## Chapter 69 – 69. The Labyrinth’s Master (3)
#69. The Labyrinth’s Master (3)
Broken bones mend, and scorched flesh regrows.
Noel’s desperate strike, paid for with a heavy price, and my magic, unleashed while enduring the agony of a burning mana circuit.
All of it was for naught.
“…Reverse Summon.”
First, I reverse summoned the unconscious Noel. I don’t know where she went, but she must have returned to where she was before she met me.
[Noel Ronniela has been reverse summoned]
[Summoning Cooldown: 167:59:58]
Now, all that remained here was the bull-headed monster, as lively as if we hadn’t just fought, and me, with my body in tatters.
Honestly, with that kind of ridiculous regeneration ability, I at least expected it to come with the risk of consuming stamina.
But as if mocking my expectations, the Minotaur was burning with even more intense bloodlust and fighting spirit than when we first met.
Like a bull, thoroughly enraged and ready to charge at the matador at any moment.
On the other hand, I didn’t even have the strength to move one arm properly.
My mana was depleted, my mana circuits were in tatters, and my vision kept darkening as if my brain was about to shut down any second.
Thinking rationally, there was nothing more I could do with this body. I don’t even have a tank to stand in the front line since I reverse summoned Noel. What can I do?
I knew better than anyone that it was time to retreat, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
I just had to close my eyes and say, “End Match,” but why was I being so stubborn?
“Hoo…”
Of course, I knew the reason.
It was a valid reason that any mage or swordsman would nod in agreement with.
The conviction that I could reach the next level right away.
That feeling of having the doorknob that had been teasing me for so long in my hand was the only reason I was willing to risk my life.
Retreating here wouldn’t just be taking one step back.
I took out two bottles each of health and mana potions, one vitality potion, and two bottles of holy water, and chugged them all down at once.
I knew very well that this could lead to potion addiction, but it was a hundred times better than dying here.
“Never seen anyone doping before?”
The Minotaur, who looked perfectly fine on the outside but was still healing on the inside, stared at me, which made him look kind of cute.
If that guy had charged at me like a mad bull, my body would have been cut in half by that huge axe without me even having time to prepare.
Was he being careless because he thought I was already easy prey, or was it caution towards an enemy who had driven him to the brink of death?
I opened the shop.
[Twilight Elixir]
[Grade: Rare]
[Restores the body to its optimal condition for 10 seconds]
[※Warning! Immediately after the elixir’s effect ends, the user will lose consciousness]
[※Warning! Immediately after the elixir’s effect ends, a rebound will occur. Physical defects may occur]
[Price: 700 coins]
[Mana Elixir]
[Grade: Rare]
[Temporarily amplifies mana]
[Temporarily activates mana circuits]
[※Warning! Immediately after the elixir’s effect ends, mana cannot be used for one week]
[※Warning! Immediately after the elixir’s effect ends, mana circuits will be paralyzed for one week]
[Price: 700 coins]
Elixirs were a type of doping agent that allowed one to achieve the same effects as elixirs with cheap ingredients.
Because they were so effective, their duration was short, and their side effects were often severe, many countries had banned their use by law.
[Would you like to purchase the Twilight Elixir?]
[Y/N]
[Y]
[You have purchased the Twilight Elixir]
[Remaining coins: 1,450 coins]
[Would you like to purchase the Mana Elixir?]
[Y/N]
[Y]
[You have purchased the Mana Elixir]
[Remaining coins: 750 coins]
Of course, in my current situation, laws were not even worth discussing.
-!!!!
Finally, as if all the recovery was complete, the Minotaur began to move, emitting an intense aura and fear, just like when we first met.
Thump! Thump!
Each time his massive hooves stepped forward, the floor caved in.
“This is really fucking scary.”
Watching the gruesome sight of the giant bull-head charging at me to tear me to pieces, I opened the elixirs.
Just the smell made my stomach churn.
I’d never drunk this much water at once, let alone two bottles of holy water, various potions, and now elixirs.
“Well, that’s just my luck.”
The Minotaur’s speed, as he charged towards me, was accelerating to the point where it was hard to follow with my eyes.
With the monster’s ferocious roar, the giant axe swung down over my head.
Gulp-
The mixed elixirs went down my throat.
Kwaaaang!!!
·
·
·
The Minotaur, from the moment he was born, stood at the top of the 3rd floor’s food chain.
Due to the unique nature of the underground dungeon, hunting for him was merely a game to relieve boredom, not a means of feeding himself.
Giant golems, moving statues, swarms of spiders.
All were nothing more than vermin that fell helplessly before his swinging axe.
No creature here could defeat him.
He had no doubt that this would continue to be the case.
‘…It should be.’
His conviction was shattered by the appearance of small prey he had never seen before.
Moreover, they were just small prey that barely reached his knees. Judging by the scent, one male and one female.
At first, he was disappointed by their small size, but he thought they would be good enough to play with.
‘Th-this is impossible…!!’
Even when he was being beaten by the female that charged at him, even when he felt the pain of his entire body burning from the male’s magic.
He couldn’t understand the situation at all.
How could he be defeated by such small and insignificant prey?
Faced with the crisis of death for the first time since birth, the Minotaur felt intense rage.
Even as he quickly recovered from his wounds, and saw the vanished female and the battered male, his anger did not subside.
When all his wounds had healed, he charged at the battered male, confident of victory.
He felt that only by splitting that prey in half and killing it could he wash away even a part of the humiliation he had suffered.
Kwaaaang!!!
The giant axe fell on Kang Hyun-woo’s head, and at the same time, a huge explosion occurred.
The Minotaur smiled with joy at the sight.
It was a little disappointing that he had killed him without leaving a single piece of flesh, but so what!
In the end, he had proven it once again.
That he was the king of this place, the one who stood at the pinnacle of all creatures.
The swirling dust settled, and a huge crater formed where the axe had fallen, but the corpse of the prey he had been aiming for was nowhere to be seen.
Of course, he had thought that he might not have left a single piece of flesh, since it was a full-power strike.
But it was strange that there wasn’t even a trace of blood.
Only broken debris remained.
Just as an ominous thought crossed his mind.
“What are you spacing out for?”
The Minotaur quickly turned his head at the sound of the prey coming from behind.
There were no signs of injury on the prey standing there, no matter how hard he looked.
On the contrary, he looked almost too healthy, and there were even strange sparks flying around his body.
[Extreme Speed]
Extreme Speed, a support magic of the lightning element, allows the caster to move at lightning speed for 10 seconds.
Of course, it wasn’t possible to run at the actual speed of light.
If that were the case, his body would be torn to pieces.
Moreover, it was difficult to control, and if he made even the slightest mistake, his body would immediately fly forward and crash into the wall.
But I didn’t care, and with all the support magic I could use layered on top of each other, I immediately ran towards the Minotaur.
I didn’t think about what would happen afterward.
[Twilight Elixir]
[00:09]
The Minotaur swung his axe at the prey charging at him like a flash of light, but the attack didn’t even come close to hitting.
On the contrary, a deep gash was created across his side by the sword wielded by Kang Hyun-woo.
Blood gushed out like a fountain, but the Minotaur did not back down.
[00:08]
An axe blade full of murderous intent passes before my eyes.
My spine tingled, but I didn’t stop.
Kicking off the wall of the dungeon, I cut through the Minotaur’s hide.
[00:07]
As the wounds and bleeding steadily increased, the Minotaur’s movements changed.
[Berserker]
His entire body turned red, and hot steam rose from his hide.
[00:06]
The Minotaur was starting to catch up to my attacks, which he clearly hadn’t even been able to react to properly before.
Bang!!
The giant axe blade collides with the sword.
If it hadn’t been for Gillennium, it would have broken long ago. I increased the output of the ‘Strength Enhancement’ magic by one level due to the tremendous impact.
It felt like my mana circuits were burning, but for now, this was the only way.
[00:05]
As the battle continued, a tremendous gust of wind swirled around.
My mana circuits and limbs were trembling as if they were about to fall off at any moment, so I had to clench my teeth until they broke.
I didn’t think I could endure it otherwise.
[00:04]
As the atmosphere changed, the Minotaur spat out fear again, and one of my eardrums burst with a tremendous shock.
In addition, my body froze for a moment, as short as it was.
As the flow of battle was broken, the Minotaur did not miss the opportunity.
Bang!
I was hit head-on by the axe that was swung through the air, and I flew away at a tremendous speed and crashed into the wall.
[00:03]
I hurriedly put up a barrier, but I couldn’t completely block the attack.
“Ugh!”
Amidst the shock of my insides being turned upside down, I barely managed to get up, but my limbs, except for my left arm, were not working properly.
I had no choice but to put mana into the tip of my left index finger and stab the mana circle.
I forced mana to circulate to help my body recover, at the cost of pain that felt like my heart was being torn out.
Only 1.6 seconds left.
Moreover, the effect of Extreme Speed had disappeared due to the previous attack.
No matter how I looked at it, there was nothing more I could do.
Anyone would have thought so.
Nevertheless, I moved.
Because I hadn’t been mindlessly exchanging blows with the Minotaur head-on until now.
“Kkeueuk…?!”
As a massive amount of lightning and mana surged through my mana circuits once again, it felt like my entire body was burning.
The deployment, construction, and activation of the magic.
Until now, I had been allocating a certain amount of my brain’s resources to calculating a single magic.
It was different from ‘Sphere Lightning,’ which widely defeats enemies.
Lightning came down from the thunderclouds and transformed into a spear.
[Lightning Spear]
The Minotaur tried to avoid the unusual mana and lightning, but the speed at which the lightning bolt flashed and flew was even faster.
──────The end of the Lightning Spear, which was too fast to follow with the eye, finally succeeded in hitting him.
However.
“Kuaaaaaaa!!!!”
The Minotaur must have judged that he couldn’t avoid the Lightning Spear, so he sacrificed his left arm to block the attack.
Of course, he suffered a serious injury with his arm flying off at the shoulder, but with the regeneration ability I saw earlier, it was clear that it wouldn’t take long to recover.
It was over now.
There was nothing more I could do.
My mana was depleted, and my mana circuits were a mess.
It was difficult to even move a finger, and soon I would lose consciousness as a result of taking the elixirs, and even suffer a rebound.
In the end, I failed to reach 3 circles, and I failed to deal with the Minotaur.
Without achieving anything properly, my eyelids only grew heavier.
All that was left was to run away from here in an unsightly manner.
“…Match End-“
“But World Tree-nim.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Well, he’s supposed to be a hero. Doesn’t he have a god’s blessing or a holy sword or something like that?”
The World Tree replied with her usual expressionless face.
“Impossible.”
I wasn’t expecting much, but I was still disappointed.
“Instead.”
The World Tree hugged me, who was feeling dejected.
I felt a lot better when her soft breasts touched me.
“I will give you something else soon.”
Unlike the blessings given directly by God, the blessings given by priests above the rank of Archbishop vary in effect depending on the depth of faith and sincerity towards the recipient.
Even if the other person is far away, if you believe deeply in your heart, there is nothing that cannot be achieved.
Tting-
[World Tree’s Blessing]
[Grade: ???]
[Buff]
[Duration: ???]
[The Saintess’s prayer reaches the heavens and dwells within you]
[The body is restored]
[Mana is restored]
[The curse is lifted]
[Divinity dwells within]
Since ancient times, the Queen of Pelledia has also served as the Saintess chosen by the World Tree.
When such a Saintess prayed for only one person for days without sleeping or stopping, the World Tree, who had lost most of her authority to intervene on Earth, had some leeway.
My body, which had been breaking down due to the rebound of the elixirs, was restored to its original state, and life was breathed into my half-burned mana circuits.
A change occurred in my body, which had recovered to a condition better than usual, as if I had never fought.
The mana circuits spread throughout my body and the circle in my heart felt as if they were becoming one.
With the sound of the doorknob in my hand turning, I plunged into the arms of the Minotaur, who had raised his axe to finish me off.
The mana dwelling in my entire body surged, and I swung my sword without using any support magic.
The Minotaur’s tough hide, which I wouldn’t have been able to scratch in the past, was cut off like tofu.
The tip of the sword, with a faint aura rippling, cut across the monster’s belly and reached its end.
Seogeok-
***
The Minotaur looked at the ceiling.
The stuffy ceiling, which he had always thought was narrow and low, felt particularly far away today.
Perhaps his goal was not to reign as the king of this place, but to escape from this prison.
Born in prison, die in prison.
It was the most terrible end he could imagine, but if he died at the hands of a predator stronger than himself, it wouldn’t be such a bad death.
“M,male…”
He looked at the predator looking down at him.
“…You can talk?”
It was too small, even when looking at it again.
To think he would die to something like that.
“A hunter… does not speak… to his prey…”
But his eyes were worth looking at.
He liked the eyes that hadn’t died even though his whole body was in tatters and covered in blood.
Only then was the Minotaur able to close his eyes with satisfaction.
Tting-
[You have defeated the Minotaur]
[First Kill Reward: 1,000 coins]
[??? has been detected]
[Abnormal strengthening of the monster has been confirmed]
[Additional reward will be given]
***
“…That’s the World Tree’s hero.”
