Chapter 342
‘We have to push through as fast as possible . ’
Sungyoon looked at the horde of monsters with nervous eyes . It didn’t matter whether it was a small or a large monster, whether it was a powerful or a weak monster . Every monster charged toward the Connectors as their red eyes flashed . It was a blind charge without any formation or a plan, and the intensity of the charge made the monsters look even more menacing .
The Connectors didn’t plan on fighting all the monsters by themselves .
Puh-uhng! Puh-uhng!
The bat vehicles lined up in the front started to shoot their Mana Knight shells . The main reason the Connectors had insisted on traveling through the land was to bring along a massive artillery force . If they had tried to fly these artilleries through space, they would have to burn a lot of time and resources . The land route had been the only feasible option .
The Mana Knight shells were focused on two locations . One was a region where the monsters were denser than usual, and the other was a direct path leading to the tower .
‘This is going better than I expected . ’
A monster bared its teeth as it charged toward Sungyoon, but he cut it in half .
The Connectors had killed a lot of monsters in a short time, but a massive number of monsters appeared once again from near the tower . It almost made every Connector cuss out loud .
The problem remained that the Connectors weren’t defending a fixed location . They had to push through the sea of monsters . It was always going to be hard, but it made one wonder if it was possible to push through so many monsters .
However, Sungyoon had worried for nothing . The Connectors got into a wedge formation and easily pushed through .
‘I guess I should've expected it . Even they couldn’t recover so easily from losing so many monsters . ’
The monsters near the tower were numerous, but their number was less than that of the monsters in the battle to defend Armstrong city . Moreover, the quality of monsters was also lower .
Some powerful monsters occasionally appeared, but powerful Connectors like Sungyoon, Tim, Russell, and Bruce easily killed them .
‘The Corpse Gems have been a big help . ’
Sungyoon’s movements were faster and stronger than normal . Each of his swings cut through monsters as if they were paper .
‘The artillery fire support is also quite helpful . ’
The advanced weaponry meant that the cannons could hit the monsters with great precision . If Connectors showed signs of stalling in their advance, the artillery destroyed the monsters in their path in big chunks .
‘We can do this!’
Sungyoon felt his confidence buoy, and it seemed he wasn't the only one who felt that way . The Connectors became bolder in their movements; their attacks also became more powerful .
However, when they reached the halfway point, their progress considerably slowed down .
‘It can’t be helped . ’
The monsters that were spread around the tower started to focus and converge on the Connectors . This situation couldn’t be pared to before; the strength of the monsters didn't matter as they created a wall of bodies . Even after cutting down numerous monsters, Connectors could take only a step forward .
“Please stall them for some time!”
Grace yelled . She had been running at the center of the formation until now, away from the battle .
Hearing her voice, all the Connectors came to a stop at once . They pushed back the nearby monsters as they got into a defensive formation .
In the middle of this formation, Grace raised her hand .
Woooooooong!
Her hand started to emanate light . The light was so bright that the blinded monsters floundered . The Connectors had their backs against the light, yet they had also almost gotten blinded .
‘She’s just preparing her spell, yet it made our lives easier . ’
Sungyoon, who couldn’t open his eyes, thought so as he blindly struck out toward the monsters .
Several dozen seconds passed .
“Everyone between me and the tower should move aside right now!”
Grace yelled once again . The Connectors who had been blocking the monsters from the front quickly moved to the sides .
In a flash, a hole appeared in the defensive formation, leaving only countless monsters between Grace and the distant tower .
Grace stretched her hand out .
Flash!
A light shot forward .
Puhhhhhhhhng!
The air's temperature sharply rose as the superheated light traveled in a straight line, burning everything in its path . The light stayed in existence for a very short amount of time, but that was enough .
Wherever the beam of light passed, the ground turned black as smoke rose . No living beings remained alive on top of this charred land .
“Ooh-wahhhhhh!”
Exclamations rang out one after the other . However, they weren't sounds of admiration; they were closer to sounds a terrified person would make .
Sungyoon agreed with their sentiment .
‘This is the power of a Diamond Gem with all kinds of buffs!’
The light magic that Grace had used just now was her new spell from the Diamond rank Gem .
A Diamond rank Gem was the highest-ranked Gem, so of course, its power would be incredible . The Gem was terrifying on its own, yet Grace had used numerous support spells . As if that weren’t enough, she also used the Corpse Gems and the Mage Gem . It resulted in her destroying all the monsters standing in the path of the beam of light .
Grace was frozen . Even though she had cast the spell, the result left her stupefied . The peerless Russell and Bruce looked baffled by what they saw, while Plu-El and Aruwen dumbfoundedly glanced toward Grace .
“H . . . hurry up! Move!”
Russell recovered faster than others and yelled . The Connectors came back to their senses, and they resumed their dash to the tower . They had to reach their destination before the monsters closed the opened-up path .
Even though they were running, the Connectors kept glancing at Grace . Her spell had been so powerful that even the mighty Russell had stumbled over his words for a moment, so these Connectors' reactions were understandable .
‘When she tested it out near Armstrong city, she made a hole through a nearby hill . ’
Sungyoon remembered Chelsea and the researchers being shocked by the spell .
Thanks to Grace’s spell, the Connectors reached the tower in short order . Monsters had started to get in their way once again, but these monsters were few in number . That was why the Connectors could push past the monsters .
“We broke through!”
Bruce, who was leading from the front, yelled . In no time, the Connectors had reached the tower .
“Aside from those who will guard our backs, let's quickly climb the tower!”
At Russell's shout, a portion of the Connectors turned to fight the monsters rushing toward them . The rest started climbing the rock structure, which somewhat looked like a tree .
‘I guess the Great Labyrinth is in here . ’
This rock structure had risen from the ground, and many assumed that it was the Great Labyrinth .
Sungyoon glanced downward .
‘Even a Connector won’t be fine if they fall from this distance . ’
They had climbed up the rock structure so far that they could only see darkness when they looked down .
Sungyoon put more strength into his hands, which were holding onto the stalk of rock, without realizing it .
“Doesn’t it feel like we're in some fairy tale? What was it called? Jack and the Beanstalk?”
Tim spoke .
“It does seem we are in a similar situation . ”
Sungyoon had read that fairy tale before; he had read it to Shinhae several times .
“It isn’t pletely like the story . ”
Sungyoon took out his halberd .
“At the very least, Jack wasn’t interrupted when he climbed the beanstalk . ”
Numerous monsters were climbing down the stalks from above . They were arachnoides or centipedes who could freely climb down the rock structure .
“Tsk . Monsters!”
Russell clicked his tongue as he yelled at Connectors climbing below him .
“I want you to observe the movements of these monsters . If they get close, get on top of a stalk and fight them! If we're hanging from the stalk, we’ll be at a great disadvantage!”
Thankfully for the Connectors, the stalks making up the Great Labyrinth were very thick, and many locations had an almost flat surface . The Connectors could fight in such locations .
“Mages! We have to protect the mages!”
As always, the safety of the mages had to be prioritized .
Sungyoon looked at his surroundings . Emily and Grace weren’t too far away from him .
“Mr . Tim! You should take the lead! Ms . Emily and Ms . Grace, you should stick close to me as we move up!”
Since speed was a priority, the Connectors had scattered to quickly climb the tower . However, they grouped up once again now . Most of them got together to form parties .
Kwah-jeek!
Sungyoon pierced his halberd through the head of a monster with sharp mandibles . The monster’s red eyes dimmed .
“Ahhhhhhk!”
A scream reverberated through the air . The sharp leg of a monster had pierced through a nearby Connector’s leg .
Without any hesitation, Sungyoon threw his ax .
Kwah-doo-doohk!
The ax pierced through the hard exoskeleton, and the monster thrashed . Soon, as the poison spread throughout its body, it trembled . Sungyoon tried his best to help the Connectors around him, but he was limited in how much area he could cover .
Casualties started to mount in ones and twos, yet the Connectors resolutely climbed the structure .
‘The air… . ’
The loud sounds of battle from the Moon's surface started to fade away . The group of Connectors had moved past the layer of air that had settled near the ground .
After they desperately climbed the Great Labyrinth for some time . . .
‘We’ve arrived!’
Sungyoon’s party arrived in front of the tower . Sungyoon looked up at the tower . He couldn’t see a single window . The tower looked like an obelisk where the structure became sharper toward the top .
‘We won’t be able to enter from the top . ’
They would have to use the conventional method of going through the entrance .
‘What if there's no entrance?’
Sungyoon thought about the worst-case scenario as he thoroughly searched the tower . Thankfully, his ominous feelings didn't e true .
One of the Connectors waved his hands in an exaggerated manner to get everyone’s attention . He then pointed at a certain region in the tower .
‘Entrance!’
The Connectors gathered around the entrance . Russell and the others started to municate through hand signals .
‘As expected, the inability to speak is very inconvenient . ’
Sungyoon focused on the movements of Russell’s hands .
‘Part of us will stay here to block the monsters . The rest will enter the tower . ’
The plan was already made beforehand . Russell was just going over it as a reminder . Of course, Sungyoon and his party members were part of the group that would enter the tower .
At Russell's signal, the Connectors started entering the tower .
As soon as they stepped inside, they felt the flow of air . It meant they could speak, and Sungyoon felt a little happy .
“It doesn’t seem they place monsters near the entrance . ”
Russell, who observed their surroundings from the front, relaxed a little . However, no one let their guards down . In fact, their expressions worsened .
“I would have preferred if there were monsters here . ”
“I feel the same way . ”
Sungyoon let out a sigh, and Bruce clicked his tongue . The other Connectors became disquieted too .
“Why the hell did they have to make a labyrinth within the tower?”
In the end, Bruce cursed as he looked at the several staircases in front of them . It was like an abstract painting where the staircase twisted in odd ways as they climbed the tower . They couldn’t see the end to the staircases .
“Which one heads to the top? Or, do we have to go to the top?”
“I have no idea . ”
“I’m not naive enough to think those staircases lead straight up to the top . ”
“It might . ”
Bruce and Russell were at a loss as they conversed with each other . Sungyoon interjected himself into the conversation .
“We have no choice but to brute force it by investigating each staircase . However, we don’t have enough time to do this slowly . ”
Sungyoon glanced back at the entrance . He had no idea how long the Connectors could stall the monsters .
“I see . That’s our only choice . Alright! We’ll search all the staircases as fast as possible! We’ll gather back here no matter what within three hours! If you find something suspicious, e back here as soon as possible! Don’t be reckless by touching anything suspicious! Understood?”
“Ooh-oh!”
“Alright! Let’s go!”
The Connectors started climbing the staircases all at once .
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