#81. The Highlord’s Legacy

Why had he only noticed it now? There were so many telltale signs.

The message windows Kim Jin-Woo had seen so far only gave explanations according to his present situation, and they had never tried to directly interfere with his choices.

However, the message he had just received almost seemed to force one choice over the other; it was almost too explicit to be a mere system message. Moreover, he had sensed a strange sense of subtle hostility in it.

None of that was normal.

“Fuck.” Having just realized that fact, Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t help but curse his own stupidity. But there was no time to waste on blaming himself. First, he had to find out if the current situation was a one-time occurrence in the Underworld, or if the Underworld was truly acting against him.

He knew what he had to do right away, but the circumstances were still the same. The Underworld wasn’t some entity he could bargain with, like a merchant, nor was it an entity he could actively communicate with. The Underworld simply existed. There was nothing he could do against the gigantic behemoth called the Underworld.

But, as always, the truth revealed itself in due time, and that time was now.

Kim Jin-Woo suddenly remembered a conversation he’d had with Catherine. He wasn’t sure why he just remembered it all of a sudden, but it simply came to his mind. It was just that her vivid voice resonated in his head.

“I awakened before you, and there are those who awakened before me. And they’ll constantly try to test you, as you’ve now met me.”

She had warned him that the First and Second Highlords who awakened before them would try to test him.

“Their tests are going to be tough. But you have to get through them.”

At that time, he had snorted at those words. He had thought that as long as he was on the 9th Floor, he would be able to handle whatever the First and Second Highlords could throw at him.

But would such a being as a Highlord resort to low-level provocation to test another Highlord? Was he already being tested without realizing it, just as the Black Merchants had secretly tested him with the Black Tiger’s labyrinth? He couldn’t be certain. If he could figure it out so easily, he wouldn’t have to think so deeply about the issue.

However, just because he couldn’t find the answer by himself didn’t mean that he would never be able to. At the very least, he knew who exactly had the answers he was looking for.

Catherine, as another Highlord who had the Power of Wailing, would certainly be able to explain the current situation.

“If this continues, we’ll be caught,” Kim Jin-Woo muttered. Finding Catherine and understanding the bigger picture came later. Right now, the priority was to lose track of their centaur pursuers. “Let’s pick up the pace!”

The amplification buffs of his ‘Undefeated’ title were gone, but the Conqueror’s charisma was still in effect. Upon his command, the tired Nagas began to move faster, bearing stern expressions.

However, when it came to the Under-Elf Rangers, they didn’t seem to like what they were witnessing. The patrols approached him quietly and tried to warn him over and over again. “My King…”

“For now, this is the best decision,” Kim Jin-Woo insisted.

If he could abandon the Naga Warriors, Sorcerers and Fighters, it was certain that their unit would move faster. However, that would mean the reason for retreating in the first place would become obsolete. Kim Jin-Woo had no intention of losing a single Naga in this battle.

“If we open a portal…” the Ranger suggested nervously.

However, Kim Jin-Woo shook his head and replied, “If I had planned on doing so in the first place, I wouldn’t have personally come here on my own two feet. There’s no need for us to expose the heart of our labyrinth to our unknown enemies.” Even if he were to win this battle, if he exposed the heart of his labyrinth to the enemy, the victory would be for naught.

This was one of those times Kim Jin-Woo resented the fact that portals remained open for twenty-four hours. If it weren’t for the fact that the portal would be connected directly to the master room, they wouldn’t have had to suffer unnecessarily like this.

“Wait a minute…” Although he had been tense the entire time, Kim Jin-Woo suddenly raised his hands and stopped his unit. He remarked, “The portal doesn’t necessarily have to connect to the Grand Labyrinth.”

With that, he fumbled around in his belongings and pulled out a faded parchment scroll.

***

“Milord, I was just about to go looking for…” As always, as soon as the portal opened, Mimir ran up to Kim Jin-Woo with something to say.

“What’s going on?” Unable to comprehend the current situation, Mimir stared at the portal over Kim Jin-Woo’s shoulder. “Why are the Nagas suddenly…” As he watched the procession of Nagas rushing through the portal, his expression was filled with confusion.

“I’m being trailed, but it’s not the time for me to fight, for various reasons,” Kim Jin-Woo replied. However, long explanations were unnecessary.

Mimir seemed to have immediately understood what was going on with that simple sentence, as he frowned and exclaimed, “What an absurd thing to do!”

“There’s no time for you to be angry now, is there?” Kim Jin-Woo’s expression looked as if it had been cast in iron, as he was being incredibly brazen in his actions.

“I’ll definitely claim this debt next time!” Mimir yelled at Kim Jin-Woo as he quickly summoned the Black Merchants’ escort mercenaries.

Seeing that, Kim Jin-Woo leisurely began his retreat. At the end of the quiet hallway, he summoned another portal without hesitation.

“Portal.”

***

Kim Jin-Woo, having succeeded in returning to the Grand Labyrinth via the Black Merchants’ stronghold, frowned at the message that greeted him upon his arrival.

You have succeeded in escaping the enemy’s pursuit, negating all penalties.

‘Blessing of the Undefeated’ has been activated again.

The formerly helpless Nagas have regained their previous vigor.

The messages, which had been pressuring Kim Jin-Woo with all kinds of subtle threats, gave only brief responses when all was said and done. Kim Jin-Woo felt unsatisfied with the way they addressed him, and he gave up being angry at them.

“Master?” Seeing a portal suddenly open with Nagas flowing through it, Dominique greeted him with a startled expression. She seemed to be worried that something was wrong due to her master’s sudden return.

“The situation is serious. The enemy is stronger than I thought, and we’re weaker than I expected.” Kim Jin-Woo explained the situation outside the Grand Labyrinth to Dominique.

Dominique glanced through the portal anxiously the whole time as Kim Jin-Woo shared his story. After the explanation, she seemed more serious, as she requested for some time for her to think through the situation. The disparity in their power wasn’t something that was going to be resolved overnight; thus, Kim Jin-Woo agreed to her request and headed off to look for Daedalus.

“Hurry up with your work. I have an urgent need to use the Nagas,” Kim Jin-Woo insisted. Daedalus seemed bewildered by the sudden request, but he didn’t object to it. Kim Jin-Woo added, “If it’s not possible, I’ll be taking back the Sea Dragon’s Heart.”

With one sentence, Kim Jin-Woo was able to effectively shut Daedalus’ complaints up. Although Daedalus was a Labyrinth Architect who was shameless enough to ignore his own mistakes, when it came to depriving him of his precious materials, that was more than enough to scare him into being very obedient.

Having settled matters with Daedalus, Kim Jin-Woo went off to find Valicius next. He explained all the shortcomings of the restored Moai in their last battle, and said that he wanted each of those weaknesses to be worked on.

Unlike Daedalus, Valicius didn’t attempt to make any excuses. Without saying a single word, he placed a Moai that was waiting to be restored on his table.

***

Even after Kim Jin-Woo was done settling matters, Dominique still had yet to come up with any solutions.

But that was to be expected. After all, they now had to face a Duke-class labyrinth, which Kim Jin-Woo had thought they would only encounter after going to war with the Counts. As long as Valicius’ and Daedalus’ research remained unfinished, their troubles wouldn’t end.

But that didn’t mean all Kim Jin-Woo could do was sit around and wait for the two madmen to finish their jobs. While he and the Nagas waited for the research to be finished, the labyrinth masters were sure to scout their surrounding areas and attempt to exert further influence.

Kim Jin-Woo didn’t want things to go that way. Momentum was hard to push back against once it started. It wouldn’t be easy to raise the morale of those who had succumbed to the momentum of their enemies. If they were to lose to their enemy’s momentum and become overly cautious as a result, it would be very difficult for them to even leave their labyrinth ever again.

“Milord!”

Kim Jin-Woo was broken out of his reverie by the sharp voice calling for him, and looked up.

“You’re safe!”

Kim Jin-Woo saw Mimir’s head peek through the portal; as twenty-four hours hadn’t passed, it was still open.

“Eeek!”

Thanks to that, Mimir, having had to fight 200 powerful summons, was so angry that his big head was completely red. He must have been furious due to Kim Jin-Woo’s brazen attitude.

“I’ll pay the price for what I’ve done,” Kim Jin-Woo said. Even if it was Mimir, who claimed to be his Eternal Treasury Keeper, Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t help but try to calm him down this time. One thing was for certain: He must have sustained quite a bit of damage in order to deal with the two hundred centaurs.

“The price isn’t what’s important now…” Mimir began.

“Are you saying you won’t accept it?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

“I will! I will! Who says I won’t!?” No matter how angry Mimir was, his desire for precious possessions was more important than anything else. However, he continued, “Right now, the price isn’t what’s important, but if you connect a portal like that without consulting me, that leaves us in an awkward position! I haven’t been hiding all this time for nothing!”

“You seem to have dealt with those summons better than I thought, seeing how you’re around to speak nonsense right now,” Kim Jin-Woo retorted. To some extent, he was deeply aware of his share of the responsibility, but he had no intention of accepting Mimir’s arrogance. “Is it so unfair for you to drive my enemies away for my sake?”

“What do you mean…” Mimir began.

Kim Jin-Woo looked down arrogantly at Mimir from his throne, saying, “You may have the excuse of avoiding the gaze of the Usurper, but don’t forget who your master is.”

Mimir belatedly realized the position he was in and bit his lips. However, he was pouting like an unhappy child, so it was obvious that he didn’t agree with what Kim Jin-Woo had said.

However, instead of hearing out Mimir’s complaints, Kim Jin-Woo raised a question. “By the way…”

“Please speak,” Mimir said.

Kim Jin-Woo got up from his throne and looked down at Mimir’s round, bowed head. As he strode down from the podium, he bent down to lock eyes with Mimir, saying, “Not too long ago, there was a terrible commotion in the Underworld. The disaster was so terrible that even my Grand Labyrinth was 70% damaged. But.”

“What are you trying to say…” Mimir began.

Kim Jin-Woo cut him off. “The Black Merchants’ base was completely intact.”

The imp seemed completely taken aback at the unexpected statement. He replied, “What do you mean, it was completely intact? We barely managed to restore it after expending a lot of resources.”

“It looks way too similar to the way it did before, even if everything you say is true. If something is destroyed and later restored, there are obvious signs,” Kim Jin-Woo retorted.

“You probably didn’t see it properly, considering how busy and chaotic the situation was.” Mimir, who had been full of dissatisfaction just moments before, was now trembling as he made up one excuse after another. Seeing how he was reacting, Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t help but doubt him even further.

“My dear Mimir.” He narrowed his eyes as he grabbed Mimir by the cheek, forcing the imp to look into his eyes. He spoke in a stern voice, forcing the imp’s darting eyes to look nowhere else. “I’m warning you first. Don’ deceive me and try to feed me lies. What I want is only the truth.”

The Lord’s words sounded like commands, and Mimir simply nodded without even daring to answer back. Kim Jin-Woo coldly looked at Mimir and asked one simple question. “Where is the Eternal Treasury?”