#80. A New Creature

“We’ve gotten a report that creatures have appeared on the west side of the Grand Labyrinth! Analysis states that they’re beings that have never been seen before on any of the Floors!” Dominique reported.

Kim Jin-Woo jumped up from his throne and asked, “Are you certain?”

“Yes! The creatures look like a mix between a goat and a bird, and our scouts are certain that they’re a completely new, never-before-seen kind of creature. In addition, when the captain of the Under-Elf patrol teams contacted them, they were unable to communicate at all.”

Kim Jin-Woo groaned at Dominique’s confident answer as his expression twisted. “Damn bastards! They said it was the integration of Floors within the same Underworld!”

It wasn’t a situation he hadn’t thought of at all, but he couldn’t help but be annoyed when he got the confirmation that all the information Catherine’s messenger had given was false.

“So, what is the first patrol team doing?” Kim Jin-Woo asked, pressing hard against a temple with his finger.

Dominique responded with a miserable expression, “We haven’t received any further reports after the first, as of now.”

The contact network between the Under-Elf Rangers was so close and tight that it made one wonder what the secret behind it was. Thus, it could never be a good sign if their reports were being delayed.

Either the situation was so bad that they weren’t even able to send a messenger back, or there were none of them left to make the report in the first place. In any case, it meant the situation was bad.

“What would you like to do? The combat prowess of the Under-Elf Rangers isn’t very high, but they wouldn’t lose to anyone in terms of their stealth and evasive capabilities,” Dominique continued. If even such Under-Elf Rangers were to suffer, the enemies had to be truly formidable, at least on the level of the Deep Floor Counts. She almost seemed to be blaming herself, thinking that the reinforcements had been delayed due to the stubbornness of the Nagas, herself included.

But Kim Jin-Woo didn’t think that way. Everything she had said at that point in time was correct. He shook his head as he gently stroked Dominique’s head, saying, “Anyway, our labyrinth isn’t so weak that we won’t be able to wait for the Nagas to fully mature.”

If this incident had occurred just a few days before, he would have been a nervous wreck about the lack of power, but now, he was feeling highly confident. He ordered, “Convey this message to Valicius! We’ll send the recovered Moai into battle first!”

It was because he had another alternative to fall back on.

***

Their dull tone, blurry eyes, and erratic gestures were all very awkward. However, the strength Kim Jin-Woo felt from the bodies of the newly-restored Moai was real.

He looked at the recently restored Moai made from Ancient Hero-Grade summons, which had left quite an impression on him, and said, “For this battle, these alone should suffice.”

“We only have thirty right now. However, I guarantee that I’ll restore them all before it’s too late.” Valicius rambled on as he stepped forward with a pleased expression, obviously feeling deeply satisfied.

“I’m confident you will. After all, you’ve risked your life and body to obtain this result,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

After brutally using himself as a test subject, Valicius had finally been able to achieve his goals. Because he hadn’t stepped out of the labyrinth, he wasn’t contaminated by the evil of the Underworld. Thanks to that, he had been able to restore his broken vessel by implanting a down gem into himself.

Because he had been restored in that way, Valicius knew better than anyone else how to restore the broken bodies of the Moai. As a result, he had succeeded in restoring the hundreds of Moai that had followed Kim Jin-Woo back to the Grand Labyrinth.

However, if Kim Jin-Woo hadn’ been able to subdue the Grand Labyrinth in time, he wouldn’t have been able to bring the Moai in; thus, it had truly been a fortunate series of events.

Ultimately, he had gained the opportunity to send thirty restored Hero-Grade summons into the battlefield.

“It’ll take some time for them to fully recover their former intellect, but it won’t be a problem to send them straight into battle right now. After all, battles are fought with bodies rather than heads,” Valicius remarked.

All of the Moai restored by Valicius had once been Ancient Hero-Grade summons. Since they were Ancient summons with extraordinary strength, it was clear that despite their small numbers, they would play a huge role on the battlefield.

“I look forward to it.” Sensing that the whole day would pass if he let Valicius continue talking, Kim Jin-Woo quickly wrapped up the situation.

Valicius hurriedly handed over the recovered Moai and the Ancient summons without saying another word and returned to his workshop, seemingly more interested in further research than standing around waiting to be praised.

Normally, the restored Moai would have been subject to a test of loyalty of some sort, but these had followed Kim Jin-Woo out of loyalty toward the Highlord’s presence. They followed all his instructions without any hesitation and perfectly integrated themselves into the Naga unit led by Quantus.

Leading the lined-up Naga units, Kim Jin-Woo left Dominique with a few words. “Dominique, take care of the labyrinth while I’m away.” Although the Grand Labyrinth itself had some ability to defend itself, he still urged Dominique to be aware of the enemy’s offensive measures.

“Don’t worry about the labyrinth, and please take care of yourself too, Master,” Dominique replied.

“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to overextend myself,” Kim Jin-Woo reassured her.

There was too little information about the enemy to justify waging a war. Even if the enemy truly was from a Deep Floor labyrinth from the Other Underworld, Kim Jin-Woo had no way of telling if they were from a Count’s labyrinth or a Duke’s labyrinth. He had to know the enemy first in order to draw up a plan.

“I’ll be off then.” Kim Jin-Woo mounted a Tiger Dragon that was on standby, and looked back at his Nagas as he shouted, “Forward!”

***

The world outside the Grand Labyrinth had completely changed.

“It’s changed so much,” Kim Jin-Woo, who hadn’t left the labyrinth for a long time due to dealing with internal matters, exclaimed, subtly admiring the changed appearance of the Underworld. It was still enveloped in thick darkness, but everything else looked as if it had come from the 11th Floor and beyond.

The passageways that had been so narrow that barely a few Tiger Dragons could stand side by side within them were nowhere to be seen. In their place were passageways that were so wide, dozens of Dragon Knights could move forward shoulder to shoulder. The ceiling had also risen high enough for Morrigan to spread her wings properly without being too close to the ground. The vacant squares he occasionally came across had also expanded.

“Halt! We’ll rest here for a while before continuing.” Spotting an Under-Elf Ranger emerging from the darkness, Kim Jin-Woo ordered his troops to stop and rest. He then commanded the ranger, “Report.”

“We found traces of the 17th Patrol unit that we lost contact with,” the Ranger said. Ever since Kim Jin-Woo had given their orders to keep their distance from the enemy, the Rangers had focused on looking for the missing patrol unit instead.

He pulled something out from his possession, his expression stiff, and said, “It seems there were no survivors.”

It was an Under-Elf scimitar that had been broken in the center, and its handle was smeared with dark red stains.

“And where are the enemy?” Kim Jin-Woo asked, seeking to establish the whereabouts of the enemy instead of comforting the Under-Elf who had lost his clanmate. After all, he thought, there could be no greater consolation than revenge.

“They’re moving southeast from where the current battle is taking place, and are slowly circling the area.”

It seemed the enemy was confused as well. Per the Under-Elf’s explanation, the enemy’s movements were extremely cautious and slow, and they never strayed far from the vicinity of the labyrinth where they had first appeared.

Besides, who in the Underworld could have anticipated the Restoration and predicted that the Floors would move and integrate with one another? It was clear that an uninformed enemy would be more likely to be confused by the incident.

“We can expect to engage them in half a day.” Kim Jin-Woo estimated the approximate direction and distance through the Ranger’s information, and gave his units directions. “So far, the enemy units that have come out of the labyrinth are in small units of about twenty to thirty troops, and a total of twelve units are conducting reconnaissance activities in the vicinity.”

The enemy’s forces had increased in the time Kim Jin-Woo had spent on the move, but he wasn’t bothered. After all, the enemy units were conducting their reconnaissance missions far away from each other. That meant it wouldn’t be too difficult to target and deal with the units one by one separately.

“Let’s speed up!” Kim Jin-Woo commanded.

If there were reconnaissance missions on the enemy’s side, it would be wiser to move quickly than to move cautiously, thus not giving the enemy any room to prepare.

Thus, as he rode his Tiger Dragon, Kim Jin-Woo ordered the Nagas to speed up as much as possible. Some time later, he stopped his troops again upon seeing the Under-Elf’s hand signal.

The Ranger said, “A small enemy force is approaching from the northwest.”

“Them?” Kim Jin-Woo responded. It was a brief, incomplete sentence, but the Ranger seemed to have understood his meaning.

The Ranger shook his head in response. “No. They’re a little further away from the enemy. It seems this is a new unit.”

It seemed that the enemy’s reconnaissance units were increasing in number.

“The unit has sixteen troops, four of which are Hero-Grade, including their commander,” the Ranger continued.

It was a formidable size. The number itself was small, as it was a reconnaissance unit, but the fact that a quarter of the unit was Hero-Grade meant that it was something to be wary of.

The probability that the 9th Floor had integrated with a Deep Floor from the Other Underworld was now even higher. If it had been a Lesser Floor labyrinth, it wouldn’t have been possible to have that many Hero-Grade summons in a mere reconnaissance unit.

“Maybe they’re from a Duke somewhere.” Kim Jin-Woo pondered for a moment about the enemy’s unexpected power level.

The Under-Elf Ranger asked, “What’s your plan? Would you like to avoid the enemy’s path?”

“They’d be able to track us down anyway. We should avoid any extraneous movements,” Kim Jin-Woo replied.

“What does that mean?” the Ranger asked.

“We’re going to strike first before the enemy arrives,” Kim Jin-Woo said firmly. Since he had lost one Under-Elf patrol unit, the opportunity to come to a peaceful conclusion through dialogue was over.

No, in the first place, Kim Jin-Woo hadn’t thought it would be possible to peacefully coexist with the labyrinths of the Other Underworld, especially given that the only true law governing the Underworld was ‘eat or be eaten’.

Chasing down the enemy wasn’t too difficult. Rangers from all directions reported the enemy’s whereabouts and gave the necessary directions, and the Rangers who received that information used it to lead their respective units. As a result, the enemy forces were discovered less than a day after Kim Jin-Woo left his Grand Labyrinth.

“So, it’s them,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

The enemies were neither beast nor human, but some sort of satyr. They had the lower body of a goat, the upper body of a human, and the head of a white eagle, and were larger than most Naga Warriors.

They were truly a strange sight to see, and it was no wonder that the Under-Elf Rangers were wiped out before being able to report back on what they had seen. They seemed truly swift and deadly.

But for Kim Jin-Woo, that was a great fact. Without hesitation, he selected only the strongest in his army and directly charged toward his enemies.

“Kyaaaat!” the centaurs roared in surprise, before being attacked by Morrigan and the rest of the Ancient Hero-Grade summons.

The Nagas spread out across the battlefield in an instant and surrounded the enemy, and a bloody battle quickly broke out. Blood splattered everywhere as fierce roars and screams erupted.