Moon’s Labyrinths (Web Novel)

With a thud, Jaeho fell on his bottom. His face turned pale as if he had just seen a ghost.

“Th-that man…!”

Sungyoon hadn’t just killed the man. The man's head had fallen to the floor and split like red pulp. The insides of the brain were splattered all across the floor.

It was a gruesome death.

“He’s already dead?”

Jaeho was so shocked that he trembled. In contrast to him, Sungyoon looked calm and peaceful, and even a bit puzzled.

“You tried to mess with my daughter, yet you didn’t even think about this possibility? Aren’t you trying to kill me? You’ve pushed it this far, so why are you shaking from a death?”

Jaeho looked at Sungyoon. His former friend had done a barbaric act against a fellow human, yet his expression remained the same. This wasn’t the Woo Sungyoon that he had known. The Sungyoon he was familiar with used to be like every other person and would get disgusted watching movies that showed too much gore.

Miyun had come to realize that Sungyoon had changed. However, Jaeho had never spent an extended amount of time in Sungyoon’s presence after the betrayal. So he was unaware of Sungyoon's temperament now.

No, he had some idea that Sungyoon had changed, but he never expected the change to be so drastic. As fear washed over him, this chilling experience made Jaeho reassess Sungyoon.

Unlike the unsightly mess named Jaeho, the four Connectors kept their guard up against Sungyoon. However, they hesitated to act. They had killed people before, and they had experienced losing comrades before too. Yet, they looked uncomfortable in the current situation.

They had lost a comrade in an instant. The power and speed that Sungyoon showed were unimaginable.

‘Shit! We were too naive in our assessment!’

The muscular man felt as if a heavy boulder were sitting on his chest.

‘This is the power of the Knight, the savior of London.’

If the five of them had been present in London, they would have defeated the Behemoth. In fact, they would have had an easier time than Sungyoon. That was why they had readily accepted the job to attack Sungyoon.

However, their assumptions were dead wrong.

“… What should we do, Leader?”

When the tall man who was built like a beanpole asked the question, the Leader just rolled his eyes back and forth. He then gulped and hoped his comrades would pick up on his signal. Discreetly twitching his hand toward the back, the Leader spoke to distract Sungyoon.

“You're ruthless. You didn’t even hesitate to kill him.”

“You guys had attacked Shinhae, so this was the only outcome.”

Fortunately, Sungyoon responded. It seemed Sungyoon didn’t plan on slaughtering them all without giving notice. The four Connectors felt a little relieved.

“Do you think you can handle the fallout?”

“You guys attacked first, and I acted in self-defense.”

“Are you sure about that? The scope of self-defense laws in Korea is narrow.”

“Don’t worry about it. Devices are considered moving bombs. The law is very lenient when it comes to violence performed by Connectors who illegally wear Devices and Gems.”

Devices were considered to be weapons more dangerous than guns in Korea. Therefore, the regular set of laws couldn’t be applied equally to Connectors who were capable of using their abilities on Earth.

As Sungyoon raised his hammer, the four Connectors flinched.

The muscled man gave a discrete signal with his eyes, and his comrades nodded.

‘Despite everything, we were lucky.’

Sungyoon moved. Unlike before, the four Connectors got into defensive stances. One of them rushed forward, and Sungyoon’s eyes were drawn toward this man.

“Block him!”

The Leader shouted as he raised his weapon. The other three had to make sure Sungyoon didn’t interfere with their Leader's actions, so they attacked Sungyoon with a do-or-die attitude.

Boom!

“Kuh-huhk!”

Sungyoon’s hammer sent one of them flying. Since this man had blocked the attack with his shield, his head was still intact, unlike the Connector Sungyoon had previously hit. However, his body crashed into the wall, and he coughed. It seemed the blow had given him grave injuries.

“Koo-oohk!”

The remaining two gritted their teeth as they exchanged blows with Sungyoon. They were very disciplined in their co-operation as they blocked Sungyoon’s flurry of attacks. Even though they had overclocked their Gems, the injuries on their bodies kept mounting. Their bodies were starting to fail.

Crunch!

The arm of one of them bent at an odd angle when it couldn’t hold up against Sungyoon’s monstrous strength.

“Ahhhhhhhhk!”

The Connector let out a horrified scream. Tears appeared in his eyes due to the pain, but he knew he couldn’t afford to nurse his injury. Sungyoon ignored everything else and kept attacking. In fact, he started to ramp up his attacks.

His ax fell on top of a pale face full of pain and fear.

Kwahng!

“Kuh-huhk!”

The ax split the weapon in front of it and diagonally pierced the shoulder.

Chwahk!

Blood sprayed into the air when Sungyoon extracted his ax. The Connector's body was almost cut into half, and only a small piece of flesh at his waist kept his body from separating into two. His corpse then fell to the ground and started to swell. Bubbles erupted all over the body as it melted.

The poison from the ax had circulated through the man's body in an instant.

“You monster!”

Two of their comrades were already dead, and the remaining three could tell that their opponent hadn’t used his full power yet. The terrifying aspect of it all was Sungyoon’s cold gaze encompassing everyone.

‘He's basically saying he won’t let any of us run away.’

Cold sweat erupted from the remaining Connector, the tall man, still fighting Sungyoon. He fervently hoped that their plan would work.

“It’s done!”

A voice rang out. It was the voice of the Connector who had remained out of the fight after being sent flying by Sungyoon’s attack. The Leader's face brightened when he heard the sentence.

“Leader! I brought them out!”

“Good job!”

Sungyoon’s gaze headed toward the back of the warehouse. One of his opponents knocked over three barrels, and three humans fell out. Bruises were all over their bodies, and they doubled over in pain. Their own blood had painted their bodies red.

“Oooooooh!”

“Ahhhhh!”

They couldn’t even scream as they writhed on the floor. Sungyoon knew these three very well.

“Stand back!”

The Connector placed a knife on the neck of one of three figures. It was a woman. She had been beaten so much that her face had swollen up. However, one could tell that she was a beautiful woman for her age.

“Put down your Devices and Gems! If you don't, I’m going to kill this bitch!”

The man who held the hostage yelled. Even though he had a hostage, the desperation in his voice was apparent.

The muscled man, the leader, let out a sigh of relief and relaxed a little. Even if these three and Sungyoon had separated on bad terms, they were still his ex-wife, former mother-in-law, and former father-in-law. The one holding them hostage thought he could keep Sungyoon at bay by threatening them. The Leader also had the same opinion.

Jaeho, who had been watching the battle in fear, quickly ran toward Miyun and her parents. He took out a pistol and placed it on her forehead.

The eyebrows of the man who held the knife against Miyun’s neck twitched. However, he didn’t do anything.

“Do you see this? If you want to save them—”

Jaeho yelled as if he were holding onto his only lifeline. However, he couldn’t finish his sentence.

Crunch!

“Uh?”

The tall man looked down. The spear blade of the halberd had pierced through his stomach. He had let his guard down for a brief moment, so he couldn’t react to Sungyoon’s attack.

Sungyoon took out the halberd, and the tall man fell to the ground like a marionette whose strings were cut.

“Three left.”

Sungyoon's calm voice scared the hell out of the Leader.

“F-fuck! What the hell are you doing! I told you to stay put!”

Jaeho yelled as if he were having a seizure. However, Sungyoon ignored him. This time, he headed toward the Leader.

The Leader was the only one left facing Sungyoon, and he slowly edged backward.

“Just stay where you are!”

Poo-oohk!

“Ahhhhhk!”

The man holding Miyun hostage stabbed her arm with his sword. It seemed Miyun was still semi-conscious, and she screamed in pain. However, Sungyoon didn’t even blink an eye. In fact, he didn’t even turn to look at them.

Ssssk!

Sungyoon swapped out his weapon for a sword. The Leader became devastated when he saw this. Every time Sungyoon moved, the Leader showed an expression resembling that of someone watching a horror movie.

Tah-ahng!

A gunshot suddenly rang in the air. The man who held the sword against Miyun jumped in surprise as the acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air.

“I-I told you to stay back!”

The hand holding the pistol shook as Jaeho yelled, and the barrel of the pistol emanated white smoke. Jaeho stood in front of Miyun’s father. To be precise, he stood in front of the corpse of Miyun’s father.

The pool of blood widened around the body. For some reason, it looked very unrealistic.

Glance!

Sungyoon looked toward themand saw that his former father-in-law was dead. However, that was all he did for them, then he resumed walking forward.

“Shit!”

That was the Leader's last word.

Kwah-roo-roo-roo-roong!

The powerful light of lightning erupted, and the violent sound of thunder rang out. The leader’s charred body crumpled to the ground.

Ssssk.

After killing everyone that would get in his way, Sungyoon headed toward his remaining foes.

“I said stop moving!”

The last Connector placed the sword on Miyun’s neck with a weepy expression.

However, Sungyoon didn’t stop.

“Damn it!”

Poo-ook!

The Connector stabbed his sword into the heart of Sungyoon’s former mother-in-law. Her breath expired as her already weak heart stopped beating.

“There is only one left! I’ll kill this bitch too!”

Sungyoon continued to move like an emotionless killing machine. These were people Sungyoon knew, so the Connector had no idea how Sungyoon could act this way. But he accepted the truth; even if he killed Miyun, Sungyoon wouldn’t stop.

“Shiiiiiiit!”

He cursed as he moved his body. Leaving his sword behind, the Connector looked for an escape route. He would have to run past Sungyoon if he wanted to exit through the door. So he ran toward the wall of the warehouse and swung his fist.

Kwahng!

The wall shattered into pieces. The Connector saw the view outside through the hole in the wall. If he could reach outside, he could live. He wanted to avoid the walking calamity approaching him from behind. He ran outside. No, he tried to run outside.

Kwahhhhhng!

The ground erupted with the Connector in the middle, and large stalagmites broke the wall of the warehouse. The Connector who was trying to run away was swept up in this attack. His body became a mess as the stalagmites pierced through him. The stalagmites twisted and ripped apart his body.

The Connector looked like a prisoner of hell praying to reach the heavens. Both his hands were extended to the side as his body was ripped apart.

Ggeeeeeek! Boom!

When one side of the wall was destroyed, the warehouse started to tilt to the side. Instead of the wall, the stalagmites held the warehouse up. However, this was a reprieve. With the dissipation of the spell, the warehouse would noisily fall.

Clack. Clack.

In the silent warehouse, only the cold sound of Sungyoon’s methodic footsteps rang out.

Tuhk!

The footsteps came to a stop as Sungyoon looked at the two people in front of him.

Jaeho trembled with a pistol in his hand. Then there was Miyun. She had regained a bit of consciousness, and she was looking at Sungyoon through her swollen eyes. The three of them were gathered in one place after a really long time. It was like the old days. Sungyoon thought about the past that no longer shone with a positive light.

He shared alcohol with Jaeho as they laughed with each other. Miyun was sitting next to them. She also laughed as she hugged Shinhae, who was next to her. Sungyoon kissed Miyun on her cheek, and she embarrassingly laughed. Jaeho heckled the two of them as he watched their display of affection.

It was a beautiful memory. Sungyoon had thought those days would last forever. However, all three of them had gone down a completely different path.

As Sungyoon stood with blood dripping down his weapon, Jaeho trembled in fear. He pointed a pistol at Sungyoon, while Miyun just lay on the ground after being brutally beaten.

Their past friendship was nowhere to be seen at that moment.