◈ Episode 134. A Ray of Light
It’s not hard to rebuild a broken labyrinth.
I have Reversal Magic.
Do I have enough magic for that?
It’s more than enough.
The [Natural Enemy] is activated.
And as long as the [Pentagram of Pure Knowledge] is present.
The efficiency of magic that interferes with minerals is unusually enhanced.
Quads─!
I didn’t just blurt it out for nothing.
“!”
The scene reversed like a reverse playback.
The being that shouldn’t have been awakened was once again buried in the rock walls of the labyrinth. It’s scary again. So this is what it means to be a sleepover for Grandfell.
“I thought you meant just covering him with a blanket and making sure he couldn’t move.’
I pause to stare at my own words.
I see Fabian and his men scrambling.
I had mentioned in my letter to be prepared that they had brought their own equipment.
Indeed, the quality of the equipment is nothing out of the ordinary.
Especially that torch Fabian is carrying.
‘Green Flame.’
Its appearance aside, its power is not to be ignored.
A torch, and considering Fabian’s class, it’s obviously not a weapon.
Boom!
Chii-ii-iin-!
The trajectory of the torch.
Everything began to melt in an instant.
Even the tough-looking skin of the creature was no exception.
The attack was successful for now, Fabian said, backing away hastily.
“Well, that’s the fire of hell.”
[“The Infernal Fire”].
The name alone makes it sound pretty awesome.
We’ll talk to him about the torch later. I’m not intrigued by innocence and materialistic greed, because Fabian clearly said “hell”.
Demons and hell.
And demon hunters.
It’s something to think about in terms of relationships.
Of course, that was the end of my musings.
If only to keep from sinking into the heavy feeling of pride in my chest.
I couldn’t let go of the string of opportunity I was holding.
Let’s take a broader view.
‘The experience of retaking Frost.’
I apologize to Harkon for the comparison, but think of the players as the Knights of Lionheart.
They’re in a hurry to get out of the way of his attacks.
Quadruple!
Rising ground.
A stepping stone for melee class players.
Even if you trap it in a rock quilt, the risk of approaching it is considerable.
Even the slightest movement would trigger an earthquake.
But.
“……stairs?”
“Wait, what if it’s a staircase?!”
“First of all, if it’s a staircase, you can fall down freely, right?”
You see.
If you had a foothold that you could step on and jump on.
That would be great for attacking and dodging.
Swoosh!
Swah!
Swoosh!
He must not be awakened.
The creature was suffering from a variety of conditions, including fear. It flinched at the attacks of players who normally wouldn’t have even gotten a glance.
“I just got a message! Critical hit!”
“Okay, it’s working.”
“Let’s go!”
The voices of players everywhere were evidence.
‘It doesn’t take much magic or nerves to keep up.’
Of course, it was his White Outer Wings that made it possible.
Fluttering wings.
A hundred attribute magic that fluttered like feathers.
The ability to manifest stored magic, eliminating the need to assimilate for it, and the added damage of the Orb of the Vampire Count.
But for some reason, there was Teffern.
In the living, breathing past.
Even in the present, when all that remained was a desire.
To keep the peace on the continent of Arcana.
Nothing can replace the pride of Teffern that holds him.
Not even Grandfell’s pride.
I can recognize that much.
The opponent is a level 900 boss monster.
[Black Contractor of Teffern 5,321].
[Black Contractor of Teffern 4,119].
[Black Contractor of Teffern 2,847]…….
It was clear that this was an enemy that could not be defeated without sacrifice.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
Black Contractors of Teffern.
Even the players who looked at them with disdain gradually recognized their sacrifice and pride.
Zhiyiying─
Magic poured out of their eyes.
The Black Contractors of Teffern leapt to the defense of players who were about to be swept away by the attack.
“……What is it?”
“A monster threw itself at us to save us……?”
“I don’t know what it is, but everyone is throwing their bodies and fighting.”
That was enough to turn the tide.
He brought a sense of urgency to the battlefield.
There were no more unnecessary conversations.
Everyone in the room, including me.
We were all doing our best to take him down.
So the battle didn’t last long.
“Kraaaaaaah!”
The last words.
One that must not be awakened.
The thing spat out a savage scream.
Then it stopped struggling.
My vision flickered.
[You have leveled up].
[You have leveled up].
[You have leveled up.]…….
Leveled up.
[Loot is automatically earned for high kill contributions].
Loot.
[Ten Wonders Quest: The Labyrinth of Teffern]
[World Quest: Evil Dragon Hunter]
Quests.
Messages kept popping up.
But out of all the messages.
Only one message caught my attention.
Yes, everything had a priority.
[Black Contractor of Teffern 1].
I stared at the last of the Teffern Black Contractors.
All that’s left is the will.
I doubt he can even see.
Had it sensed my presence with the right amount of magic?
The black form turned toward me.
Then it spoke.
“……have we cleansed ourselves?”
I answered immediately.
“Your wrongs have long since been cleansed.”
As I said, Teffern had fulfilled its responsibility by keeping such a creature tied up this long.
So I spoke generously.
“Now that everyone in this room has realized the sacrifice and pride of Teffern.”
“……!”
“You may close your eyes at your leisure.”
“……Yes.”
Sussss─
At my words, the last of the Black Contractors of Teffern began to disperse into thin air.
At the same time, my vision was bathed in a bright light. The rift in the [Teffern Labyrinth] has been cleared.
‘It didn’t sink today…….’
I want to spit out a sigh of relief.
But I can’t help but feel tired.
Plus, it’s not over until it’s over.
Time for the next step.
I turn my head towards the players.
Flutter.
I folded my fluttering wings and took a step.
“There you are.”
Found you, presumptuous demon.
*
Supernova, Brad gasped.
“……That doesn’t make any sense.”
[Teffern Labyrinth].
When I entered the rift, I thought I had a good chance.
The level of the rift was much higher than expected.
Even a single trap could cost me my life.
‘Good. Good.’
Why am I excited when my life is in danger?
Of course I’m happy!
Bread, or rather, Desque, a named demon that possessed Bread’s body.
To him, the players’ negative emotions were a source of strength.
Desque smeared saliva on his lips.
‘I’m not like the demon kings. I’m not ignorant.’
He rolled his eyes cleverly.
‘I’ll always have my eye on Lee Ho-Yeol.’
Until he entered the rift, his goal had been to observe Lee Ho Yeol.
He’d crushed three demon kings.
As a demon, I was purely curious about his strength.
‘So, if I do this right……?
A labyrinth like this.
Lee Ho-yeol, I wonder if he’s not relaxed too?
Wouldn’t I be able to take advantage of the crowded situation and take his body?
“I’ll join the party.”
He pretended to be a normal human and took advantage of the opportunity.
Until then, Desque had been full of himself.
‘I’m clever!’
Demons claimed to be born strong.
He wanted to show them his viciousness.
From taking over the bodies of supernovae to using them.
From playing perfectly human to accomplishing their goals.
‘Behold. The depths of the labyrinth are just around the corner!’
And there he is.
A being that the demons couldn’t even approach.
The other demons are too afraid to step forward.
I, Desque, stood before him.
‘Where are you, Lee Ho-Yeol?’
The corners of Desque’s mouth tilted upward uncomfortably.
His vision gradually brightens.
It was the moment he saw the view from the depths of the labyrinth.
Thump!
“……!”
……What?
His heart was beating wildly.
A sensation he’d never felt before.
Desque looked around to find the reason.
“What kind of eyes are those?!”
Just like everyone else.
Was I freaking out about those giant pupils?
No, I wasn’t.
If that snake is so powerful, what’s the point?
That’s not the point, Lee Ho-Yeol. Desque had no intention of going toe-to-toe with him, so there’s no reason to be surprised to see something like that…….
Pound!
Thump!
His heart refused to subside.
It was an unpleasant pounding.
Then Desque’s eyes caught a target.
“……!”
Ho Yeol leisurely held a teacup in his hand.
Desque spat out a stifled laugh.
To calm his pounding heart.
‘I wondered what kind of a bastard…….’
Arrogant, arrogant people.
Desque knew it.
How weak humans are.
Weak guys stay weak.
The strong do as they please.
Their minds had to be vulnerable.
‘How far can this arrogance go?’
Koo-koo-koo-koo!
And so began the Battle of the Teffern Labyrinth.
The battle unfolded in a way that Desque could only marvel at.
Desque muttered to himself once more.
This is ridiculous.
“How?”
A mere mortal, single-handedly, could bring about such a change?
He had guessed the strength of Lee Ho-Yeol.
After all, he had defeated three demon kings.
“Don’t back down!”
“Brothers, I don’t want to die an embarrassing death!”
“Fall back and change positions!”
They did.
What Desque feared was the change.
The change in the emotions of the weaker humans.
” ……I don’t understand.”
The humans were clearly terrified.
His power was boiling over thanks to their negative emotions.
But the moment Lee Ho-yeol made his move.
Everything changed.
Desque muttered.
“……Worst compatibility.”
Desque realized what he was talking about.
Lee Ho-yeol, he was untouchable.
He could understand why so many demons had died at his hands.
In that sense, it was good to know now.
‘It’s best not to get involved with him.’
Since he was born a demon.
Lee Ho-yeol, he is not to be messed with.
Desque planned to spread the news to the other demons.
It didn’t matter what happened to their lives.
Still, it was annoying in more ways than one to lose the relationships he had built.
“We win!”
Clear?
A shout, and then a cracking sound.
Desque vowed to himself.
I will never be presumptuous again.
‘……It’s not bad to be satisfied with the present.’
I have no regrets, no regrets.
But why?
Thump!
Thump!
Thrill!
My heart is still pounding, isn’t it?
“……?!”
Desque panicked.
There was a light in his vision.
The light of a crumbling fissure.
A shadow looking back at him with that light as a halo.
Fluttering-
Desque suddenly realized why his heart was pounding.
Yes, it was an illusion.
I’d seen those wings, and I’d mistakenly thought it was something else.
I was so freaked out…….
‘……No.’
No.
I didn’t stop looking.
Why is Lee Ho-Yeol coming toward me?
In the increasingly intense light, Desque made eye contact with Ho-Yeol.
“!”
He was met with a cold gaze.
‘I have to run……!’
I don’t know how it happened.
He knows who I am.
I’m pretty sure he knows I’m a demon.
The rift cleared.
Desque scrambled through the crowd and fled.
But it was all in vain.
Magic crackled beneath his feet.
A portal.
“!”
Desque came to his senses.
He saw an old-fashioned office.
He stood upright in his office.
Ho Yeol was looking down at him.
All he could hear was a bland voice.
“You’re the second demon to step on this ground.”
“……Ah, a demon, what are you talking about?”
“This is the second time I’ve heard your heinous excuse.”
Second time?
Demon, they wouldn’t have found this place…….
So what?
“You mean I’m not the first?
……You mean I’m not the first to recognize a possessed demon!
By the time I realized what he meant, it was too late.
Do not engage in unnecessary conversation with your prey.
Ho Yeol’s spit was not a conversation.
It was just a promise to himself.
“But there is no third.”
“What, what?”
“I will personally come to dispose of your inferiority.”
“……!!”
Suddenly─
*
A huge blow!
The Teffern Labyrinth Rift was cleared.
Could it be because of the live streams and vivid videos of Park Hwigang and other NetTubers?
The interest in the Teffern Labyrinth was not dying down.
I have more to say than anyone else.
The players who entered the labyrinth with Ho-yeol.
“When we first entered, we realized we were in trouble.”
“Why?”
“First of all, I got separated from Lee Ho-yeol, haha, just kidding.”
Each broadcaster.
Interviews with the players.
Each player had something different to say.
When summarizing their feelings, they all agreed on one thing.
“Lee Ho-yeol, no. Without Mr. Ho-yeol, it’s terrible.”
“I can’t believe I never imagined it. I never thought I’d be climbing the same stairs that the Knights of Lionheart climbed……!”
“I’m honestly touched, I didn’t realize you cared about us.”
A screen of footage played alongside the testimonies.
There was a picture of Ho Yeol in action.
The players’ testimonies followed.
“You may not be able to see it, but we could.”
“In fact, Mr. Ho-yeol waited for us. It was like a mercy.”
“You all saw that, didn’t you? He had enough time to take a tea break.”
Until all the players entered the depths of the labyrinth.
It was a leisurely tea break.
And a stoic demeanor that wouldn’t budge in the face of a level 900 boss monster, the One Who Must Not Be Awakened.
The players who played with him couldn’t help but admit it.
“Honestly, I owe him a debt, a huge debt.”
I don’t know what else to say.
Because Ho-yeol was considerate.
Players were recognized for their contributions to killing “The One Who Must Not Be Awakened,” and they were rewarded with experience points and quests for doing so.
[Quest: Traces of the Dragon]
Not just any quest, but a quest related to dragons.
There was information that was confirmed by him.
There was something that shouldn’t have been awakened, that it was a dragonkin monster.
In other words, the evaluation of clearing the Teffern Labyrinth Rift was not divided.
Crushing the Demon King.
Suppressing the activities of demon-type monsters wasn’t enough.
He’s also forcing players to raise their level.
We need to reevaluate Lee Ho Yeol.
He’s not just strong.
“It’s more like an infinite darkness…….”
The current nickname would not suit Ho-yeol like that.
The Labyrinth of Teffern, a dark place.
Wasn’t it Ho-yeol who exuded a noble presence in that darkness?
“A ray of light in an infinite darkness. That’s what I like to call it.”
.
.
.
I am afraid.
What, now a ray of light in an infinite darkness?
I wonder how long that damn title will last……!
“It doesn’t matter what others think.”
But now is not the time to be haunted by the past.
Levels, quests, loot.
And finally, the loot of a purified demon.
“You can’t forget about work.”
……Yes, whatever, it’s just a matter of whether or not.
All of my duties as chief piled up in a single day.
There was a lot to check.
First, a flashing message.