Chapter 35 – 035. Archis Great Labyrinth (3)
“The owner, the puppeteer, Archis, who created this ruin, was one of the heroes who played an active part in the war against the demons with his independently developed technique called ‘puppetry’ in the era of emptiness. Although the art of ‘puppetry’ is now forgotten.”
Eunhyeon calmly walked inside the ruins and explained the owner who made them.
“What is puppetry?”
“Can it be said that it is literally the art of making and manipulating puppets? In other words, it is also called ‘marionette control’. It is the ability to use a doll modeled after a human and strengthened by applying various magic and spells in battle. Are there similar technologies in modern times? The ‘golems’ made by alchemists are similar.”
“Is there a difference between ‘doll’ and ‘golem’… ?”
“There is a difference in the production method. The purpose of its creation is also wrong. If alchemists made golems to supplement combat and labor, the purpose of puppeteers for human beings was to create a new life that was infinitely close to a ‘human’ figure.”
“A new life… Creation?”
“Pause for a second. There is a trap ahead.”
Quaang!
When the stone was thrown, a trap that sensed the noise was triggered.
Dozens of iron spears rushed from the ceiling of the labyrinth and pierced the floor with a dull impact sound.
Looking at the stone floors damaged by the iron window, Eleanor swallowed.
It was because she imagined that if she had gone in front of her without thinking, her body would have been pierced by that iron spear and the flesh would have burst open.
Even as Eunhyeon continued the conversation, she sensed the invisible trap like a ghost and calmly dismantled it.
“Is Alex’s magic signal being picked up again?”
“Yes. I’m getting caught again. Apparently, no signal was picked up until we entered the ruins… What happened?”
“It’s because this dungeon is an independent space that was originally cut off from the outside world.”
“Disconnection… ? A separate space?”
Eleanor had no choice but to look puzzled at Eun-hyeon’s explanation, so Eun-hyeon continued with a more detailed explanation.
“Suppose, for example, that I have a book in each hand with a different story written on it. Books can neither affect nor receive each other. Then, the worlds described in these two books can be considered completely independent worlds, right?”
“Yes.”
“However, if the ‘protagonist’ in this book passes into the ‘world’ in the other book in some way, the traces of that ‘protagonist’ will leave traces in both this world and the other world, and there will be traces.”
“In other words, our world and this dungeon are cut off so that we cannot interfere with each other’s world, right?”
“That’s right.”
“But with that said, why were we able to enter this dungeon? In addition, there are cases of flooding where large-scale monsters from within the dungeon come out of the world.”
“Originally, it’s true that I can’t interfere. However, a certain phenomenon created a passage between the dungeon and the world, and they were able to use that passage to interfere with each other’s world.”
Originally, in this world, on Earth, there were no dungeons, monsters, or civilizations with magic.
Earth and other worlds originally could not interfere with each other, but for some reason, the two worlds became integrated.
Even Eun-hyeon did not know the details of the cause of the destruction of Earth’s civilization by the appearance of demons and beasts on Earth.
Even when she became an apostle of the three goddesses of Norn, she asked the goddesses about the cause of the invasion of demons on Earth, but the goddesses did not give a proper answer.
[Sorry… It was all our fault for not managing properly.]
Since Belldandy only apologized with a pitiful face, Eunhyeon accepted the fact just like that.
“Yes… That’s right.”
New knowledge that was not properly taught in school or in the family.
Accepting that, Eleanor was terrified and interested in this bloody space, which was clearly different from the dungeons she had entered so far.
“But weren’t dungeons originally created by demons? The hero who created this dungeon, Archis, seems to have been said to have driven out the demons during the war.”
“It’s true that the demons created this dungeon, but it’s because Archis killed the demons and took over this dungeon.”
“Yes… ?”
“To be precise, it was Archis who remodeled this dungeon like this.”
“Then, all the traps like iron spears falling from the sky, cliff traps falling to the ground, and poisonous smoke coming out of the air…”
Eunhyun nodded her head as if to show that Eleanor’s guess was correct.
“These are all traps designed by Archis.”
“Why do you set such a heinous trap against the same humans!”
“Well… I’m fine with that…”
Eun-hyeon avoided his gaze and gave a poor answer, but in reality he knew why Archis designed these traps.
‘If it’s to the point where he can’t pass this ordeal, it’s probably because he doesn’t think he’s worth passing on to his heir. He was actually a guy who had no interest in the life and death of humans.’
The reason Archis seized this dungeon, remodeled it into a labyrinth, and set vicious traps targeting the same humans was to select a successor to inherit his knowledge and skills.
Eun-hyeon did not explain her story to Eleanor about her true intentions.
More than anything, it was obvious that she would look at herself with suspicious eyes, saying, ‘How do you know that?’.
She had already been hesitantly explaining various knowledge and history of ancient ruins, so she wanted to refrain from telling Eleanor any more suspicious-looking stories, as she had had such an impression to some extent.
“And the stories about these ruins, never tell anyone else.”
“Why?”
“This is probably a dungeon that has not yet been discovered by either the kingdom or the adventurer’s guild. I don’t know how the princess came to know about this place, but there is also my personal reason for not wanting to let many people know about this place. Oh, don’t ask why again. Because I can’t answer this.”
This was the ruins left by Archis, but at the same time it was also the tomb where she ended her life.
I don’t know what Princess Yuria meant, but from Archis’ point of view, Princess Yuria’s party was no different from grave robbers who came to her tomb to steal her burial items.
If Princess Yuria cleared all the trials left by Archis, the story would be different for her, but if she cleared the trials and was recognized as the successor of ‘Puppet Master’, there was no way she would still be missing.
Above all, Eun-hyeon guessed that, judging from the fact that the traces of Alex who accompanied her were still in the dungeon and there were no traces of her leaving, there was a high probability that she could not clear the ordeal and was stranded in this labyrinth.
Eun-hyeon blocked Eleanor’s prying questions from the beginning and obtained Eleanor’s consent as if she had no choice.
Thud!
Along with the dull noise, the interior of the labyrinth began to tremble greatly.
Eleanor, experiencing the noise and shock herself, stiffened her body and gazed at the source of the sound that was gradually approaching.
Thud!
With each step forward, the entire labyrinth vibrates.
As she got closer to herself, the shape gradually revealed itself, and something huge that had been hidden in the dark shadows was illuminated by a torch placed in the labyrinth, revealing its true identity.
“Mi, Minotaur…”
It was a Minotaur, a bipedal bull with a rugged body holding a huge battle ax with one hand.
Naturally, Eleanor’s hand holding the staff trembled, and her face was also terrified.
It was the moment when the ferocious red eyes, blowing out a rough snort, finally looked directly at the two humans.
Ooh oh oh!
Finding Eunhyeon and Eleanor, the Minotaur roared at them.
“Kyaaak!”
Faced with the fierce roar of the demonic beast that shook her ears, Eleanor grabbed her own ears and sat down in her seat.
Eun-hyeon calmly observed the state of Eleanor, who was unable to come to her senses as she was weighed down by the power of the Minotaur.
After Eun-hyeon figured out that she was just losing her mind in her stupor, she immediately summoned her longsword and ran towards the minotaur.
The Minotaur, noticing the existence of Eun-hyeon running toward him, also took a perfect posture toward him, and their weapons collided head-on.
Kaaang!
Along with a bloody metal sound, the aftermath of the impact created by the clash of the long sword and the battle ax shook the entire labyrinth.
Starting from the initial collision, a bloody fight unfolded as humans and monsters attacked each other.
Every time he received two or three rounds of Battle Axes, which he wielded with tremendous strength from his forearm, which was as large as a log, Eunhyeon’s sword bounced helplessly and began to crack little by little.
In the fight between the two beings due to the difference in weight class, the Minotaur, which showed off its overwhelming power, naturally had the upper hand.
However, Eun-hyeon was showing an unwavering figure while estimating how long her weapon, which was dying out like that, could last.
As for the Minotaur, that was strange.
Obviously, he is in a more advantageous situation, and human weapons are on the verge of breaking.
If you break that weapon, it will be impossible to hit your own ax any more.
Even if you put pressure on a human being in this state, the human sword will not be able to withstand and will break, and this situation, which was endangered and barely enduring, will come over to you.
The Minotaur thought so.
However, the expression of the person he was dealing with was extremely calm, as if he expected that this was a natural situation.
Is there something you’re aiming for?
I can not know.
If so, he continued to stick to the strategy of driving humans into a corner by simply swinging an ax in his own way.
Eventually, the moment when Eunhyeon’s longsword could not withstand the onslaught of the Minotaur’s battle ax and broke.
It was at this moment that the Minotaur, with a grim smile, lowered his ax to the head of a defenseless silver-haired man who had lost his weapon.
Whoa?
The Minotaur smiled triumphantly, thinking he had definitely cut a human, but he doubted it because he felt the sensation of cutting through the air, not the familiar sensation of cutting down on flesh.
Without giving her time to answer the question, Eun-hyeon naturally approached the Minotaur’s arms.
Eun-hyun, who had avoided the Minotaur’s battle ax by a single stroke by twisting her body to one side, immediately approached into the Minotaur’s arms like water flowing.
It was a single mistake made by too swift and graceful movements and a mistake in judgment full of confidence that he had won.
Eun-hyeon, who gracefully burrowed into the arms of the Minotaur, took her stance.
[Eunhyeon’s Unique Ability]
[Time Acceleration]
The center of gravity, the motion of fixing the lower body, twisting the waist to exert maximum force, and the time from clenching a fist that was swaying with an enormous amount of mana and throwing it out took less than a second.
The actions of the too fast time were all contained in the eyes of the Minotaur, but the Witchbeast could not move.
Even though I saw it with my own eyes and understood it, the instinctual beast’s instinct appealed to me to move quickly and not to get hit by that fist, but the Minotaur, bound by the bondage of real time, couldn’t move.
[Juhyeonseong Polar Plain]
[Sammaebung Kwon (三昧崩拳)]
Eun-hyeon’s iron fist, with concentrated magical power, hit the Minotaur’s ship directly.
Ooh oh oh!
Without even time to react, the Minotaur’s abdomen exploded in shock.
A hole was formed in the center of the gigantic body, and the torn internal organs along with the flesh were scattered on the floor in such a gruesome form that they could not even be recognized.
An enormous amount of blood gushed out of the perforated abdomen and stained the surroundings red, and Eun-hyeon did not want to be covered in the enormous amount of blood from the demon, so she pulled back her body and avoided the seat.
The Minotaur, who belatedly felt indescribable pain, cried out in pain, but no one answered the demon’s scream.
Dropping the battle ax he was holding, the Minotaur fell to his knees and fell to the side.
“Ah…”
Soon, Eunhyun sighed as if she realized something.
His complexion turned blue and his teeth rattled, as if he realized that he had made a big mistake.
Belldandy, who had been watching the scene, was surprised by Eun-hyun’s sudden shivering behavior and spoke to Eun-hyeon.
[Oh, kid? Why?]
“Oh, Goddess, that’s…”
[What’s going on? Is something wrong? If there is something strange about the child’s body…]
Belldandy hurriedly checked Eunhyeon’s condition, but there was no problem with his condition.
“I made a mistake…”
[Mistake?]
“I shouldn’t have killed that cow like that… I should have summoned a stronger sword and cut it down…”
Eun-hyeon looked at the minotaur’s flesh that had been torn apart by Eun-hyeon’s fist as if she was really sorry.
“You can’t eat those meats if they become like that. I’d rather cut it off with a sword… How valuable is beef? .”
[…]
Belldandy sighed as he looked at Eun-hyeon with a pitiful look.
