Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 62

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Labyrinth Exploration 101 Episode 062

Let you down(10)

I observed the enemies’ approach through drones and ignited explosives from a distance. The gunpowder combined with formulas dealt significant damage to them.

Their numbers were reduced by about 40%. It wasn’t as much as expected. I had hoped for at least 50%, maybe even 60%.

It doesn’t matter.

I infused the remaining steel plates with formulas. Creak. Creak. The steel folded again.

This time I manufactured dozens of ‘mass-produced’ drones and attached explosives to them.

As long as I don’t connect the drones to sequences, there’s no burden on my nervous system, allowing me to operate dozens simultaneously. This means I can use these drones like guided missiles.

Additionally, I prepared groundwork for sniping.

Limp, limp. Moving my uncomfortable leg with effort, I carved formulas into the stone mountain to protect my safety. I poured my magic power stitch by stitch with sincere dedication.

“…This is killing me.”

Zzzing. A twisting pain arose in my temples, but I brushed it off with a complaint.

All preparations were complete.

Now, I just wait for you to come.

“Phew…”

I sat in the chair I had brought. I brewed black tea while looking up at the night sky.

There are so many stars. Battlefields are especially like this. Whether on the desolate desert ground or beneath the cliffs of splashing seasides, it always felt like the stars in the sky were watching over us.

Now, facing battle, many memories surface but I decide to bury them.

Battlefields where we kill and are killed can never become memories.

* * *

Kang Hyeon reached his primary destination. He observed the excavation site from close range. Unmanned combat helicopters, turrets, searchlights, roughly a hundred rangers guarding the perimeter.

─Standby. Everyone confirm positions.

It was Syndra’s radio transmission. Kang Hyeon checked allied positions with GPS. Though their numbers had decreased to nearly half compared to departure, several hundred still surrounded the base.

The military strength itself was still superior.

“Hyeon-ah. Over there.”

Kim Dong-ha gestured somewhere with his chin. Between the grass, there was a giant over 2 meters tall whose entire body below the neck had been replaced with machinery.

“Pretty reassuring, isn’t it.”

“…I suppose.”

Kim Dong-ha seemed to think of him like some kind of RoboCop. The RoboCop, sensing Kim Dong-ha’s admiration, chuckled. He seemed to take pride in himself being half-transformed into a machine.

─Advance.

There was no reason to waste time.

“Let’s go.”

Syndra’s forces advanced toward the excavation site. Since it wasn’t a stealth operation to begin with, they were quickly discovered, and the battle took on the aspect of urban warfare.

Rat-a-tat-a-tat-tat.

Rangers fired machine guns from building rooftops.

Whoosh! Kang Hyeon created sword wind to push away the bullets. Kim Dong-ha infused magic power into the shield on his left hand.

“Hup!”

While deflecting the gunfire, he threw the hammer in his right hand like a shot put. The heavy blunt weapon struck the rooftop where the rangers were positioned, and the building was half-destroyed.

It was A-tier level strength.

──Crackle.

In an instant, electricity sparked in the air.

The spark that precedes a magic power cutting strike.

Kang Hyeon quickly kicked off from his position, and Kim Dong-ha also slid behind a wall.

Shriiiiek!

Kate’s long spear. A weapon made purely of magic power came rushing.

“Guh…!”

It pierced through the 2-meter RoboCop’s core.

“Guh, gurgle…”

He convulsed while gripping the long spear, then collapsed limply.

It wasn’t a bad thing. Rather, it was a valuable sacrifice.

Thanks to that, they knew Kate’s position.

The moment Kang Hyeon calculated the trajectory of the spear throw in reverse and tried to run in that direction.

Whiiing.

An ominous sound cut through the wind. Instinct sounded an alarm. A chilling thrill crept up his spine.

Kang Hyeon twisted the step he had already taken, barely using the strength of his toes to throw his body.

──-

A blue mana bullet pierced through the road surface. It was positioned to have struck his heart directly if Kang Hyeon hadn’t changed direction. Whose attack it was could be easily predicted.

Seol Ha-woon.

He had pulled the trigger immediately after Kate’s spear throw, predicting his response.

Shriiiing──-

Following that, a metallic noise arose. Steel diving rapidly, tearing through the air.

Kang Hyeon looked up at that place. An unconscious bitter smile spread across his lips.

Air raid.

Unidentified flying objects were falling from the sky.

Kwaaaaang!

A drone exploded in mid-air.

It was a formula that effectively destroyed formations without affecting the underground excavation site.

Bang-! Kwa-ang! Bang!

The moment they exploded, steel shattered into fragments that scattered, and blue flames spread to burn the limbs of the modified humans. Enemy gunfire and spear throws came flying through the acrid smoke.

Kang Hyeon had to make a choice.

Just now, Kate’s spear throw and Seol Ha-woon’s sniper shot came from different trajectories.

In other words, Seol Ha-woon was not with the main force.

On the other hand, Kate was with the main force.

Soon Kang Hyeon looked up somewhere.

A mage holding a walking stick at the summit of the stone mountain. Seol Ha-woon, his long hair fluttering in the dark wind.

…Deep breath.

Kang Hyeon took a stance to fly toward him.

* * *

From years of experience, if I had to name the most fearsome thing on a battlefield, it would be bombing. Even muscle-bound warriors who swagger around, or martial artists who boast about cultivating body protection energy, die equally when hit directly by a hypersonic missile. Both magic power and body explode simultaneously.

Of course, my skills aren’t yet capable of manifesting such missiles.

But I can imitate it similarly.

A suicide sequence sending out dozens of drones. For enemies who have lost air superiority, it’s a disaster in itself.

Snap.

I flicked my fingers. The drones that had been lurking hidden in the darkness of the night sky froze. Sharply honed steel blades glinted as if looking down upon the enemies on the ground.

And then.

Shreeeeeeek──-

They plummeted at near-sonic speed, bombarding the enemies. Explosions of magic power burned through the air.

Bang── Bang── Kwang──

The enemies fell into chaos from the simultaneous air strikes, and Kate didn’t miss that opening.

Kate’s throwing spear pierced through the greatly disrupted enemy formation. Kim Du-gyeom’s sword knocked enemies unconscious.

By the way, Kim Du-gyeom uses the reverse blade technique. I don’t know what manga he watched, but he says he won’t kill even Labyrinth People or something.

Anyway, he’s a damn bastard with a damn concept.

“….”

I looked down upon the battlefield alone. Suddenly I felt a gaze.

Down there, someone was staring at me.

The distance was far.

Ridiculously far, but we were definitely looking at each other.

Kang Hyeon.

He crouched down. A stance for full sprint. Magic power rose like steam from his entire body.

Dangerous.

I aimed at him with my sniper rifle. I immediately pulled the trigger. The entire process flowed as naturally as water.

Bang!

A bullet loaded with maximum magic power was fired. At the same time, Kang Hyeon’s form was launched.

That speed was like a bullet.

A mere human was charging at me like a bullet. Surrounded by a blue membrane, he flew toward me like a flash of light, like a meteor.

Whoooooosh….

Kang Hyeon crossed paths with my bullet as if grazing past it.

I had expected this to some extent. When dealing with excessively swift opponents, large caliber rounds tend to miss, so I had attached an option.

Kwa-bang!

The bullet exploded at Kang Hyeon’s side. He wavered for a moment, but that was all. His speed didn’t decrease in the slightest.

In the blink of an eye.

He reached right in front of me.

A broadsword gripped in both hands. It rushed toward me. Creak. The blade flowing down in reverse rotation was clearly reflected in my retina.

I looked at Kang Hyeon beyond the sword.

There’s still one last thing remaining.

Because I knew you would come this far.

──Thud.

The sword sweeping diagonally stopped around my waist. The wind carried by the blade tip broke my ribs. Blood flowed from my mouth.

Just one step.

A distance where our noses could touch.

Kang Hyeon, standing with only that gap between us, looked at me right before my eyes. I also looked at him indifferently. His gaze was thick with suspicion and wariness.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“…You managed to stop well.”

People don’t know well. That deceleration is a more important force than acceleration.

How fast you are doesn’t matter. The key is whether you can control your speed.

In that regard, Kang Hyeon thoroughly maintained his reason. He didn’t ignore his instinct’s warning and managed to stop his sword.

I suddenly became curious.

If Kang Hyeon had cut my waist like this, my body would have certainly been split in two.

Would I have died just like that, or in that near-zero time when the sword would cut through me, would Mitamnan’s system have reacted and forcibly transported me back to save me?

“You’ve connected a formula.”

Kang Hyeon said.

“Yeah. I’ve set up Mental Visualization. It’ll activate if I take serious damage.”

A formula overlaid on this entire Stone Mountain. It’s connected to my sequence. The moment my nervous system detects pain beyond limits, danger close to death, the Stone Mountain will explode.

“The power with a mage’s life as the price is quite considerable.”

Formulas roughly follow the principle of equivalent exchange. Because it’s ultimately the Power of Yearning.

The human heart grows larger when sad than when happy, and when in pain than when sad. Since it’s the same for mages, a formula using my body as catalyst could sufficiently swallow up Kang Hyeon.

“It’s already too late. It was over when you chose me.”

The enemy’s main unit is already half-destroyed. That’s Kate’s skill.

Kang Hyeon’s victory formula was only to cut me down in one stroke and return without any waste, then subdue Kate as well.

Originally Kang Hyeon must have planned that too. However, to do so, he couldn’t afford to be delayed by me for even a minute.

“….”

Kang Hyeon quietly stared at me. His two eyes were transparent. There wasn’t a speck of dust on his skin.

In contrast, I reflected in his retina was quite ugly. I had blood in my mouth and was covered entirely in dirt and dust.

Shing.

Kang Hyeon sheathed his sword. Then he turned around without saying anything.

Crunch crunch, his footsteps going down the Stone Mountain were slow.

Was it that he doesn’t get involved in fights with no chance of winning?

The sight of abandoning his comrade was cold, but strangely it didn’t seem calculating.

“…Ah. This really hurts like hell.”

When Kang Hyeon had completely disappeared, I clutched my side. Judging by the intensity of the pain, it seems three or four ribs are broken.

To end up like this from just sword wind. Just how rotten is this body?

“Ah….”

I quietly looked up at the sky.

One star with memories, one star with love, one star with loneliness, and after counting the number of stars, I got up.

“Now….”

I have to go back.

I have to go back, but.

“…Tsk.”

I thought about the person called ‘Seer’.

If I go back like this, the mission will be completed and I can obtain WP.

However, I find it hard to believe. An occupational disease-like sense of discomfort, suspicion keeps stabbing at my mind.

…Can’t be helped.

I took out my military dagger. I cut the subcutaneous tissue of my forearm. Drip drip drip. Blood flowed.

When it had pooled somewhat on the ground, I used Blood Magic Technique. The blood bubbled and deepened like a puddle.

An alibi.

I was defeated by Kang Hyeon, and Kang Hyeon escaped.

It’s a kind of playing dead… well.

It should work adequately.

After applying hemostasis to my wound, I limped down the Stone Mountain.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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