Chapter 183. The King’s Tomb (1)

---

Chiiiiiiik.

Rumble.

The Maze opened and closed.

The walls in front of their eyes disappeared as a new path appeared instead.

And everybody who was near Hansoo flinched from the sudden change in the environment.

But the changes continued.

Rumble.

And within those changes, straight tunnels that looked like the gaping mouths of demons appeared one by one.

Hundreds of holes had appeared in the Maze.

‘Why…Why did this suddenly happen?’

The more one thought about it, the more questions one gained.

While everybody was looking at all this in shock, Hansoo turned around and spoke to them.

“Those who want to go out get out fast. The doors have all opened.”

A few people’s expressions brightened up at those words.

‘If we linger around here longer then even having ten lives wouldn’t be enough.’

Darlton who they couldn’t even dream of fighting against.

And that man called Junghwan who had ripped apart that Darlton and three others in an instant.

And… The man in front of their eyes who had made that Junghwan run away with tails between his legs.

It wasn’t a fight where they belonged and they felt sorry for Hansoo but they wanted to get away from this fight as soon as possible.

One of the Hunters looked at the twisting and turning paths of the maze and made an apologetic expression as he spoke.

“Uh… Really sorry for asking but could you open a straight path to the outside for us?”

A few people nodded at those words.

The tunnels were constantly twisting and turning.

Even if they traced the way they came they might run into the Triple Fusion Beasts or other beasts.

If Hansoo helped then they would be able to reduce that risk as much as possible.

But Hansoo shook his head at those words.

“That is not within my authority.”

“…?”

A few people made confused expressions.

“What do you mean? Didn’t you just control all of this? You can just open up a path to the outside…”

Everyone thought that Hansoo had the powers to change the maze as the entire maze shifted and changed after Hansoo had grasped the Red Jade but for him to say it wasn’t possible.

If he had gained the powers to cause such a change then shouldn’t he at least open them a path outside?

Hansoo shook his head at those words.

Since he hadn’t gained complete authority over the maze.

He had only pressed the start button.

Towards <The King’s Tomb> which was hidden under the maze.

‘Well… It’s actually a trap to be specific.’

Hansoo stared at the numerous tens of tunnels in front of him as he pulled out the Blue jade that was on Darlton’s neck.

And then spoke to the people near him.

“Get out of here as quick as possible. It’s going to become chaotic soon.”

“Fuck…”

The people, who were already feeling quite nervous, immediately ran outside in a crazed manner.

Karhal then asked Hansoo while looking at the Blue Jade in his hands.

“What are you going to do?”

Hansoo then clutched the slightly infected Blue Jade as he spoke.

“Lure them in.”

Hansoo mumbled as he looked at the giant maze in front of his eyes.

***

‘What is this.’

Rumble.

Akitrus, who had been looking at the trembling maze, frowned.

‘Damn. I guess the Mount Liang guys are doing their job properly.’

He would only be able to figure out what’s going on inside when the people with Blue Jades reported to him but since the ones with the Red Jade were in there, he had no way of knowing the current situation.

Akitrus, who had been frowning while looking at the maze’s change for the first time, suddenly thought of an another possiblity.

‘Wait. What if… Those Mount Liang guys lost to that guy?’

He didn’t know a lot about the Red Jade but he clearly knew about one of the functions.

That it could open and close doors.

‘Fuck. Is he going to escape like this?’

Akitrus’s expression darkened.

He hadn’t cared that much since he was trapped within the Maze.

But what if numerous tens of entrances along the wide maze opened at the same time?

Him escaping was just a matter of time.

And as he had expected.

The half broken door in front of his eyes started to open up.

Which meant that the other doors were also opening up.

‘Fucking hell. I can’t search this huge area by myself. What the hell are the Hunting Dogs doing!’

He would be able to search the entire place with the help of the Satellite Fortress but they were in a time of war.

He could not call for the help of the Satellite Fortress in a place like this.

Crunch. Crunch…

“Do I have to back off? And call for help? Nothing else I can do… Damn.’

The fact that he could not accomplish this job himself was embarrassing but it was still better than failing it.

While Akitrus was grinding his teeth in annoyance.

Chiiiiik.

A signal came in from the Blue Jade.

— Found him! Lord Archon! We’ve found that guy again!

Akitrus pondered for a bit before making a decision.

‘Go in.’

He was suspicious of the Mount Liang guys but they wouldn’t dare to go against him openly.

It might’ve been different if he didn’t know the location but then since the Hunting dogs had found the location for him, not being able to catch that guy would tarnish his title as a Judge.

‘Fucking Mount Liang. To make me move personally. I shall wreck this entire place for you.’

Their proud Maze would now be filled with holes.

But it didn’t matter.

Since he was confident in his skills.

Boom! Boooom! Boom! Boooom!

Soon the 5m tall Akitrus, who looked even bigger armed, started to charge towards where the signal came from.

***

“Haa. Haa.”

The structure of the Maze constantly changed but Junghwan didn’t freak out as he calmy headed towards the base on the inside.

‘It won’t change as a whole.’

The roads twisted and new ones appeared but it’s purpose wasn’t to confuse the people in it.

The exact opposite really.

It was as if a hidden road was appearing.

‘Hmm…’

While Junghwan was running, he pondered while looking at the other roads.

The tens of different roads along the path he was taking looked like they were calling out for him.

As if they were telling him to take the hidden items within.

But Junghwan shook his head.

‘That’s not important right now.’

He had to regroup with his Clan Leader as quick as possible.

After a long run.

A message was heard in Junghwan’s ears.

— What happened?

A symbol behind Junghwan’s neck shined brightly.

And Junghwan flinched at the sudden message.

Though he was their leader, the leader of Mount Liang didn’t really like to use the symbol to communicate.

He said that it was the only way for them to talk face to face.

But this clan leader was sending him a message.

‘… Fuck.’

Junghwan pondered.

He was usually very sensitive about the topic of failure and it was a bit hard for him to say it with his own mouth.

Men usually didn’t like to talk or deal with failure but Junghwan’s own pride could not handle it.

— I failed. And…

Junghwan then reported everything that had happened so far.

In extreme detail.

And the clan leader replied with silence after hearing this as if he was thinking.

And Junghwan made a frustrated expression.

‘Ugh… I can never tell what the clan leader is thinking.’

A man who was climbing through the Otheworld alongside Clementine and had decided to stay here.

The other people of Mount Liang constantly got replaced but he himself was one of the earliest members along with Metiron who managed over the Green Road.

And not any random guy who they had thrown to the village but somebody whom Clementine had actually cherished.

What was there to ponder?

They just needed to kill that bastard.

But the answer he heard was not what he expected.

— Let’s fall back. Come out to the 11th area and regroup. We have all retreated already.

Junghwan blurted out at those words subconsciously.

“Fall back?’

Junghwan made an expression of disbelief.

They were just saying that they were falling back, it was the same as running away.

Another message flew in after that.

— It doesn’t feel good. Get out fast.

A message with a large amount of worry.

He could only.

Since they were connected with the symbol of the Clan.

‘Fuck.’

Junghwan clenched his teeth.

Since he knew what he meant.

The maze was still twisting and turning as if it was breathing and alive.

And his right hand, which had been cut off, was still quite sore.

‘Fuck. I have to really leave that guy behind?’

Junghwan thought for a moment but shook his head.

What could he do alone?

He grinded his teeth at the powerlessness he felt in a very long time.

— Understood. I shall escape immediate…

At that moment.

A second change occured.

Booobooboobooom!

“Aaaaak!”

The floors of the Maze started to break apart.

At the same time the walls of the maze that supported the ceiling started to shrink in.

“Fucking… hell!”

Junghwan struggled to head up by kicking off the walls but he could not win over the force of the walls that were pushing him down as he started to sink down.

***

“Aaaaak!”

“Uhuk!”

Ekidu and Karhal who had started to fall down slowly screamed out in panic.

Even if one could fly, the sensation of the ground breaking apart beneath them was not good.

Like tentacles that had spread out in all directions being retracted, the maze was shrinking at a very fast pace as Hansoo and the other three were being driven elsewhere.

As if it was moving the food caught in the web towards one direction.

“Damn… It!”

Boooom!

They tried smashing the walls but it was meaningless.

And when they turned around, Hansoo had a calm expression.

“Fucking hell… you knew about this too?”

For him to be able to make such a face while falling down.

Hansoo nodded.

“It was created to deal with the Higher Races so it should activate once they come in.”

It might’ve been different if it was off but since he had turned it on, it was set to take everyone down once the Archon entered.

‘Ah whatever.’

Karhal emptied his mind at Hansoo’s attitude and then started to plummet down.

And soon.

“I can see it!”

The ground could be seen in the distance.

Whooosh!

They used flight skills as they reduced their falling speed.

The walls would push them down but the impact would be too great at this speed.

Kuuudududk

As they reduced their speeds with flight skills, the walls that were chasing them down smashed onto them.

“Fucking hell!”

At this rate they would become squished meat from the wall and the floor.

The moment they screamed with only 10m remaining.

Boooom!

The walls that were pushing suddenly stopped.

Booom!

“Ow…”

Though the walls had stopped, their speed still caused them a large impact as Ekidu stood up in a stagger.

Thankfully she hadn’t received much injuries due to her reinforcement skill.

‘..Where the hell is this?’

Ekidu stood up and checked her surroundings.

Strangely, the place where they landed was not much different from where they had gone through,

The width of the second maze hidden beneath the maze was around 10m.

And as they looked up, the walls that were pushing them down had turned into the new ceiling.

This much was the same but there was one thing that made everything different.

‘This is…’

They looked around and made an expression of shock.

There were bones everywhere around them.

And there were plenty of human skeletons as well.

As the already gloom situation even turned gloomier, Ekidu looked at Hansoo with a doubtful expression.

“This is where the thing you need lies? We just need to get that and leave?”

Hansoo nodded at those words.

He just needed to find the Lost King’s Crown and defeat the crown of the Judge that Akitrus would be wearing.

“Let’s move. Since this place isn’t that large, it wouldn’t take long>”

Soon Hansoo and the two disappeared into the darkness.

***

“Ugh… where is this?”

Junghwan repositioned himself after falling down and then looked around.

‘… It looks like the underground of the maze. There was a place like this?’

It had already been over 10 years since Mount Liang had started to live here.

Of course they had searched every cranny and new everything about the place.

Well, they thought they did.

But it was the first time he was seeing this.

‘Well… a change like this is a first anyway.’

Rattle

Junghwan looked around.

‘It looks like an underground cave.’

And quite a wide one at that.

And he could also see eight tunnels.

As well as the contents.

‘Damn… Is this like a grave or something?’

Giant skeletons that seemed like they belonged to the higher races.

And there were thousands of human skeletons between them as well.

Junghwan made a confused expression at the mess of a situation in front of him as something came into his view.

“What the hell is this?”

In the middle of the cave.

A skull which had claw marks and had been pierced through by a skull.

On top of the head of the skeleton which was sitting on the giant throne, a red crown was placed.

‘It looks ominous.’

Junghwan approached the throne and carefully looked at the crown on top of the skeleton’s head.