Moon's Labyrinths

Chapter 260

Chapter 260

“It seems they escaped without harm . Congratulations, Tiotudo . Your noble sacrifice didn’t go unrewarded . ”

Hyunwoo pulled his sword back as he spoke toward the burnt piece of meat in front of him . The body barely held the shape of a human being, and horrible burns were all over the lump of flesh .

“Ooh . . . Ah!”

“You’re still alive? Now, this is a surprise . ”

Hyunwoo tapped Tiotudo with his foot, and Tiotudo’s charred leg crumpled into ash . Tiotudo’s nerves were burnt to a crisp, so he could no longer feel any pain . Hyunwoo took a knee next to Tiotudo and spoke .

“You used to be my friend, so I’m willing to hear your last words . Do you have anything to say?”

“Huhk! Huhk!”

Tiotudo gasped for breath . His life was slowly fading away, so his breathing was getting weaker . Despite this fact, he managed to open his mouth .

“W... Why . . . ”

“Hmm?”

“Why... Did you attack us?”

The heat had melted one of his eyes shut, and he could barely look toward Hyunwoo with the other . Even that eye had lost most signs of life .

“I was given an order . That was all . You guys made a big fuss about how we could not clear the labyrinths and wouldn’t let us take the moonstones back to Earth . The president of our company got angry . ”

“Not making... fuss for nothing . . . ”

Tiotudo’s lifeless eyes suddenly shone .

“Wake up the creature... . sealed in the Great Labyrinth . . . ”

“Yes . About that . . . ”

Hyunwoo humored Tiotudo .

“Did you really expect such a large corporation to give up when you present an old and unverifiable story as evidence? Do you realize how much money is exchanged in this market?” n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Money...”

Tiotudo’s angry voice sounded like metal grating against each other .

“Did... this... for mere pieces of paper?”

“This is why you can’t converse with anyone that lives on the Moon . Money is everything . On Earth, money allows you to wield absolute power . You guys live like beasts inside the labyrinth, so you might not know this, but this is a very important business . ”

“Y-you killed Jungbum and... . my father for that! Kuh-huhk!”

His significantly-injured vocal cord could barely withstand the vibration caused by his words . Yet, Tiotudo used all his power to speak his next words .

“... It doesn’t matter... If both sides want to live... need to cooperate . . . ”

Even as he was dying, Tiotudo thought only about the future . He remained focused on his mission until the end and even tried to convince Hyunwoo, who had killed his father and Jungbum .

“If he awakens... Earth will be in danger... Please think again . . . ”

“Ah! I’ll stop you there . I called you friend in the past, so it does pain me to see you try in vain . ”

Hyunwoo stopped Tiotudo .

“Listen to me, Friend . It doesn’t matter what you say here . You can’t convince me . ”

A bloody smile appeared on Hyunwoo’s lips .

“I’m not on the side of humanity . I’m on the side of the one you fear so much . ”

“... Him?”

“Yes . The one you call the creature . I’m talking about ‘Grenoid’ . ”

“What!”

Tiotudo almost spat out blood .

“That’s why you should stop trying in vain . When you spoke about the stories passed down by your forefathers, I was the one who stood by my president saying it was all bullshit . I was the one fanning the flames . Since I went that far, why would I listen to you now?”

“You bast . . . Koo-huhk!”

Titoudo was filled with anger, and he tried to grab Hyunwoo’s neck . However, since his arms were burnt black, some portion of them crumbled when they twitched .

“Is that your last words? I’ll give you some peace now . ”

Hyunwoo reversed the grip on his sword, and the sharp blade revealed its teeth toward Tiotudo . However, Tiotudo didn’t back down at all . He could barely see out of his remaining eye, but he stared at the blade .

“Don’t you feel wronged? Don’t you feel aggrieved toward your friends, who left you behind?”

“Fuck... You... . ”

Tiotudo pushed through his injuries and pain to make the invidious remark .

When he had to make the decision at the portal, Aruwen hadn’t been in a state where he could stay behind and block the enemy . On the other hand, Plu-El had awakened the Shaman Gem, so she was the major source of her people’s power . She was a talent that was needed by their people .

Tiotudo didn’t regret the fact that he was the one who had to stay behind . His death was right at hand in the form of Hyunwoo, and Tiotudo made his resolve . No . He had already prepared himself for the possibility of death before all of this .

The only regrets he had were his worries for his comrades and his unresolved anger toward Hyunwoo .

‘It’s fine . They’ll do well even without me . ’

Aruwen was lost right now, but Tiotudo had faith that Aruwen would regain his senses . As for Plu-El, Tiotudo didn’t need to worry her . He knew it because he was her best friend .

“I see . ”

Hyunwoo no longer taunted Tiotudo .

“If there’s an afterlife, please give my regards to Jungbum . ”

Hyunwoo brought down his sword, and the unpleasant sound of metal slicing through flesh rang out in the labyrinth .

***

After the ambushers retreated, Sungyoon’s party took a little time to recuperate . Emily had immediately healed all the serious injuries during the battle, but the small wounds hadn’t been a priority, and these small wounds had accumulated .

Still, none of the four had received serious wounds, so it didn’t take them too long .

“Ah! You guys are here . ”

Hyunwoo had followed the ambushers and entered the labyrinth a while ago . When Sungyoon’s party went inside, he greeted them .

The party saw him with a couple of his comrades .

“Thank you for the help . ”

Sungyoon was the first one to open his mouth, and the rest followed him .

“Don’t worry about it . We were on patrol, so we were nearby . ”

“What happened to the ambushers?”

Hyunwoo shrugged at Sungyoon’s question .

“Unfortunately, we lost them again . They are really quick . ”

“That’s surprising . I can’t believe they are fast enough to evade you, Mr . Hyunwoo . ”

Even the great Sung Hyunwoo could do nothing if their foes escaped using a portal .

“That’s what I’m saying . They ran away pretty deep into the labyrinth and disappeared without a trace . Isn’t that right?”

When Hyunwoo sought affirmation from his comrades, all of them nodded .

‘Are they from Fabion?’

It was a reasonable guess from Sungyoon since these connectors moved with Hyunwoo without reserve .

“I’m in a bad mood since I lost those rats again . I want to go back and have a drink . ”

Hyunwoo dragged his sword behind him as he moved to exit the labyrinth .

“Let’s hurry up and get out of here . You guys should come out too . We chased them off, but it seems like they have a grudge against you . Since you overclocked your Gems, you shouldn’t be able to fight, right? You’re probably tired too . Go back to Armstrong city and rest . ”

After saying those words, Hyunwoo and his comrades exited the labyrinth .

“Let’s head out too . ”

Emily tugged at Sungyoon’s arm . She had fought with courage, but she felt anxious about being repeatedly ambushed . Sungyoon felt the same way, and he turned around .

‘Hmm?’

However, as his feet were about to move, his senses picked up something . He whipped his head around .

“Wh-what’s wrong? Is something there?”

Emily hugged Sungyoon’s arm . Even in her fright, her training made her inject her magical energy into her Gems . But since her Gems had been overclocked, they remained asleep even after she circulated her magical energy .

“... It’s nothing . I thought I saw something . ”

“Please give me a break, Mr . Sungyoon . My heart almost sank to the floor . ”

Tim grumbled .

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Tim was a believer in the church of Sungyoon, yet he was complaining . It showed how tense he was . After the small commotion, the party headed outside, but Sungyoon’s eyes kept glancing toward one location .

‘I’m sure of it . ’

His eyes were looking at the spot where the ambushers had placed the portal and run away .

‘Mr . Hyunwoo said he chased them deeper . ’

Sungyoon’s eyes sank .

‘Why would he lie to us?’

Sungyoon subconsciously glanced toward Hyunwoo, who was waiting for them outside of the labyrinth .

***

The morale of the Moon people was at its worst .

They had tried to reclaim the Royal Gem, but their mission ended in failure . Moreover, they had been chased away by their hated enemy, Sung Hyunwoo . However, the reason for their rock-bottom morale wasn’t just that .

A casualty had occurred in their mission, and one of the pillars of their group had died .

“You son of a bitch!”

Plu-El grabbed Aruwen’s collar and dragged him up . She had always openly disliked Aruwen, but had never shown him excessive hate until now . Right now, she was practically choking him as if she were a vengeful spirit .

“Tiotudo died because of you! Do you realize that!”

“Plu-El! Stop it!”

Their comrades separated Plu-El from Aruwen . Plu-El continued to show acrimony as her comrades dragged her away . She threw all sorts of curses at Aruwen .

“Are you ok, Aruwen?”

One of the Moon people helped Aruwen by holding his arm .

Aruwen’s body was without strength . His face was pale, and his body was frozen as if he were a corpse . The person holding him up didn’t know what to do when seeing this .

“Hey . ”

Aruwen opened his mouth . His voice was low, rough, and gloomy, and his comrades had never heard such a tone of voice from him .

“Is Tiotudo dead?”

Their faces crumpled . They had separated Plu-El from him, but it seemed they didn’t look at Aruwen’s action in a positive light .

“I have no idea . However, his opponent was Sung Hyunwoo . The chances of him being alive are minuscule . ”

“Yes . That means Tiotudo is really dead . Is it my fault? Did I get him killed?”

“... You should take care of your body first . We were too hasty in carrying out this plan, and we lost too much . You and everyone here lost a lot today . ”

His comrade didn’t speak out to correct him, but he had not denied Aruwen’s assertions . Aruwen could easily read between the lines .

‘Tiotudo . ’

A small voice in his heart kept repeating the name of his old friend . They weren’t the closest in recent times, but once, Aruwen had been very close to Tiotudo and Plu-El . Moreover, Tiotudo had been a male around his age, and since they shared a lot of similarities, Aruwen had been closer to him than Plu-El .

In his childhood, Tiotudo would be dragged around by Plu-El . The unruly Plu-El had wrapped him around her little finger . As Tiotudo grew up, he became a warrior that fought monsters for his people .

When Plu-El married an outsider, Hahn Jungbum, Aruwen had shared a drink with Tiotudo, who Plu-El had rejected . Afterward, they had fought together for the future of their people . Their vision of the future differed, but at the end of the day, they were best of friends .

Such an existence in his life had died . When Plu-El had forced him through the portal, Aruwen had seen Tiotudo for a brief moment . The look in Tiotudo’s eyes had become seared into Aruwen’s brain .

At that moment, Tiotudo had been an older brother looking at his immature younger brother . The look in his eyes was that of an older brother who believed his younger brother would someday grow up to be a wonderful person .

Pul-suhk!

Aruwen had been barely holding his body up, but the strength went out of his legs . His knees hit the ground .

“Hey, Aruwen! You shouldn’t just drop down like that!”

Aruwen couldn’t hear his comrade’s chastisement . He finally felt it . It became real to him now . His friend, who always looked out for him as a big brother, had died because of him .