Grand Maze (1)
It was called the Grand Maze, but Kaltan wasn’t just an ordinary underground and mysterious Dungeon.
It was too large a place to be so simply classified as a Dungeon.
An extinct ancient kingdom’s ruins were located under a colossal cavity of hundreds of meters in height alone.
In other communities, abandoned cities in the world were half-buried and were still crumbling.
There was a deformed temple with numerous towers covered in luminous moss, creating dense forests under the ceiling of a cave that was as bright as the ground.
There were hot lava lakes, fields of ice and snow, and a rugged canyon.
It was a vast world made out of messes that deviated far from human perception, where all forms of Dungeons existed.
In an Alien city of Kaltan, the Grand Maze, a resonant girl’s shout rang.
* * *
“Hey!”
A silver-haired girl jumped over a building in a ruined city.
At the same time, an explosion took place within her vicinity.
Boom!
After jumping up the five-story building, Effir looked around and muttered to herself.
“That’s amazing. No matter how wide it is, it should still be underground. Where is the air coming from?”
Monsters appeared on the roof of the opposite building beyond the fire.
They were Bell Bricks, human-like monsters with insect-like exoskeletons.
Grrr!
Screaming out loud, they rushed at Effir.
With their powerful mana over level 75, they were overwhelming opponents for Effir, who was at the time level 72.
Not to mention there were four of them.
‘If I were in the same situation before, I would’ve stepped back and tried to break them down one by one…’
With her eyes shining, Effir faced them head-on.
‘… I have healing items now!’
Even if she did something reckless, the risk of dying was much lower.
She narrowed the distance away from his attack.
A Belle Brick was as astute as the opponent’s response was unexpected.
Grrr!
Effir swung the double swords, triggering a technique!
-Magic Swordsmanship: Thunder Dragon Roar!
Boom!
Due to the thunderstorm, the whole body of the monster was burned to ashes.
Argh!
Being able to do something rash without needing fear for one’s life was effective.
She killed it within a single blow.
The problem was that Effir showed an opening. A Bell Brick was rushing to break her head…
“Barrier!”
Effir quickly crossed her twin blades over her head.
A translucent magic barrier was created to bounce off the attack.
It was the level 63 defensive magic Protective Barrier of her weapons.
Although the skill usage was limited to 12 times a day, she didn’t keep it reserved.
‘I have to use it often to get used to it.’
She had to have a habit of using it in an emergency.
It was the idea of those who didn’t know the actual situation to care for it.
There were 12 times, so she only had to keep 2 to 3 usages in reserve.
Artis also maximized the usage of his staff.
“Firewall! Burn Flame! Explosion! Lightning Storm! Ragnar Blast!”
He invoked five magic spells simultaneously through the Spell-Saving Staff.
The infernal wave of destruction swept away the monsters in unison.
Argh!
Urgh!
A muscular man with a copper upper body murmured as he watched the scene.
“They’ve both advanced beyond regular levels.”
Since their level had risen, the top weapons and items were finally available to them.
Effir and Artis became a lot more efficient in combat.
“Then I’ll slowly get my experience.”
With his eyes shining, Ryu Han-bin glared at the monster in front of him.
A huge horse stood tall between the half-wrecked city buildings.
He was five-meter-high with a human-shaped upper body and alligator-like lower body.
[Race: Huel Dracodile. lv. 83
Special ability: Through its Mana-based capability, it can cast a series of magic spells and spray corrosion fog within a 30-meter effective radius.]
Sure enough, the monster opened its big mouth and let out a terrifying roar.
Whoo-ah!
The atmosphere vibrated as the green mist enveloped the streets.
It was a mist of corrosion that swallowed everything.
Bam!
The buildings swallowed by the fog collapsed.
Since its level was high, they had expected its power to be just as tremendous.
Jumping from building to building, Ryu Han-bin concentrated Aura on his right hand.
He then threw it straight at the opponent.
-Aura Strike!
It wasn’t the same as ignorantly throwing Aura Bullets that he did before.
It caused a great storm!
Boom!
The red sphere caused the surging fog to scatter in all directions.
Han-bin burst in happiness.
‘I can now use this without problems’
He kept jumping between the buildings.
There was a fog of corrosion under the building, preventing him from going down recklessly.
If there were a high-level Spiritist, they’d be able to neutralize the fog, but unfortunately, they didn’t have anyone like that in their team.
“My team is really out of balance.”
Landing on the rooftop across the street, Ryu Han-bin smiled bitterly.
He then swung his Blade Aura at the reptilian monster.
-Aura Smash!
Nothing happened.
The only thing the Blade Aura cut through was the air.
The monster hesitated for a moment.
“…?”
Han-bin understood how the monster might feel, causing him to burst into laughter.
‘Yeah, you were wondering what I was doing.’
Originally, Blade Aura was supposed to surge forward like a wave, but he just failed to use the skill.
“It’s difficult. Damn.”
He was by no means weak.
Han-bin had a better body than anyone else, and he had a lot of combat experiences.
But the more he practiced, the more he felt…
‘I’m pretty dull.’
Effir managed to learn a few dozen Maxbrid techniques quickly.
Even ordinary warriors didn’t take as long as he did.
Well, according to her, he didn’t have to be disappointed at all.
-If you practice your skills consistently, you will eventually learn even if you are dull. But there’s a limit to others’ physical abilities. Han-bin, you are a hundred times better than me!
Properly wielding his sword, Ryu Han-bin flung himself forward.
The battle against the giant monster would’ve been disappointing if he was still the same as he was in the Rocky Mountain.
However, he had grown more confident since then.
He bounced down, burrowed into the monster, and cut up its chest!
Pooooah!
Blood poured out of it as the monster reeled.
Han-bin didn’t miss the timing. He delivered the finishing blow.
-Crosscut!
The head of the monster rose into the air.
A Guideline message popped up.
[Lv. 83 Huel Dracodile cleared. You have earned 42,810,000 XP.]
[Current XP: 132,814,900/54,581,975,800.]
“The XP gain isn’t bad considering the monster was level 80.”
Looking around, he noticed everyone was almost finished with their battles.
Effir and Artis had already done their part, and Kibie was also entering the final stage.
“Tap!”
She thrust the spear forward with a sharp shout.
Every time she attacked, a black Aura flashed, penetrating the monster and causing it to shed blood.
Her spearsmanship was amazing.
In a way, it was so plain that it seemed too ordinary.
Of course, Kibie is an incarnation far from ordinary.
As a woman who reached level 80 in her 20s, she was already stronger than most people in the same age group.
However, she was surprisingly ordinary in that she was just like any other Aura user.
Her spearsmanship, Aura capacity, physical skills, and combat experience, was no more or less than any Aura user of level 80.
“I can’t help it. It’s because I input those evenly when I made the incarnation.”
Kibie shrugged her shoulders as she withdrew her spear.
“I’m going to build up my experience from now on. I should be of help when I meet Baotolt.”
The party gathered together.
Han-bin asked Artis.
“How long before we reach Katrock?”
“I’ll open the map.”
Artis took a platinum disc out of his pouch and put it on the floor.
Light billowed from the disc, sending complex three-dimensional images into the air.
Kaltan was a complex maze created underground.
Depending on the height, it was also common for several communities to overlap in one area.
A two-dimensional map couldn’t depict all the three-dimensional terrains.
Only specially designed magic maps were able to identify the geography accurately.
“That thing’s fucking expensive. That one is worth more than ten Artifacts?”
With Han-bin’s grumbling behind him, Artis measured the distance.
“About…”
He pointed beyond the city.
“About 15 kilometers in this direction?”
“15 kilometers…”
Effir quipped as if she seemed to be sick and tired of it.
Ryu Han-bin also voiced out his thoughts.
“Kaltan is big.”
Kibie addressed the company.
“Let’s keep moving. We’ll get to the entrance of Katrack by the end of the day.”
* * *
The Thunder King, Garhan, scattered Aliens throughout Latna’s major cities to fin Kybriel’s incarnation.
Of course, they included the banned city of Serkaltan.
They were in a rare back alley in the city full of colorful buildings.
Almara and Saltus met up with three humans.
One of them was in his early 30s with dark brown hair and a hooked nose, while the other two were a young man and woman in their 20s.
The man in his thirties asked Almara a question.
“Are you the Dragons of Upper Draconium?”
“Yes, Alien.”
There was a chill in the air between the two.
They seemed wary of each other.
The two Dragons began to speak.
“Almara. I’m the Silver Dragon.”
“I’m the Green Dragon, Saltus. I don’t have to tell you my level because you will see it anyway, right?”
When the Dragons introduced themselves, their opponents relaxed a little.
“I’m Arthur Winster, Level 99 Magic Swordsman.”
“Jason Bonwill, Level 98 Spiritist.”
“Lesil Baker, Level 99 Mage.”
Saltus clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘You’re humans, but you’re all high level.’
They were one of the strongest among Akhtarun’s Aliens.
As the city was home to the strongest Dungeon on Earth, they chose only the strongest Aliens.
They didn’t want to accompany them.
But they couldn’t disobey Hollien’s orders.
Arthur nodded.
“I understand the situation.”
Jason and Lesil also looked convinced.
“Hunting the Goddess is something we don’t want to do, and there’s no reason not to help.”
“But you know we can’t leave the city because of the voice of the Thunder King. How are we supposed to head to the Grand Maze?”
With a snort, Almara put her hand in her arms.
“You don’t think he ever thought of that?”
There were exceptions to the command of the Thunder King.
When Earthlings found the Goddess, they could trace her out of their assigned city.
“Take it.”
They handed three small emblems to the Aliens.
The facial expressions of the Aliens became more relaxed.
Lesil muttered.
“That’s what the fake Great Earth guys used to carry.”
The emblem itself had no function.
It wasn’t some form of Magic Tool.
It was just an elaborate craft.
However, the world recognized that whoever held it had found the Goddess.
The Thunder King wouldn’t go against mind control.
Jason touched the emblem and wondered.
“But why do those fakers have to sell the Great Earth? It would be dangerous to be caught carrying these symbols.”
Saltus answered with a grin.
“That’s why they let us carry it around. Even if someone else found out, they won’t be suspicious.”
“That’s a shame.”
Regardless, it allowed the Earthlings to escape from Serkaltan.
Arthur asked.
“Do you know where they’re headed?”
Almara and Saltus had so far grasped it.
“The Darkness incarnate’s party asked about the Sword King in this city.”
“Through that, we found out that Katrack Dungeon is their destination.”
“They would’ve headed to the entrance of the nearest palace in Katrack.”
Arthur nodded his head.
“It’s the Lion Gate.”
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