something bad must have happened.”

It was a certainty considering what was going on in Sunngyoon's surroundings.

The problem was the fact that they had no idea if this was a large or a small incident. From what they had seen and heard, it didn’t seem like a small one.

“Let’s get our Devices and Gems for now.”

They each went into their respective rooms and picked up their Devices and Gems. Then they exited the building.

It happened at that moment.

Puhhhhhhhhhhhng!

A blue light erupted from the place where the Beginner’s Labyrinth was supposed to be. The blue light flew in a straight line and destroyed all the buildings in its path before striking the outer wall of Armstrong.

Kwah-doo-doo-doohk!

It almost didn’t look real. The outer wall, which had been protecting the city, was ripped apart as if it were made out of paper.

An opening was formed, and the space beyond came into clear view.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhk!”

Screams of despair echoed everywhere. Normal humans couldn’t live on the rough and lifeless surface of the moon. The wall had been their only protection against the lunar environment, and now it had been breached.

Connectors like Sungyoon and his party members would be fine. However, Armstrong had a great number of regular people working here as well. The destruction of the outer wall was basically a death sentence for them.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

An emergency broadcast cut through the screams of despair.

- We are enacting Artemis Level 1 alert. All civilians should evacuate to an emergency shelter. This is not a drill. I repeat. We are enacting Artemis Level 1 alert. All civilians should evacuate to an…

Artemis.

It was the name of the Moon Goddess. But the Artemis the broadcast was mentioning was the name of the alert system used in case of an emergency in Armstrong.

Artemis Level 1 alert meant Armstrong was facing an existential threat.

Koo-roor-roo-roo-roo!

Another large sound could be heard in the distance. A barrier was descending from the ceiling, and it was sealing off the breached sector.

- We are quarantining the E-49 section.

The broadcast explained what was going on. It seemed the higher-ups of the Armstrong city were doing their best to minimize the damage.

However, their actions bore no fruit.

Puh-uhng! Puh-uhng! Puh-uhng!

People could see a variety of attacks erupt from the distance. They could tell it was light, fire, earth, water, and similar spells being shot into the surroundings.

In a flash, more buildings fell, and numerous wounds formed on the outer wall of Armstrong. The civilians panicked and ran toward the nearest shelter.

“Mr. Sungyoon!”

Someone grabbed him. It was Grace. It seemed she had come running to his lodging as soon as this incident had erupted.

She asked him a question.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure.”

It wasn't just Sungyoon. Most of the people in Armstrong had no idea what was going on.

It happened at that moment.

Kwahhhng!

A person came flying through the air, and he crashed into a building.

“A... are you ok?”

Emily approached the person. She placed a hand over her mouth when she saw this person's condition.

At a glance, one could tell the man was heavily injured. He was wearing a high rank black armor, but it was damaged all over. Blood poured out from large and small wounds all over his body.

Above all else, his left arm was missing, and blood gushed out from the stump.

“Please stay calm! I’ll heal you right now!”

Emily raised her staff.

However, the man didn’t listen to Emily’s words.

“I... I have... I have to... run... run away...”

His arms and legs didn’t work, yet he struggled to move.

What was he running away from?

The answer to the question came knocking before Emily could even ask it.

Boom!

A Golem landed in front of her and her party.

“… Why is this here?”

Sungyoon’s eyes shook.

However, he didn’t have time to ponder.

Sssssssssk!

One of the Golem’s eyes turned white.

“Oohk!”

Sungyoon didn’t have time to dodge. Above all else, Tim, Emily, and the evacuating civilians would be put in harm's way if he dodged the attack.

Sungyoon immediately activated his Gems, then he overclocked them.

Too-hwahk!

White light shot out from the Golem, and the light squarely struck Sungyoon’s shield.

Puh-uhng!

The nearby temperature rapidly dropped. Frost started to form around the shield, and in no time, Sungyoon started to freeze.

“Koo-oo-ook!”

Sungyoon gritted his teeth. The cold air seeped through the gaps in his armor. If his armor didn’t have innate resistance, he would have become an unsightly ice sculpture.

The Golem stopped its attack, and Sungyoon fell to his knee.

Kwah-jeek! Kwah-jeek!

The sound of ice breaking off his body rang out.

‘Cold!’

Sungyoon felt as if even his internal organs were frozen, and he couldn’t properly move his body.

“Mr. Sungyoon! Shit!”

Tim swung his ax toward the Golem.

However, the Golem used its agile movements to dodge.