Ch. 207

1. Back to the Labyrinth (2)

‘Protection On.’

Hyun discreetly activated Protection of Darkness. Since Ain’s tendency had shifted toward the Abyss, this method allowed him to completely suppress her mischievousness.

‘I can’t keep it on forever, though.’

He had to deactivate it during critical moments. Under the influence of Protection of Darkness, neither Ain nor Hyun—who was assimilated with her—could easily focus on combat.

‘I absolutely cannot die right now!’

Hyun began descending the Labyrinth rapidly.

Click, click. Traps were triggered in succession.

Arrows suddenly flying through the air, blooming poisonous mists. Hyun increased his speed, leaping over them. Sometimes, he intentionally triggered traps to plummet to the floor below. He knew exactly which traps were where, and he was confident in his ability to reflexively evade any sudden ambushes.

The underground Labyrinth was a massive dungeon, ranked among the top three in the world. To meet Louise within today or tomorrow, he had to maintain this pace.

「There are a total of three named monsters we must catch.」

Knowing Ain had likely forgotten, Hyun explained the plan again while running.

「Three?」

「Yeah. The first one is right here on the 1st floor. It happens to inhabit this nearby area.」

The 1st floor was the lowest difficulty zone. Most users might think even a named monster there would be easy prey. That wasn’t entirely wrong, but it wasn’t completely right either. The level shown on the surface wasn’t everything when it came to the monsters of the Labyrinth.

「What kind of named monster is nearby on the 1st floor?」

「Sherat, the Red Nine-Tailed Fox.」

In reality, the first prey was a named monster with strength ranking in the upper tiers of the entire Labyrinth. Among the three they had to catch, it was actually the most powerful. Upon hearing the plan, Ain reacted with slight bewilderment.

「Huh…? I don’t know how to catch that!」

「Just watch. I’ll handle it.」

Thud! In an instant, the corridor floor completely vanished. A pitfall trap! Below, a bubbling river of lava welcomed Ain’s fall.

‘Shadow Sprint!’

Few users knew of the hidden passage concealed in a place that looked like a mere trap. Obtaining the map for the Labyrinth’s 1st floor required completing a rather tedious hidden quest from a Magic Kingdom NPC.

「Here it is!」

Bubble, bubble!

Hyun watched the flow of the lava intently, his eyes sparkling. Even without checking the map on the screen, he remembered this location clearly.

‘I won’t die, right?’

• Lava Resistance: 99%

With the effect attached to Ain’s Magical Beast Armor of Lekarat, it might even be possible to swim in lava. Still, Hyun activated an additional skill just in case, using the demonic energy that had reached its maximum capacity.

‘Dark Armor!’

Rumble! A pitch-black shield enveloped Ain’s entire body.

Splash!

The red current swallowed her whole. Ain’s body began to be swept away by the fierce flow beneath the lava.

[Duration of Dark Armor has ended!]

[293,829 Demonic Energy has been restored!]

Pah! When they surged up from the lava again, Ain was no longer in the corridor of the Labyrinth. She stood on a large platform surrounded on all sides by the river of lava. It was a place similar to the underground city where they had fought Betty, but it was a clearing paved with more sophisticated marble tiles.

「It’s been a while since I hunted a Nine-Tailed Fox.」

In the center of the clearing, a massive fox with nine tails crouched, glaring at Ain. Hiss! The fox slowly rose, casting a wary gaze at Ain, who had emerged from the lava. Its massive frame was nearly three meters tall! It was far larger than the nine-tailed foxes of legend. Although he couldn’t see its status window, he could find accurate information by referring to the Interloop.

Level 110, Health 33,000.

Why was Hyun so tense against an opponent he could take down in a single blow? It was because this was a monster that must not be taken down in one hit.

Shring. Hyun pulled a Unique-grade longsword from the inventory. Ain holding a longsword was a rare sight in Asrian.

‘This weapon should be appropriate.’

Different laws applied within the maze compared to the outside. Using normal methods, catching the same named monster millions of times would only drop mana stones. To obtain its unique materials, a different approach was needed.

‘The blue tail must not be cut.’

Among the tails of the Nine-Tailed Fox, eight were red and one was blue. The blue tail was like a heart to the creature. If it were cut, the fox would lose control of its mana, turn limp, and soon vanish.

‘I’ll only cut the eight red tails.’

It is said a hunter only aims for the head to preserve the fur. Similarly, if you wanted to obtain desired materials from Labyrinth named monsters, you had to hunt them in a specific way. Hyun watched the swaying tails of the fox closely. To get the material ‘Nine-Tailed Fox’s Tail,’ the blue tail must be cut last!

‘Avoid critical hits!’

A critical hit must not trigger more than three times. He also couldn’t attack any part other than the tails. If he did, there was a high chance it would die before he could obtain the materials.

‘Now.’

Hyun timed the fox’s attack and began to move.

[You have taken 3 damage!]

Whoosh! He evaded the slow claws by a hair’s breadth. Immediately after taking its back, he swung his sword up and down, slashing twice. Two strands of tails scattered into flames.

[Sherat’s Mana increases by 20%!]

[Sherat’s Mana increases by 40%!]

Screech! The creature’s body glowed bluish. This was the terrifying thing about Labyrinth monsters: most of them grew stronger and more ferocious as they lost parts of their bodies.

‘It’s not difficult yet.’

Once more, Hyun evaded the nine-tailed fox as it charged, leaving afterimages, and landed a counterattack. He intentionally slanted the blade to ensure no critical hit triggered. Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh. Several strands of tails burned away and disappeared. Thanks to Ain’s significantly higher agility, Hyun managed to cut all the red tails in about 30 seconds.

[Sherat’s Mana increases by 160%!]

Awoooo! Having lost all eight tails in an instant, the fox let out a cry of pain. By cutting the final one, the blue tail, materials worth hundreds of millions would drop. However, instead of finishing it off, Hyun took an item from his inventory and threw it.

“Eat up.”

A blue crystal flew in an arc toward the creature’s mouth. The fox snatched and swallowed it. The crystal was a Grade 10 Mana Stone—a gem that dropped rarely only from monsters Level 250 or higher!

Awooooooo—!

The moment it swallowed the mana stone, it let out a great howl. The severed tails grew back instantly. Its entire body began to burn, as if it had used the ultimate skill of a close-combat mage, Determination of Annihilation. Ain, who had been watching quietly, asked cautiously.

「Was it a success?」

「Yeah. The real deal starts now.」

Hyun sheathed the sword in his hand. From now on, a sword wouldn’t even leave a scratch.

Crunch! Instead, he activated Ifrit’s Claws.

‘Its health has risen to 550,000, and it likely gained a damage reduction passive.’

He already knew its defense. He couldn’t kill it too easily this time either. He deactivated all wave-type buffs and ensured the Angel’s Basic Swordplay wouldn’t trigger.

Boom! The moment he used Mana’s Potential Explosion in that state, he successfully landed damage that satisfied the condition of being over 5% but under 10% of its maximum health.

‘Good, this is enough!’

The battle between the girl wielding flames and the fox burning with fire began. Fwoosh! Afterimages of flames were left everywhere the two moved.

Rumble, crackle!

As the ground and lava were torn up whenever a skill was used, the marble clearing quickly became a chaotic battlefield.

‘Biological Rhythm Acceleration!’

Thump! Immediately after parrying the creature’s mana orb with Ifrit’s Claws, Hyun sprinted beneath the lava to take its back. A physical gap created right after it used a skill, combined with a psychological gap created by approaching invisibly! Catching a perfect opportunity, Hyun slashed his claws at the base of the fox’s tails.

Screech! By the time the creature reacted, four strands of tails had already been cut.

[Sherat (Awakened)’s Mana increases by 120%!]

[Now using the skill, ‘Flame Calamity Slash’!]

While widening the distance, Hyun witnessed the creature’s claws raking the empty air. Three lines of flames were drawn in the void. He grasped the skill effect instantly from that visual.

‘To the left.’

Dozens of strands of fire surged right after Hyun threw his body to the side.

Slash!

A storm of slashes suddenly swirled where Ain had been standing. The sharp storm of flames leveled all surrounding terrain while splashing fragments of lava in every direction. An air-rending scratch—it was the most dangerous of its skills.

「That reaction speed just now… it was amazing!」

Hyun replied briefly to the impressed Ain.

「It wasn’t a reaction. I predicted it.」

「Hmm, how interesting!」

Hyun couldn’t help but chuckle at Ain’s response. She was so good at predicting an opponent’s psychology in a duel, yet she found a monster’s pattern “interesting”? In a way, it was just like her. Regardless, the heated battle of flame against flame continued for about five minutes. As time passed, the advantage shifted toward Ain.

Boom! This was because the difference in mobility was widening significantly as the stacks of Agility’s Potential Explosion piled up. By the third stack, Hyun was playing with the creature like a matador.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Awooo!

[Sherat (Awakened)’s Mana increases by 160%!]

When about a third of the circular clearing was destroyed, Hyun managed to cut the eighth tail. The blue-tailed fox knelt in a near-death state. It was now in a pitiable state hardly worthy of being called a nine-tailed fox. However, Hyun once again did not finish it.

He reached into his inventory and pulled out a small stone. It wasn’t blue like before, but a transparent crystal. A Divine Stone (神石) whose value was immeasurable.

‘This is the last one.’

The Nine-Tailed Fox’s tail wasn’t a material included in Jini’s request; it was a material for a Legendary item. Legendary. It was a word that sounded all-powerful, but not all Legendaries were the same. While some equipment just made hunting easier, others could change the entire tide of a war.

‘To make it usable even at Level 200…’

The biggest problem was that powerful strength came with high-level restrictions. The more the wearing requirement was lowered, the more the quality of the equipment plummeted. Crafting a Level 200 Legendary through normal methods might result in something that only looked good on the outside.

‘I need top-tier materials!’

There were two ways to solve that dilemma. First was the skill of the crafter, and second was the quality of the materials. Since he couldn’t involve himself in the crafting process, Hyun intended to obtain the best materials for the best equipment.

「Now, let’s begin.」

The fox, having swallowed the Divine Stone, trembled for a moment. The flames burning across its body seemed to lose strength and vanish, but then— Flash! Eight black tails erupted once again. The power contained in the pitch-blackness was an energy familiar to both Hyun and Ain.

[Facing an overwhelming opponent, all stats are decreased!]

[Celestials do not easily yield to the threat of the Abyss!]

[All stats decrease by 5%!]

Rumble, rumble. The ground shook as if an earthquake had occurred, and concentric circles spread across the river of lava.

Awooooooo! As the creature howled, a typhoon of demonic energy swirled. The once somewhat special named monster had now transformed into a powerful Demonic Beast (魔物).

Some of the information about the creature identified through the Interloop was as follows:

Pitch-Black Sherat (Lv. 395)

Health: 9,800,000 / 9,800,000

Mana: 20,480 / 20,480

Demonic Energy: 104,000 / 104,000

[Skin of the Divine Beast Lv. 24]

• Defense increases by 804!
• Additionally blocks 47% of all damage!

• [Rapid Natural Healing Lv. 21]
• Recovers 15,183 Health per second!

1. Back to the Labyrinth (2) End.