Chapter 267

Chapter 267

　　“Monsters?”

　　“I don’t think so . It sounds like humans running . ”

　　“Some monster’s footsteps can sound like a human's . ”

　　Russell’s party discussed what the sounds were .

　　“It could be Fabion Connectors . ”

　　When Bruce spoke those words in a low voice, everyone became tense . Until now, the monsters of the Great Labyrinth hadn't been much of a challenge to the group, and that would only change if they went much deeper into the Great Labyrinth .

　　However, it was an entirely different story if they had to face Connectors .

　　Everyone raised their weapons .

　　“I hope so . I don’t want to stay here any longer without knowing the reason Fabion is here . ”

　　As Bruce grumbled, the footsteps came closer and closer . A figure rushed past a steep bend in the tunnel and appeared before the group . He was a human, a fully-armed human . As his eyes fell on the group, he stopped in his tracks .

　　“Hey! h.e.l.lo there!”

　　Bruce waved at him .

　　As of right now, the group wasn’t enemies with Fabion, and Bruce didn't want to instigate a fight without a good reason .

　　“I heard you guys are doing something fun here . We want to partic.i.p.a—”

　　Boom!

　　The sudden attack forced Bruce to shut his mouth . He had been friendly with his words, yet the newcomer had attacked with reckless abandon .

　　“Did this b.a.s.t.a.r.d lose his mind?”

　　Bruce became furious .

　　“You f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d! f.u.c.king Fabion! In the end, you decided to attack us!”

　　“F… abion?”

　　The attacker stopped moving for a moment .

　　“Fa…Bi…On… . ”

　　He stammered as he repeated 'Fabion' .

　　“Faaaaaaaaaaabion!”

　　Then, with a scream of despair, he started attacking once again . His scream contained despair, anger, hate, and grief, and it made Sungyoon’s party flinch . Their reaction wasn’t about strength . Any ‘human’ with normal thoughts and values would react to such a display of anguish .

　　However, they were still in a battle, and n.o.body would concede an inch .

　　“Did he lose his mind?”

　　Bruce clenched his fists within his Gauntlets, then swung them toward the halberd nearing his face .

　　Kwahng!

　　Bruce effortlessly deflected the halberd .

　　“Sleep for now!”

　　He then spun his body to move behind the attacker and chopped down on his neck .

　　Boom!

　　“Ku-huhk!”

　　Despite a helmet covering the attacker's head, due to the blow, the attacker let out a scream and lost consciousness . He rolled across the ground as if he were a marionette whose strings had been cut .

　　“What does this guy do for a living?”

　　Bruce grumbled as he shook his fist . His opponent hadn’t been skillful, and he couldn't even take down any member of the group . However, the attacker's spirit had been amazing, and everyone had felt an oppressive sensation from him . It was as if a special brand of madness had infected the man’s heart .

　　Russell approached the fallen man .

　　“Are you sure you didn’t kill him?”

　　“Of course . Do you know how much trouble I had to go through to control my power?”

　　It would have been much easier for Bruce to just crush the helmet and the head .

　　Russell took a knee and observed the attacker’s body . It was almost a miracle that the man's armor Gem hadn't broken . The armor had been damaged in many locations, and blood seeped out of the cracks in it .

　　It was also evident that the halberd was damaged .

　　Zzuh-uhk!

　　While Russell was checking the body, the attacker's s.h.i.+eld disappeared and one of his Gems broke . Extreme damage to the s.h.i.+eld had done irreparable damage to the Gem .

　　Russell clicked his tongue .

　　“He’s a complete mess . Close to death’s door . ”

　　“I’m just putting this out there . I didn’t do it . ”

　　“I know . ”

　　Bruce sauntered forward .

　　“Where did he receive these wounds though? It seems he was running away by himself . Did the Fabion Connectors get wiped? I thought Fabion had dispatched Hyunwoo Sung and their elite team here . What’s going on?”

　　“We’ll soon find out the answer . ”

　　Russell called out to one of his party members, a skinny man clad in a similar robe as Emily's .

　　“Please heal him . ”

　　“Are you sure?”

　　“We have to keep him alive to extract information . ”

　　Russell's party member nodded and raised his staff . The staff radiated light .

　　‘So he's the Connector in charge of healing within Sir Russell’s party . ’

　　This Connector's outer garb and role in the party were the same as Emily's . After activating his Gem, the healer from Russell’s party was about to place the healing spell on the attacker, when—

　　Hwah-roohk!

　　At first, a small flash of light appeared in the tunnel where the attacker had come from, but the light soon turned into fire . In the blink of an eye, fire was all the group could see .

　　Kwahhhhhhhhhng!

　　The raging fire swept through the labyrinth like a tsunami made out of flames . The heat increased the surrounding temperature, and light burned bright . Flames danced in exuberance before it all disappeared .

　　However, the heat remained even after the fire had disappeared . A normal person would have instantly died facing such heat .

　　Juh-buhk . Juh-buhk .

　　A man walked through this oven in an easygoing manner . He looked at the fallen attacker, then at the people surrounding him .

　　“Oh my! Look who it is?”

　　Hyunwoo sounded happy as if he had seen a couple of old friends, but the group wasn't in the mood to humor him .

　　“You f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I knew you wanted to pick a fight with me!”

　　Bruce madly hopped . He had ordered everyone to retreat and blocked the attack head-on . As he looked at Hyunwoo, he clashed his gauntlets into each other to create a threatening sound .

　　Russell was the opposite, and he just glared at Hyunwoo with his cold eyes .

　　“I picked a fight? No way! I didn’t know it was you . That's why I attacked . In fact, I'm even close to someone in your group . ”

　　Hyunwoo looked at Sungyoon, and his eyes became the shape of a crescent moon .

　　“Alright . What are you guys doing here?”

　　“That is—”

　　“Ah! What a moment . ”

　　Hyunwoo raised his hand to stop Sungyoon from speaking . He then walked toward the attacker . To dodge Hyunwoo’s attack, Sungyoon and the group had distanced themselves from the attacker . So Hyunwoo was closer to him than them .

　　Surprisingly, the attacker had survived the fierce flames . However, that was it . He was barely hanging on . The attack had destroyed his armor, and his Gem had broken; burns had appeared all over his body . He no longer shed blood as his wounds had burned shut .

　　“Kuh-huh-huhk!”

　　The attacker felt enormous pain from his blackened flesh, but he didn’t have the strength to scream . He just let out a whimper .

　　Tuh-buhk!

　　As he heard footsteps close in on him, the attacker barely opened one of his eyes to look at Hyunwoo . He opened his mouth, and several words leaked out . His voice was very low, but Sungyoon and the group could hear it with their enhanced senses .

　　‘What language is that?’

　　Fabion was a Korean company . Even though a Korean company could also have connectors from other countries, such as the Ross siblings in Jungb.u.m, Fabion mostly consisted of Koreans .

　　However, the ambusher hadn’t spoken Korean; his words couldn't be linked to any language the group knew of .

　　Sssk!

　　Hyunwoo raised his sword .

　　Russell stepped forward when he realized what Hyunwoo was about to do .

　　“Hey! Wait a moment! What are you doi—”

　　Poo-oohk!

　　However, Russell was too far away to stop Hyunwoo . Without any mercy, Hyunwoo thrust his sword downward . The tip of the sword pierced through the attacker's head, and his body shook once before slumping .

　　“Well?”

　　Hyunwoo let out a bright smile toward the Connectors looking at him with surprised eyes .

　　“Shall we talk about this current situation?”

　　Every Connector had the same thought . They hated how Hyunwoo was acting .

　　***

　　“So you're saying that . . . ”

　　Hyunwoo led the group forward, while Russell continued speaking .

　　“You guys came here to exterminate the ambushers who had attacked Armstrong's research team?”

　　“Yes . ”

　　Hyunwoo seemed quite familiar with this region, and he led the group down the tunnel without any hesitation .

　　“They’ve caused a lot of trouble recently, and they slowed down our ability to gather moonstones . Fabion wants to be profitable, so we couldn’t stand by and do nothing . We worked very hard to gather information about the ambushers, and we found their base not too long ago . ”

　　Russell didn’t trust Hyunwoo and Fabion even after the explanation .

　　“Then why are you here by yourselves? You should've reported it to Armstrong before moving . That’s the much safer option . Moreover, you have a duty to report this information . ”

　　“We thought the information might leak out if we did that . Information always leaks from unexpected places . These people are terrorists who can freely travel between Earth and the Moon to conduct their acts of terror . We thought it was likely they had some spies within Armstrong . ”

　　“And your company has no spies?”

　　“We were very careful in who we chose for this mission . ”

　　“Do you think such an excuse will work on us?”

　　Bruce shot back from the side .

　　There were too many holes in Hyunwoo’s explanation to take it at face value .

　　Hyunwoo just shrugged .

　　“It can’t be helped if you don’t believe me, but it's the truth . ”

　　Hyunwoo's voice sounded as if he didn’t care whether they believed him or not .

　　Bruce wanted to hit Hyunwoo, but Russell held him back .

　　“So you attacked us because you mistook us for terrorists?”

　　“Of course . I was chasing down the ambusher who had run away, and I saw you guys around him . I a.s.sumed there were only the terrorists and us Fabion Connectors in the Great Labyrinth . I never expected a third party to enter this place . Thankfully, you blocked my attack . I don't want to kill Connectors from the same side . ”

　　“You killed the man who ran away because he was a terrorist?”

　　“That’s right . ”

　　“You didn’t kill him to shut him up?”

　　Hyunwoo looked at Russell with a blank expression .

　　“I know you want to link me and Fabion to something nefarious . However, you will be sorely disappointed once you find out the truth . I killed an enemy . That's all . ”

　　Russell was about to speak again when Hyunwoo spoke again .

　　“We are here . ”

　　A large s.p.a.ce appeared at the end of the tunnel, and Sungyoon and the group immediately scrunched up their faces .

　　“The smell . . . . ”

　　Emily pinched her nose . The others did the same in the presence of the acrid burning smell .

　　“This is the base of the terrorists . ”

　　Hyunwoo pointed at the open s.p.a.ce . The corpses and mounds of ashes everywhere proved that something like a village once existed in this place .