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Chapter 234

[Since the creation of the Underworld, there have been many Grand Labyrinths, but there has never before been a case when the Labyrinth Core was upgraded independently. It is uncertain how the Grand Labyrinth that has accepted the Naga’s Heart will change, or when its upgrade will be complete.]

[It may take longer than expected, or it may finish tomorrow.]

With a dazzling flash of light, a message appeared with an ominous vibe like never before. It was unlikely, but the message seemed to be telling Kim Jin-Woo that the upgrade might never be finished.

“This is…” Kim Jin-Woo belatedly regretted his choice, considering the possibility that the upgrade might take too long, but the dice had already been cast. Now, he had no choice but to hope for a favorable result.

“Mm?” As he was concentrating on the message in front of him, he suddenly looked up upon feeling a strange sense of incongruity. The atmosphere in the master room, which had been feverish until just a moment prior thanks to the Nagas’ aspirations and expectations, had suddenly dropped to an abnormally cold level.

“Ah.” When he looked up and around the master room, he subconsciously let out a gasp. The Nagas that had filled the master room until just a moment before were now nowhere to be seen. Instead, in their place were hundreds of eggs.

[The whole Naga clan, united in sharing their hearts and fate, has fallen into a deep slumber.]

[They cannot awaken until the Naga’s Heart has finished upgrading.]

This was terrible news. Although the Nagas as a species had stopped growing due to its own species’ limitations, they were still the main force of the Grand Labyrinth. They numbered more than all the other different races combined, and did more work than the others.

But now that they had fallen into a deep sleep at the same time due to the Labyrinth Core’s upgrade, there was no way to fill the power vacuum left behind by their slumber.

There was no knowing when the Deep Floor Dukes would invade the Grand Labyrinth, and on top of that, the Usurper had begun to move.

Kim Jin-Woo was already worried about what might follow next. But nevertheless, the growth of the Nagas was absolutely necessary, and thus he decided to do what he could in the meantime. He called, “Angela!”

“Yes, Master,” Angela replied.

“I’ll fill the power vacuum created by the absence of the Nagas with your clan,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

Angela’s eyes widened and she thumped her chest. She had been waiting for the moment the vampires could finally be put into use, and she didn’t hesitate to start commanding them immediately.

“Morrigan! Find Valicius and gather the restored Moai! Guard the entrance to the labyrinth with them!” Kim Jin-Woo commanded.

“As you will!” Morrigan replied.

The relatively weak vampires were insufficient to fill the power vacuum left behind by the Nagas. Thus, Kim Jin-Woo deployed his various Hero-Grade Summons and the defected Nobles, such as Boreas, in multiple key areas of the labyrinth.

“Rikshasha,” he began.

“Yes, my King,” Rikshasha replied.

“Until Dominique returns, I’ll entrust all her tasks to you. Keep track of their progress and make sure that everything gets done.”

“I’ll do as you command.” Rikshasha received the command and disappeared somewhere.

Kim Jin-Woo, left alone in the master room, once again looked at the Nagas that had turned into eggs.

[Naga Egg]

[These giant eggs, which were created to protect the Nagas until their awakening, are themselves a cradle and a protective barrier. The Nagas will remain in a deep sleep within the safety of these thick shells until their awakening.]

[The Naga Eggs that the Naga clan has transformed into in their rebirth process are condensed sources of vitality. There may be others who will hunt these eggs.]

At first glance, the Naga Eggs only differed in size, but among them, there was one that caught Kim Jin-Woo’s eye.

[Dominique’s Naga Egg]

[Dominique, who has always been with the Naga’s Labyrinth, is the King’s beloved Maid and Advisor. She is also the King’s most trusted representative. A loyal woman who has worked tirelessly for her master, she even serves her King in her dreams.]

Kim Jin-Woo gently stroked the egg. Just like the cold skin of the Naga girl, the egg itself was cold as well. But nevertheless, he could feel her warmth from within. He said quietly, “I wish you good dreams.”

Although it wouldn’t be easy to fill the gap left behind Dominique and the Nagas, he hoped for their return soon.

***

Just as the entire Naga clan fell into slumber, a new guest arrived at the Grand Labyrinth.

“There’s a guest looking for me?” Kim Jin-Woo had already been busy trying to fill the void in power that had occurred due to the Nagas’ absence, and he frowned at the news of the sudden visit. None of the guests who had suddenly visited his labyrinth thus far had ever delivered good news to him; thus, he got up at once and said, “Guide me.”

“Yes,” Angela replied. She could have let her clanmates deal with the issue, but she seemed more than willing to come along. Perhaps she didn’t want her clanmates to enter the master room, where Dominique and the Nagas were asleep.

“Who came looking for me?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

“He didn’t reveal his identity. He said he would reveal himself after meeting with you, Master,” Angela replied.

“Such arrogance.”

“He looks like he’s worthy enough to be arrogant.”

Despite the fact that she had become powerful enough to even look down on Boreas the Wind Piercer after obtaining her True Blood, the way Angela spoke of the mysterious guest was quite surprising to Kim Jin-Woo; thus, he started to move faster.

“I didn’t like her vibe, though. The Underworld is already an insidious and dark place, but she was on another level,” Angela added.

“She?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

“Yes, it’s a female guest.”

Kim Jin-Woo reached the outskirts of the labyrinth as he listened to Angela’s explanation. He saw a woman in the distance confronting Morrigan.

With her messy, disheveled black hair that covered more than half of her face, Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t make out the woman’s facial features, but her figure indicated that she was a mature woman. However, the aura of the huge woman was different from that of others, so much so that she was looking down on Morrigan, who was already quite tall herself. She had a presence that justified Angela’s description of her.

“I am very sorry for coming to you so suddenly,” the woman said. She had a voice that would make most men’s knees weak upon hearing it for the first time, and she greeted Kim Jin-Woo with an attitude so friendly that it would have been hard to believe that this was their first encounter. She continued, “However, please understand that I had no choice, given the circumstances.”

Kim Jin-Woo narrowed his eyes as he looked at the mysterious guest, before shaking his head and saying, “Let’s talk somewhere quiet.”

The woman seemed impressed by Kim Jin-Woo’s attitude of not asking a single question. However, she soon followed him into the labyrinth.

“Morrigan, check the surroundings,” Kim Jin-Woo ordered.

“Yes.” Morrigan seemed to have something to say to Kim Jin-Woo, but she spoke no further. All she did was to silently ask him to look for her later with her gaze.

“Now, let’s talk here.” On the outskirts of the Grand Labyrinth, not too far from its center, Kim Jin-Woo stopped walking and turned to look at the woman. She glanced around secretively before turning to look at Kim Jin-Woo, who asked her, “What’s a Deep Floor Count doing here, looking for me?”

Despite Kim Jin-Woo calling her a Deep Floor Count, the guest didn’t deny it. Rather, her eyes flashed through her wavy hair as she replied, “It looks as if you already knew.”

“I’m not so stupid that I couldn’t figure it out when your energy has been radiating out like that,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

The first time he saw the Count confronting Morrigan, he had immediately recognized it. He had known that she was a Deep Floor Noble, and that her power level was far higher than that of a Baron or a Viscount.

“You are a much tougher person to deal with than what I’ve heard from Tyrenon,” the woman said.

“Tyrenon, huh… Are you his Master?” Kim Jin-Woo responded.

Seeing as Tyrenon the Underworld Viscount was the servant of Lady Bryntess, the Queen of Corruption, mentioning him was no different from the woman revealing her true identity.

In fact, she readily nodded and introduced herself, as if she had no intention of hiding her identity. She said in greeting, “Nice to meet you, Undefeated Commander. I am Bryntess, Queen of the Sages.”

Kim Jin-Woo did not see the need to introduce himself. He had no intention of revealing his true name to a being he did not trust, and he also found it strange to refer to himself as the ‘Undefeated Commander’ and ‘Conqueror’—titles that had been spread across the Underworld by others.

“So, what’s your reason for coming to me?” Kim Jin-Woo quickly got straight to the point. If Bryntess, who had introduced herself as the Queen of the Sages, made her own subordinates call her the ‘Wise Queen’, he was certain that they would butt heads. It was foolish to attempt to beat about the bush with such a being.

“Hmm.” As expected, Bryntess didn’t seem to take Kim Jin-Woo’s blunt attitude lightly, as her mouth wrinkled in displeasure.

But even she knew who was in the less favorable position of the two, simply by the fact that she was the one who had come to him and not the other way around; thus, she sighed deeply and got straight to the point. “I want to join forces with you.”

It was an unexpected request, but Kim Jin-Woo didn’t show his reaction. He knew better than anyone how silence put pressure on those who were confident in themselves at first, so he just kept his mouth shut and continued to look at her.

As expected, Bryntess looked slightly taken aback by his lack of reaction. And indeed, she was the first to speak again. “This is not just my own opinion. This is the opinion of all the Deep Floor Counts.”

This time, Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t help but be truly shocked. He would never have expected the Counts, who had spent their entire lives being wary of each other, to join forces.

“Why is that so?” he asked, unable to maintain his silence any longer. Of course, it didn’t mean that he was going to give Bryntess the reaction she wanted; thus, he kept his question short and maintained a calm, collected expression.

“Because he has started moving,” Bryntess replied. It was a brief statement, but Kim Jin-Woo immediately knew that she was talking about the Usurper.

“What does that have to do with the Counts?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

“The reason why he has started moving is because of us, the Counts,” Bryntess answered.

Kim Jin-Woo could start to feel where this conversation was heading. It seems that the Counts’ ambition of coveting the powers of the Highlords had come back to bite them.

“Tsk.” In that brief moment, Kim Jin-Woo understood the situation the Counts were in and clicked his tongue. It was true that he had so far escaped the Usurper’s gaze thanks to the Counts, but it appeared they hadn’t done that in good faith. They were simply aiming for the power of the Highlord and the Grand Labyrinth.

He saw no reason to be friendly toward the Counts. But nevertheless, he gave an appropriate response to Bryntess’ request. Despite that, Bryntess continued to explain the urgency of their situation and how many benefits they had given him.

After they spoke for a while, she finally explained the situation in greater detail. “Now, we are unable to trust anyone.”

It was a strange statement to hear from a being who had such a mighty army behind her back. However, Kim Jin-Woo soon understood what she meant by not being able to trust anyone else.

Bryntess said, “Anatolius has been ambushed by the Wardens.”