◈ Chapter 134. A Ray of Light
Restoring the collapsed labyrinth to its original state wasn’t difficult.
Because I had 『Reversal Magic』.
You ask if I had the mana to use on a place like that?
I didn’t just have it—I had more than enough.
[Natural Enemy Relationship]
was activated.
On top of that, so long as the [Pentagram of Pure Knowledge]
existed.
The efficiency of magic that interfered with minerals increased abnormally.
Crrrrunch—!
In other words, I hadn’t been spouting off confidently for no reason.
“!”
A scene rewinding as if in reverse.
The being that must not be awakened began to be buried once more in the rock walls, within the labyrinth’s rock walls. It was frightening all over again. So this was what accepting a tantrum from sleep meant to Granfell.
‘It meant wrapping them up tight in a blanket so they couldn’t move at all.’
I flinched for a moment at the words I had spoken myself.
Then I saw Fabian and the others fighting hard.
Hadn’t he said he’d brought magic tools in response to my letter telling him to prepare thoroughly?
As expected, even at a glance, the level of those magic tools was anything but ordinary.
Especially that torch Fabian was holding.
‘Green flames.’
Aside from its appearance, its power also looked impossible to ignore.
Considering it was a torch, and considering Fabian’s class, it clearly wasn’t an item classified as a weapon.
Whoosh!
Sssssss—!
The trajectory drawn by the swung torch.
Everything began to melt in an instant.
Even the creature’s hide, which had looked so tough, was no exception.
For now, the attack had succeeded. Fabian hurriedly retreated and said,
“How about that? That is the fire of hell.”
[Hellfire]
is it?
Just the name alone made it sound incredible.
I should talk with Fabian about that torch later. It wasn’t that I, being incorruptible and upright, had developed an interest out of material greed—Fabian had clearly said “hell.”
Demons and hell.
And the demon hunter.
Considering their relationship, it was an item I had to take interest in.
Of course, my idle thoughts ended there.
Even if only to avoid sinking beneath the heavy pride in my chest.
I couldn’t let go of the thread of opportunity I’d seized.
Let’s broaden my field of vision.
‘The experience from the recapture of Frost.’
It felt a little unfair to Harkon to compare them, but let’s think of the players as the Lionheart Knights.
I would need to support the players, who were currently busy just avoiding the creature’s attacks.
Crrrrunch!
The ground surged upward.
They were footholds for close-combat class players.
Even if I had trapped the creature inside a blanket of rock walls, the risks of close combat were considerable.
Even the slightest movement would get them caught up in tremors, even earthquakes.
However.
“……
Stairs?”
“Wait, if they’re stairs?!”
“For now, with this, we can freely hit and run, can’t we?”
As you can see.
If there were footholds they could step on and leap from.
They would be a great help in both attacking and evading.
Swish!
Swaak!
Thud!
The being that must not be awakened.
It was suffering from all sorts of status abnormalities, including fear. It was flinching from the players’ attacks, which under normal circumstances wouldn’t have even scratched it.
“A message just popped up! Critical hit!”
“Good. It’s working.”
“Push it!”
The voices of the players coming from all over were proof.
‘Supporting them doesn’t require much mana or concentration.’
Of course, what made that possible was, once again, thanks to the white outer wings.
The fluttering outer wings.
One hundred elemental spells manifested like drifting feathers.
Because they were manifested in the form of stored spells, the search process could be skipped. On top of that, there was the additional damage effect of the [Vampire Count’s Orb]
applied to each elemental spell.
But more than any of those reasons, there was Tetpern.
In the past, when they had lived and breathed.
And even now, when nothing but resentment remained.
To protect the peace of the Arcana Continent.
Nothing could replace the pride of Tetpern, which was holding the creature down.
Leaving aside Granfell’s pride, I mean.
Even I could understand that much.
The opponent was a boss monster at a staggering level 900.
[Tetpern’s 5,321 Black Contractors]
[Tetpern’s 4,119 Black Contractors]
[Tetpern’s 2,847 Black Contractors]
……
It was undoubtedly an enemy that could not be defeated without sacrifice.
I wasn’t the only one who realized that fact.
Tetpern’s Black Contractors.
The players, who had looked down on them, gradually began to realize their sacrifice, their pride.
Vrrrrrr—
Magic power poured from the creature’s eyes.
Tetpern’s Black Contractors threw themselves in front of the players who had nearly been swept away by the attack.
“……
What?”
“A monster threw itself in to save us……?”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but they’re all fighting while throwing their bodies away.”
That was enough to change the tide of battle.
With that as the trigger, a solemn resolve settled over the battlefield.
There was no longer any unnecessary conversation.
Everyone here, including me.
Was doing their best to bring the creature down.
So the battle did not drag on.
“Graaaaaaaargh!”
Was that its last will?
The being that must not be awakened.
It let out a savage scream.
Then it stopped struggling.
My vision flickered.
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
……
Level up.
[Due to your high contribution to the kill, spoils will be acquired automatically.]
Spoils.
[Ten Wonders Quest: Tetpern’s Labyrinth]
[World Quest: Evil Dragon Hunter]
Quests.
Messages kept appearing without end.
But among the countless messages.
Only one drew my gaze.
Yes, everything had its priorities.
[Tetpern’s 1 Black Contractor]
I looked at the last Black Contractor of Tetpern.
All that remained was resentment.
His vision couldn’t even be intact.
Had he recognized my existence through compatible magic power?
The black form turned its body toward me.
Then asked,
“……
Have we washed away our sins?”
I answered immediately.
“Your sins were settled long ago.”
As I said, the mere fact that Tetpern had kept such a monster bound until now meant they had fulfilled their responsibility.
So I spoke generously.
“Everyone here has realized Tetpern’s sacrifice and pride.”
“……!”
“You may close your eyes in peace.”
“……
Is that so.”
Ssssss—
At my words, the last Black Contractor of Tetpern began to scatter into the air.
At the same time, my vision was dyed in bright light. It meant the [Tetpern Labyrinth] rift had been cleared.
‘I didn’t sink today either…….’
If I could, I would have let out a sigh of relief.
But with this exhausting personality, I couldn’t show it.
Besides, it wasn’t over until it was over.
It was time to carry out the next procedure.
I turned my head toward the players.
Flutter—
Folding the outer wings that had been fluttering, I moved my feet.
“So there you were.”
Found you, demon who doesn’t know his place.
*
The Supernova, Bred, could not hide his astonishment.
“……
Impossible.”
[Tetpern Labyrinth].
When he had entered the rift, he had thought it was a good opportunity.
The level of the rift had been far higher than expected.
To the point where even getting caught in a single trap could leave one’s life hanging by a thread.
‘Good. Good.’
Why was he happy when his life was in danger?
Of course he was happy!
To Bred—no, to the true-named demon “Desqui” possessing Bred’s body—the players’ negative emotions became power instead.
Desqui licked his lips.
‘I’m different from the Demon Kings. I’m not ignorant.’
He schemed cunningly.
‘The target is Lee Hoyeol, always.’
Until he entered the rift, his goal had merely been to observe Lee Hoyeol.
To think he had trampled three proud Demon Kings.
As a demon, he was purely curious about that strength.
‘But if this goes well……?’
If it was a labyrinth like this.
Wouldn’t Lee Hoyeol also be unable to relax?
Couldn’t he use the chaotic situation to steal his body?
“I will join the party as well.”
He acted like those pathetic humans and waited for an opportunity.
Until then, Desqui had been intoxicated with himself.
‘As expected, I’m clever!’
Those Demon Kings who strutted around just because they were born strong.
He wanted to show them his viciousness.
From seizing and using the body of a Supernova.
To perfectly acting as a human and achieving his goal.
‘Look. The depths of the labyrinth are not far!’
And Lee Hoyeol was there.
A being the Demon Kings hadn’t even been able to approach properly.
Now, while the other demons were too afraid to step forward.
I, Desqui, stood boldly before Lee Hoyeol.
‘Where are you, Lee Hoyeol?’
The corners of Desqui’s mouth rose unpleasantly high.
His vision gradually brightened.
It was the moment he witnessed the scenery of the labyrinth’s depths.
Thump!
“……!”
……
What is this?
His heart was pounding violently.
A sensation he had never felt before in his life.
Desqui looked around to find the reason.
“What kind of eyeball is that huge?!”
Like the others.
Was I startled by that giant pupil?
No, no.
So what if that snake-like bastard was a formidable enemy?
From the beginning, the goal was none other than Lee Hoyeol. Desqui had no intention of properly fighting that thing. So there was no reason for him to be startled by something like that……
Thump!
Thump!
His heart refused to settle down.
It was a repulsive pounding.
Then Desqui’s eyes found his target.
“……!”
Hoyeol, leisurely holding a teacup in his hand.
Desqui forced out an empty laugh.
If only to calm his pounding heart.
‘I wondered what kind of guy he was…….’
So he was an unbearably arrogant sort.
Desqui knew.
How weak humans were.
Weak ones had their weaknesses.
Strong ones had theirs.
Weak points inevitably formed in their mental strength.
‘How long can that arrogance last?’
Rumble—!
And then the battle in Tetpern Labyrinth began.
The battle unfolded in a way that left Desqui no choice but to be astonished.
Desqui muttered once again.
This was impossible.
“How?”
Could a weak human, alone, bring about such a change?
He had guessed Lee Hoyeol’s strength.
As he had said, Hoyeol had crushed Demon Kings—three of them, no less.
“Don’t fall back!”
“Brothers, I have no desire to die in a shameful way!”
“Front line, fall back and switch formation!”
That was right.
What Desqui feared was change.
The emotional change of the humans who had been weak.
“……
I don’t understand.”
They had clearly been humans seized by fear.
Thanks to those negative emotions, his power had been boiling over.
But the moment Lee Hoyeol began to move.
Everything changed.
Desqui muttered.
“……
The worst possible match.”
Only then did Desqui understand his place.
Lee Hoyeol was a being he dared not covet.
He felt like he understood why so many Demon Kings had died at Lee Hoyeol’s hands.
In that sense, it was fortunate that he had realized it even now.
‘The best thing is not to get involved with him.’
As long as one was born a demon.
Lee Hoyeol was a being who must not be touched.
Desqui intended to deliver this news to the other demons.
He didn’t care what happened to their lives.
Still, it would be troublesome in many ways if the relationships he had built up disappeared.
“We won!”
Was it cleared?
Along with the erupting cheers, the rift began to collapse.
Desqui made up his mind.
He would never do anything beyond his station again.
‘……
Being satisfied with the present isn’t so bad.’
He had no lingering attachment, no regret.
And yet, why?
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Why was his heart still beating as if it would burst?
“……?!”
Desqui, flustered.
Saw light in his vision.
The light of the collapsing rift.
And with that light at his back like a halo, a shadow looking at him.
Flutter—
Only then did Desqui realize why his heart had been pounding.
Yes, it was because of a misunderstanding.
I saw those wings and arbitrarily misunderstood.
I got scared on my own……
‘……
No.’
That wasn’t it.
It didn’t end with simply looking.
Why was Lee Hoyeol walking toward him?
Amid the light growing stronger and stronger, Desqui’s eyes met Hoyeol’s.
“!”
He met a gaze colder than anything.
‘I have to run……!’
He didn’t know how it had happened.
But Lee Hoyeol knew his identity.
It was certain he knew that he was a demon.
The cleared rift.
Desqui hurriedly pushed through the crowd and fled.
But everything was nothing more than futile effort.
Magic power rippled beneath Desqui’s feet.
A portal.
“!”
When Desqui came to his senses.
What entered his eyes was an antique office.
Standing upright in that office.
It was Hoyeol, looking down at him.
The only thing that came to his ears was a dry, emotionless voice.
“You are the second demon to set foot in this place.”
“…
A demon? What do you mean by that?”
“And this is the second time I’ve heard that abominable excuse.”
The second?
The Demon Kings—there was no way they would have found this place…
Then could it be? ‘I’m not the first?’…
Did that mean this wasn’t the first time he had noticed a demon possessing someone?!
By the time he grasped the meaning, it was already too late.
One did not engage in needless conversation with prey.
The words Hoyeol had spoken were not a conversation.
They were merely a vow to himself.
“But there will be no third.”
“W-what?”
“I will personally go and dispose of you inferior things.”
“…!!”
Slice—
*A Massive Stir!
The Tepern Labyrinth Rift had been cleared.
Was it thanks to the live broadcasts by NetTuber players such as Park Hwigang, and the vivid footage that remained?
Interest in the Tepern Labyrinth had not cooled.
Those with more to say than anyone
were the players who had entered the labyrinth with Hoyeol.
“When we first entered, I thought we were in serious trouble.”
“Why was that?”
“Well, first of all, because we got separated from Player Lee Hoyeol? Haha, I’m joking.”
Every broadcasting station.
Interviews conducted with the players.
Each player seemed to have something different to say.
But if their impressions were summed up, they ultimately agreed on one thing.
“If Lee Hoyeol—no, if Lord Hoyeol hadn’t been there, it would’ve been horrific.”
“I never imagined it, you know? That I would end up climbing the very stairs the Lionheart Knights had ascended…!”
“Honestly, I was moved. I didn’t think he would even be looking out for us.”
File footage played alongside their vivid testimonies.
On it was Hoyeol, performing brilliantly.
The players’ testimonies continued.
“It might not really hit home for everyone watching, but we could tell.”
“In effect, Lord Hoyeol waited for our sake. You could say he showed us mercy.”
“You all saw it, didn’t you? How relaxed he was, to the point that he even had tea time.”
Until every player entered the depths of the labyrinth.
Hoyeol had leisurely enjoyed his tea.
And even before the level-900 boss monster, the “Being That Must Not Be Awakened,” his upright bearing had not bent an inch.
Even if no one else did, the players who had been with him had no choice but to acknowledge it.
“Honestly, we owe him. An unimaginably huge debt.”
What else could they say?
It was because of Hoyeol’s consideration
that the players contributed to defeating the “Being That Must Not Be Awakened,” had their kill contribution recognized, gained experience points thanks to it, and even received a related quest.
[Quest: Dragon’s Trace]
And not just any ordinary quest, but one related to dragons.
Through it, one piece of information became certain.
The Being That Must Not Be Awakened had been a monster of the dragon race.
Therefore, opinions on the clearing of the Tepern Labyrinth Rift did not diverge.
He had crushed the Demon King.
Not only had he suppressed the activities of demon-type monsters,
he was personally stepping forward to forcibly raise the level of players.
The assessment of Lee Hoyeol had to be revised.
Because he was not merely strong.
“Rather than Infinitely Deep Darkness…”
For such a Hoyeol, his current epithet
would not suit him.
The Tepern Labyrinth had been buried in darkness.
And in that darkness, had Hoyeol not radiated a noble presence?
“A single ray of light in infinitely deep darkness. That is what I would like to call him.”...
I am afraid.
What, now it’s A Single Ray of Light in Infinitely Deep Darkness?
I mean, just how long is that damned title going to get…!
“Others’ evaluations are of no importance.”
But now was not the time to agonize over the past.
Level, quests, loot.
And lastly, even the loot from the purified Demon King.
“Work, too, cannot be left out.”…
Yes, of course. As if there could be any question.
There was also the work as Chief that had piled up in just one day.
There was a mountain of things to check.
First, let’s check the blinking messages.