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#51. Enemy Invasion

The Dawn Rooster’s cry was more like a scream. Heimdall’s terrifying voice rang out  across the void of the Underworld.

The moment he heard the ominous harbinger of war, Kim Jin-Woo intuitively knew that his fears had come true. He commanded, “Strengthen the labyrinth’s perimeters, and send the Rangers out to check on the situation!”

The Conqueror’s labyrinth was a fortress built on the blood of countless Nagas, as well as that of its enemies. Naturally, it didn’t take long for the Nagas to get ready for battle. In an instant, the labyrinth’s perimeter was fully protected, and numerous Nagas and Under-Elf Rangers patrolled the area, preparing for the incoming invasion.

At the same time, Kim Jin-Woo sent out a warning to the other labyrinth masters to be prepared for any contingencies. However, their reactions were too slow compared to the Naga’s Fortress. Despite having received Kim Jin-Woo’s warning, they didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation until it was too late.

[Golotus, King of the White-Footed Giants, has been slain and his labyrinth has been destroyed.]

[Parnarius, King of the One-Eyed Lizards, has been slain. The Vassal’s Pledge has been broken, and you have completely lost your influence over the labyrinth ruled by Parnarius.]

[Aptos, King of the Green Dwarves, has been slain and his labyrinth has been destroyed.]

In an instant, three labyrinths had been destroyed. Their destruction was so sudden that not even Kim Jin-Woo and the Nagas were able to respond.

“Fucking bastards!” Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t help but swear under his breath. He was angry at those who hadn’t taken him seriously. But his rage was directed at those who no longer existed in this world. He asked, “Is there any information about the enemies? What the hell are the Rangers doing!?”

“Please wait a moment; news should be coming soon. We’re pushing our Rangers to their limits,” Dominique reported.

Kim Jin-Woo frowned and said, “The Rangers aren’t enough. Deploy the Dragon Knights. The more I think about it, the more I have a bad feeling about the Rangers.”

Although the now-extinct labyrinths had been the lowest-ranking labyrinths on the 9th Floor, they weren’t so weak that one would expect them to be destroyed so quickly. No matter what anyone else might say, they were still 9th Floor labyrinth masters, and were part of the deepest end of the Lesser Floors.

But the fact that they had been destroyed even before they could ask for help meant that the intruders were truly brutal and merciless.

“Fuck, if only we had a little more time...” Kim Jin-Woo muttered. He had already been in the middle of studying the situation on the Deep Floors and preparing for the war. He knew that if he’d had just a bit more time, he could have built a perfect defense.

But time wasn’t on Kim Jin-Woo’s side, as always. Even at that moment, many other labyrinths were under attack.

“Master! The Rangers have returned!” Dominique announced.

“Bring them over!” Kim Jin-Woo ordered, as his expression changed when he heard of the Rangers’ return.

“They’re too severely injured to come here. The Naga Priests are trying to keep them alive, but it’s looking grim,” Dominique said.

In response, Kim Jin-Woo hurriedly left his throne without hesitation.

“M-my King,” began the Ranger who had returned. She was an Under-Elf, sent out under Rikshasha’s orders. The Naga Priests surrounded her as they used all their healing spells, but her condition didn’t look good at all.

Her whole body was covered in blood, and one of her arms was missing, as if something had taken a big bite out of it. The Naga Priests looked at her as they shook their heads, seemingly knowing what was waiting for the Under-Elf Ranger.

The Under-Elf also probably knew that her time was coming to an end, as she quickly conveyed what she had seen to Kim Jin-Woo without thinking twice about her own body’s condition.

“Smashed-in faces, twisted limbs. The enemies aren’t normal at all. They’re too ferocious and vicious.” The Under-Elf spoke of their horrible appearance almost as if they were lepers.

She also reported that they had spotted the Rangers too easily, and the exposed Rangers were immediately surrounded and eaten alive, without any chance of escaping. “I guarantee that these… things have never existed in the Underworld before.”

The Ranger’s body started to tremble less, despite her terrible injuries and excessive bleeding. Her agile body hardened and turned cold, and her voice faded out as she said with her final breaths, “My King, if this sacrifice of your humble servant has proven worthy, I beg you to show mercy to my clan.”

Kim Jin-Woo nodded slightly. “Your sacrifice will bring peace to your clan.”

“Thank you, My King, for your mercy…” The Under-Elf’s head went limp.

Kim Jin-Woo looked gloomily at the Under-Elf’s corpse before instructing, “Make sure that the body is not damaged any further, and deliver it back to her clan.”

Although she was an Under-Elf that had been enslaved and had tried to buy her way out through others, she had ultimately decided to sacrifice herself for her clan.

After a brief moment of mourning, the Naga Sorcerers froze the Under-Elf’s corpse to preserve it.

A few other Under-Elves, who had approached them earlier and had witnessed the death of their clanmate, took away her corpse and disappeared somewhere in silence.

Kim Jin-Woo watched the Under-Elves take the body away, and gave further orders with a determined look on his face. “Now that we know that the Rangers’ stealth abilities are useless, there’s nothing left to expect from them. Limit the scope of their missions and send out the Dragon Knights instead.”

Although it was probably impossible to recall the Under-Elves that had been sent to the 11th Floor, he intended to prevent any more needless sacrifices among the rangers that were on duty nearby.

“These unknown enemies must be related somehow to the ones that shook up the 11th Floor,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

He had prayed that wouldn’t be the case, but alas, his ominous feelings had come true. The enemies that were now attacking the 9th Floor were the same monsters from the other Underworld that had attacked the 11th Floor and turned it into a living hell.

Dominique’s white face turned even paler as she said wearily, “That means the 9th Floor will now…”

Kim Jin-Woo completed her sentence, his face turning dark. “...Become hellish as well.”

As if to prove his words right, enemies appeared in the vicinity of the Fortress at that very moment.

[The Dragon Knights who were patrolling the outskirts of the Fortress have engaged in combat.]

Upon seeing the message, Kim Jin-Woo took the rest of the Dragon Knights on standby and headed out. As soon as he started to head out of the Fortress, an overwhelmingly heavy feeling of malice engulfed him.

As he felt the evil malice slowing down his body, he barked an order at the Dragon Knights. “Stay alert!”

Only then did the Dragon Knights, who were beginning to stiffen from the intense malice, straighten their backs and spread their shoulders as they started moving forward. In moments, they were able to leave the center of the Fortress and reach the outskirts.

But in spite of their haste, when Kim Jin-Woo and the Dragon Knights arrived on the battlefield, the battle was already over. What awaited them in place of his Dragon Knights were the unidentified monsters.

Crunch. Crunch.

The monsters’ chapped skin, twisted limbs, and half-rotten bodies were even more hideous than the report suggested. Compared to them, the Dead created by Valicius seemed like pure creatures.

A monster the size and shape of a decomposing giant squatted on the floor as it chewed on something.

“Is it too late already?” Kim Jin-Woo frowned as he saw the pool of Naga blood all over the passageway.

Some of the monsters seemed to have heard his murmuring, as they slowly turned their heads toward him while continuing to munch like toddlers. As they turned, something blue that one of them had been chewing on fell to the floor near Kim Jin-Woo with a thud.

Although it was badly chewed and damaged, Kim Jin-Woo easily recognized it as a forearm that belonged to one of his Dragon Knights.

“You motherfuckers!” he yelled, furiously charging toward the enemies. Blue streaks of light flowed from his eyes as he rushed ahead with ferocity and bitterness.

But instead of being taken aback, the enemies retaliated with even more ferocity as they bared their fangs.

“Kill them all!” Kim Jin-Woo shouted angrily.

The Dragon Knights charged forward together in unison. They too were furious at the enemies, who were feasting on the corpses of their comrades.

“Kaaaaaaargh!”

The angry Dragon Knights’ charge was unstoppable. They didn’t slow down one bit when they saw the huge enemies charging at them.

Kim Jin-Woo was the first to engage with the enemies. Just before they collided, he jumped from the back of his Tiger Dragon and rushed toward the monsters. He unsheathed his sword and swung it furiously, slicing off the arms of a monster and cleaving its body in two.

In an instant, the enemies’ vanguard collapsed, and the Dragon Knights continued to charge forward as they trampled over tallen monsters.

“Mm…” Although Kim Jin-Woo had completely decimated the front line, he wasn’t pleased. The enemy had lost too helplessly compared to his expectations.

There was no way the Dragon Knights who had been out on patrol would have suffered such a defeat to these beings, considering how weak they were. Something didn’t add up.

As if to confirm his suspicions, the monsters that had been trampled by the Dragon Knights started to rise to their feet. They rushed forward with eerie roars, as if they couldn’t feel the pain of their bodies being cut and trampled on.

By the time Kim Jin-Woo noticed them, the rear line of Dragon Knights was already on the verge of being grabbed by the newly risen monsters.

“Ignore the back lines and keep charging forward! Speed up!” Despite being flanked by enemies on both sides, Kim Jin-Woo showed no signs of hesitation. Rather, he pushed the Dragon Knights to continue charging forward.

He swung his sword mercilessly as he continued to slice through the monsters that were blocking his charge. Thanks to his actions, the Dragon Knights were finally able to charge through the enemies.

But despite being trampled on and crushed, the enemies casually rose back up and started attacking once more, and thus the battle continued.

***

Only after cutting through and trampling on the monsters to the point of rendering them unrecognizable did the battle finally end. Even the usually stoic Kim Jin-Woo looked worn out.

It was a truly horrifying experience, where the enemies he thought he had defeated repeatedly rose to fight again and again.

“They seem similar to the Dead in terms of not being able to experience pain, but these enemies are even more fearsome and tenacious. Even the Dragon Knights, who aren’t lacking in terms of strength, were no match for these monsters outside the labyrinth.” Although the look on his face indicated that he had yet to calm down from the adrenaline of battle, Kim Jin-Woo’s evaluation was cold. “Even the Dragon Knights are at risk. One wrong move and they could find themselves surrounded.”

If he hadn’t crushed the enemy vanguard, it would have been difficult for them to annihilate the monsters with just him and the Dragon Knights alone.

“If the Dragon Knights’ head-on attacks don’t work, that means the others…” Dominique began.

Kim Jin-Woo finished, “...will probably have an even tougher time against the monsters.”

All it took was one battle for Kim Jin-Woo to truly understand how horrifying and tenacious his enemies were. When he came to that realization, he knew that there was hardly anyone on the 9th Floor that could go toe-to-toe with those monsters. He said, “If we can’t think of a solution, the 9th Floor is doomed.”

Dominique’s expression hardened at those ominous words, which felt like a bigger threat than ever before.

And as always, that ominous premonition came true. As if the Underworld were playing a cruel prank on them, it manifested itself in the worst form possible.

The situation on the 9th Floor was deteriorating quickly. The 9th Floor labyrinth masters could do nothing else but lock themselves up in their labyrinths to survive, and despite fully committing to their defense, many of them collapsed with ease. In just two days, seven labyrinths were destroyed. At the same time, many others were also under attack.

“Now I know why the 11th Floor Counts struggled so much,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

The situation would be better if the enemies’ path could be blocked by moving the labyrinths away and building a defensive line to further reinforce the front lines, but the monsters gave him no freedom to do so.

The various labyrinth masters of the 9th Floor were tied down to their labyrinths due to sporadic attacks that could come from any direction at any given moment, and the inter-labyrinth network had been completely cut off.

“If this goes on, every labyrinth will start to slowly die off in isolation,” Dominique said.

Not even the mighty 11th Floor Counts could stop these enemies, and there was no way to break up the monsters to engage them in smaller numbers. Dominique strongly suggested that Kim Jin-Woo consolidate all the forces on the 9th Floor to have a better fighting chance, even at the cost of many sacrifices.

“It’s a bit dangerous, but there is a way,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

Dominique’s eyes narrowed as she tried to understand her master’s intent, but then her face suddenly lit up. “Do you mean…?”

“We’ll make use of the portal.”