Kim Jin-Woo closed his eyes as he sat in the master room, gauging the strength of the forces that were invading the Grand Labyrinth.

“The enemy continues to push through the central passageway,” Rikshasha reported urgently, but Kim Jin-Woo still kept his eyes closed. “If this continues, the enemies will enter too deep inside the labyrinth, so please give us your orders!”

The situation was so urgent that even Rikshasha, who was usually calm and collected, had urged her king to act several times. There were many more enemies than expected, and the situation looked unfavorable. At this rate, the Grand Labyrinth might fall into the hands of the enemy.

However, Kim Jin-Woo had already been on the alert for a long time, and he took action once the Satyrs were halfway into the Grand Labyrinth.

“Rise and shine, Grand Labyrinth.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Grand Labyrinth woke up screaming.

“It’s time for your breakfast.”

The terrifying appetite that had once devoured a mob of thousands returned.

Goaaaaaaaaar.

The deafening roar of the Grand Labyrinth accompanied it as it consumed the Satyrs in a single gulp, and thousands of the wild beasts vanished without a trace.

[Satyrs are tastier and more nutritious than any other Summons the Grand Labyrinth has ever tasted. Thanks to that, it was not even able to eat half of the troops that invaded the Grand Labyrinth, as its stomach is now too full.]

[The Grand Labyrinth is completely satiated, and is unable to continue eating. It seems disappointed that?it is?unable to eat the delicious spread laid out in front of it.]

[The Grand Labyrinth, which has absorbed a large amount of life energy, will take some time to fully digest it. After digestion is complete, it will be converted into dungeon energy.]

[Converted dungeon energy will be used to reactivate inactive facilities and call forth summons.]

Kim Jin-Woo's wish that the Grand Labyrinth would handle as many Satyrs as possible did not come true. In an instant, thousands of Satyrs had become the Grand Labyrinth’s meal, but many times more than that number remained both inside and outside the labyrinth.

However, it was not the time to be disappointed. It was time to fight.

“Close the entrance,” Kim Jin-Woo commanded.

The entrance to the Grand Labyrinth closed with a thud.

“Activate all traps.”

The masterpieces of the Labyrinth Architect, who had risen through the ranks, were finally awakened from their long slumber and activated.

Hell had begun for the Satyrs who had invaded the Grand Labyrinth.

***

“Fuck! What the hell is going on!?” Luyang was beyond angry upon seeing the turn of events. The Count’s labyrinth that he had thought would be a pushover was giving him an incredibly hard time.

Thousands of troops had evaporated instantly, and the entrance to the labyrinth had suddenly disappeared, even as the losses to his troops continued to pile up. Compared to the loss of his initial troops, the damage they were sustaining at the moment was relatively small, but the continuous accumulation of losses was never a good sign.

“You bitch! You didn’t tell me everything, did you!?” Luyang eventually redirected his anger toward Ariane, who could be said to have been the culprit behind all of this. Had it not been for her, he wouldn’t have lost his troops so meaninglessly. He roared ferociously, “Speak! What is it I don’t know? Don’t forget that depending on your answer, I could tear you to shreds right now, you bitch!”

Ariane trembled and responded, “I.. I’ve already t-told you e-everything I know.” Her acting as she hid her insidious intent deep inside was truly commendable. Luyang continued to threaten her, but she continued to defend herself against his senseless violence, pointing out that a mere Baron like her could know nothing more.

“This is driving me mad, all because of a lowly Count’s labyrinth,” Luyang muttered.

Now that he thought of it, the disappeared troops hadn’t returned. However, for someone like him who had nothing to fear after his ascension to the title of Duke, that made no sense whatsoever.

Half of the Satyrs he led had entered the labyrinth. Half of those troops had vanished in a blink of an eye, and even at that moment, communication with his various summons had been cut off.

Even if the troops had invaded a Duke-level labyrinth, the damage sustained wouldn’t have been so severe. This was an unexpected loss of troops for an invasion he had taken lightly. At that point, it was necessary to consider whether to advance further or retreat.

But things weren’t looking great for Luyang’s ability to make a simple retreat. A considerable number of troops were still fighting deep inside the labyrinth, and it was by no means an easy decision to give up on all of them.

If it had been any other situation, Luyang could have easily decided to sacrifice them, but after sustaining heavy losses due to the earthquakes, every single summon was now important to him.

Koaaaaaaaaar.

As Luyang was deeply immersed in his thoughts, he was suddenly interrupted by a sudden roar from one of his troops.

“The entrance has been opened!”

Seeing the passageway opened by the sacrifice of dozens of his Satyrs, Luyang gritted his teeth and ordered, “Widen the passageway, we’re going in!”

***

Beyond the passageway that had been broken through with much difficulty was a scene akin to hell itself. The corpses of both enemies and allies were scattered all over the place, and the blood they had shed stuck to the soles of those who remained.

Luyang looked at his forces’ unsightly plight with a completely cold look in his eyes. The signs of impatience he had been showing just moments before were now nowhere to be seen.

At this point, even he was feeling a bit of a sense of crisis, however. His Satyrs weren’t weak summons that would fail to take over a mere Count’s labyrinth and die in vain. Even if they were to fall for various traps, he had enough power and numbers to crush and trample any Count’s labyrinth with brute force, and to tear his opponents to shreds with relative ease.

The fact that, despite the power he held, his army had received so many losses meant that his opponent was truly a formidable being.

Whether his opponent’s power was derived from the innate ability of this particular labyrinth or something else, Luyang wasn’t certain. But he no longer looked down on his enemy. He cautioned his troops, “Act as if you’ve entered a Duke-class labyrinth, at the very least.”

The Satyrs, who had looked like they were about to break into a frenzy at any moment due to the smell of blood, forced themselves to calm down and catch their breath.

“Kaaargh!”

Luyang’s troops were targeted by several sneak attacks as the Vampires hiding in the darkness rushed in, but there was no damage. Luyang, who had already been prepared for such tactics, blocked all such attempts in advance.

His losses were mitigated, but the situation didn’t get any better for Luyang and his army. Something must have happened, as the initial troops that entered the Labyrinth were scattered everywhere, and although they must have felt their master’s energy, there were no signs of them gathering to him. Eventually, Luyang decided to postpone gathering his troops until later, and decided to focus on capturing the mysterious labyrinth first.

However, even that wasn’t easy. The dazzling walls of the passageway only confused them further, blinding them as they continuously struggled to grasp their sense of direction. Various traps protruding from all over only slowed their advance further. The only comfort was that they didn’t encounter any of the enemy’s summons.

Nevertheless, Luyang and the Satyrs were slowly but steadily heading toward the center of the labyrinth.

“This wasn’t a mere Count,” Luyang muttered. The scale of the labyrinth was too vast and the traps were too insidious to attribute them to a Count. Belatedly coming to that realization, he glared at Ariane.

The Queen of Illusions, whose mental state had already been left in tatters thanks to his bitter rage-induced burst of violence, flinched when his furious gaze landed on her, and she quickly looked down at the ground. She said, “I swear by the Mysteries of the Underworld that the master of this labyrinth is not yet at the rank of Duke.”

She was technically right. Kim Jin-Woo had ascended to the title of Highlord and renounced the title of Underworld Nobility, and thus he had never reached the title of Duke.

Unaware of such circumstances, Luyang turned his suspicious gaze away. “Anyway, that’s not important. After all, this labyrinth will kneel at my feet at the end of the day,” he said with gleaming eyes. “I don’t know who the master of this labyrinth is, but I’ll make sure he’ll beg me for a mercy killing rather than for me to spare his life at the end of this.”

With gruesome determination, Luyang picked up his pace.

***

Even as Luyang entered the labyrinth, Kim Jin-Woo was running wild. He had already been powerful to begin with, but combined with the amplification effects of various buffs, together with his home ground advantage, he was truly the strongest he had ever been. None of the Satyrs were able to withstand his blows. However, there were still plenty of Satyrs swarming the labyrinth, to the point that Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t tell if this was his labyrinth or his enemy’s stronghold.

Kim Jin-Woo suddenly stopped senselessly beating the enemies that had surrounded him. His focus turned to somewhere in the distance, as if he could see something others couldn’.

“Argh.”

Perhaps the Satyrs who had surrounded him had suffered terribly thus far, as, despite seeing Kim Jin-Woo drop his spear while looking completely defenseless, they refused to engage him any further and could only wail in agony and frustration.

“He’s really not going to make a move, huh.” It was still far away, but Kim Jin-Woo could still quite clearly feel the strong energy in the distance and shook his head.

He had suppressed his Highlord’s presence thus far, afraid that Luyang might turn tail and retreat. That might have been more than enough to deal with the Satyrs, but to Kim Jin-Woo, they weren’t enough for him to truly test out the full potential of a Highlord’s powers.

“Master!” While Kim Jin-Woo was focusing on Luyang’s energy, a cloud of mist rose from the darkness, transforming into Angela. She continued, “I don't think we can hold any longer. Please allow us to retreat.”

The Vampires could do nothing unless their leader stepped onto the front lines. And if the Duke was powerful enough to even drive away the mighty Ant Ghost, it was painfully obvious that the Vampires’ attacks wouldn’t work. Thus, Kim Jin-Woo readily agreed.

Without showing a hint of joy, Angela immediately turned back into mist and vanished. She likely couldn’t afford to move as leisurely as usual due to the situation.

“Now then, shall I go meet your master?” Kim Jin-Woo muttered.

The battlefield, which had been exceptionally quiet, was filled with gruesome shrieks and screams once again.

***

The initial sense of crisis was short-lived, and Luyang’s expression quickly gave way to excitement. The labyrinth, which he had looked down on so insignificantly, had turned into something rather desirable in his eyes as it continued to cause trouble.

After all, it was highly unusual for a labyrinth to cause so much trouble for a Duke; thus, in a sense, that was enough reason for Luyang to covet it. He felt that it was fortunate that he was the first to find out about this place before the other Dukes did.

Although the losses to his army were great, he no longer regretted it. The only thing left in Luyang’s eyes was the anticipation of capturing the Labyrinth Core and holding it with his own hands.

That was likely why, when he first came face-to-face with Kim Jin-Woo, despite knowing that his enemy had single-handedly fought his mighty army off, he wasn’t surprised at all.

“Oh! You came here all on your own, not knowing you’re going to die at my hands!” Luyang immediately realized that Kim Jin-Woo was the master of this mysterious labyrinth, and his mood brightened.

“What the hell is he talking about, spouting such nonsense on his own?” Kim Jin-Woo frowned at Luyang. Even though they couldn’t communicate due to differences in their spoken language, one look was all it took for him to understand what his enemy was thinking.

Kim Jin-Woo was never one to give away his stuff to others. Of course, he wouldn’t feel good about what Luyang was saying. However, he frowned when he noticed the woman who was standing beside Luyang, noisily yapping away. He muttered, “Ariane.”

Although Ariane was a mess, it wasn’t hard to recognize the fugitive. She looked rather pale and tired, but she didn’t avoid his gaze.

Nod.

Was it because her cover had already been completely blown anyway? The way Ariane nodded as she looked back at Kim Jin-Woo almost seemed like an act of ridicule, as if to provoke him. Kim Jin-Woo was left so dumbfounded and angry that he couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

But soon after, his smile completely vanished as he licked his lips, saying, “Wait for me, because I’m coming to you.”

Even before the last word completely left his lips, Kim Jin-Woo began charging through the great army of Satyrs.