Chapter 275

As fire and smoke rose into the air, Connectors were in the midst of fightng other in the streets, which was forbidden within Armstrong city

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the current situation within Armstrong city was a shit show.

However, it wasn’t as if the situation outside Armstrong city was great either.

“Did you find it?”

The sound of an explosion had emanated from the direction of the Armstrong city’s wall, and Sungyoon had picked up on it earlier.

An explosion did occur at the outer wall. The wall around Armstrong city was one of the most important structures in the city.

Since the sound of an explosion came from the outer wall, the higher-ups of Armstrong city dispatched troops to the outer wall. It was the main priority for them.

“Uh. I found it.”

There was a big hole that existed within the wall.

There were traces of fire and impact. A large portion of the wall was destroyed and burnt.

“I think someone detonated some kind of an explosive here.”

“Do you see the culprit?”

“No.”

The Connectors, who were sent to investigate the suspected explosion, surveyed their surroundings.

They only saw broken debris from the devastating explosion, but they didn’t see any traces of human beings.

“Thankfully, the explosion couldn’t create a hole through the wall.”

The outer wall of Armstrong city was very thick. The explosion caused significant damage, but it couldn’t completely destroy the outer wall.

It was good news for humans living in Armstrong city.

Clap!

The leader of the group clapped his hands to get the attention of everyone.

“We were fortunate. We confirmed the outer wall is intact! However, there might be more suspicious items here, so we’ll do a sweep. Then we depart towards inner Armstrong city to help catch these terrorists! It is absolute chaos in the city right now!”

“You don’t have to tell us. We can see what is happening right now.”

The investigators looked towards the urban district of Armstrong city.

Red flames and black smoke was still making their presence known.

It was also apparent that there was an ongoing battle. The sounds of explosion and destruction continued to erupt within the city.

“Yes. Things aren’t going well. That is why we have to quickly...”

“L...leader!”

Someone yelled out in a desperate voice. One of the investigators ran up next to the leader. The leader had sent one of his men outside as a precaution. He was supposed to be on patrol, yet he had returned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Out...outside…!”

It seemed he was having a hard time getting his tongue to work properly. He stumbled over his words a couple of times.

The leader didn't press the man for an answer. In fact, he gave the man some time to gather himself.

After the man finally got control over his tongue, he was barely able to spit out his words.

His words made everyone present turn pale.

“It is crawling with monsters outside!”

The investigators started to feel the spread of magical energy from the labyrinths. They could feel it on their skins.

***

Sungyoon’s party didn't realize that a serious threat was approaching Armstrong city. They were focused on their fight.

They kept defending attacks from their pursuers as they headed towards the city hall.

Sungyoon was too busy to think about anything. He was busy fending off attacks from a very skilled foe that only focused his attack on Sungyoon.

If his concentration slipped even a little bit, the mace came close to bashing in his head. However, Sungyoon felt a sense of deja vu even in such a dangerous situation.

‘His movement feels familiar...’

He heard a voice at that moment.

“@#%^$!”

It was a language that they couldn’t understand. It came from Plu-El, who was slung over Tim’s shoulder.

“What the hell? What’s wrong with this woman?”

After being handed over by Sungyoon, Plu-El had been quiet up until this point. Tim was taken aback when she started to go berserk. However, Tim wasn’t in a position where he could let Plu-El do what she wanted. He kept her from moving.

“*#&#$^@^#@^&!”

She kept shouting something. She was yelling at the man, who was attacking Sungyoon.

“#$^$#Sung Hyunwoo#$%#$%!”

‘What did that woman just say?’

He was distracted, so his arm was almost crushed by the mace.

He desperately deflected the mace as he looked at the person, who was attacking him.

‘Sung Hyunwoo? Mr. Hyunwoo?’

Now that he thought about it, the man was built similarly to Sung Hyunwoo. He just couldn’t confirm it since his entire body was encased in armor.

Of course, Sungyoon could be mistaken, but it felt as if the suspicion within his heart blossomed when he heard Plu=El’s words. He felt as if his suspicions were turning out to be true.

Plu-El kept cursing.

“*&#%^#%Jungbum#$^#$!”

She once again said one word that he could understand. It was a name that he had a lot of ties with.

‘Mr. Hahn Jungbum?’

He knew she knew Sung Hyunwoo, but he never expected her to know Hahn Jungbum too.

There was one more information that he had to find out from Plu-El.

However, he had to do it at a later time. They had to hurry up and escape from this fight.

Thankfully, they were close to reaching their destination.

They were running through an empty street, and they took a sharp left turn in a four-way stop.

‘We just have to run in a straight line…!’

Sungyoon assumed he would be running through an empty street that was devoid of people. However, he saw something unexpected.

“What the hell!”

“This can’t be!”

Tim shouted out loud, and Emily mumbled to herself in a small voice.

Their reaction was different, but they felt the same emotion.

Shock.

“Why are there monsters in Armstrong city?”

Tim’s voice rang out within Armstrong city.

***

“What are you going to do?”

The half-bald deputy mayor tried to press the mayor for an answer.

The mayor had his hands around his head, and he wasn’t saying anything.

‘What the hell is going on? What should I do?’

He kept asking himself these questions as he went over what was happening in his city. However, there were no answers forthcoming.

“…how many Connectors do we have left?”

The mayor was barely able to open his mouth. A bit of color returned to the deputy mayor’s face.

The one in charge was about to do something.

This fact bolstered the spirit of the people working under the mayor.

“We are contacting everyone, yet there are too few of them! This is especially true of the number of high rank Connectors!”

‘This is why I told them we needed to maintain the minimum number of Connectors that I prescribed!’

All the countries had been unreasonable as they pulled back most of their Connectors from Armstrong city. They did it in the name of national security. The mayor cursed those countries.

However, it didn’t matter if he cursed them a thousand or a million times. Nothing would change.

“The terrorists, who infiltrated Armstrong city, are chasing the Knight and his party, and there are two groups?”

“Yes! The Connectors, whom we dispatched to the site of the explosions, reported back. They were all explosives rigged to a timer! The culprits were nowhere to be seen!”

“Please contact every Connector that you can reach. I don’t care if the outer wall is destroyed. We’ll activate the outer defense to prevent any monsters from entering the city from outside. In the meantime, they have to prioritize killing all the monsters that are appearing within the city. Then they can go out and fight the foes outside!”

“Yes! What should we do about the Knight, who is coming here?”

“Tell him to use the portal. He can go to the other city for a short time.”

“What? Are you sure about that?”

The existence of the portal was one of Armstrong city’s top secrets.

If Sungyoon used the portal to run away, two groups of unknown origin would witness the existence of the portal.

“It’s fine. I planned on revealing that information in the near future. The portal isn’t as important as securing the woman right now.”

The mayor’s eyes turned cold.

“The attack by the monsters might be a coincidence, but it might have something to do with the two groups, who pulled off this terrorist attack. They pulled off this bold move in order to seize that woman. This means she is much more important than we thought she was.”

It was to be expected of a man, who climbed up the ranks to become the mayor of Armstrong city.

He had a limited set of information, yet he was able to accurately assess Plu-El’s worth.

“Tell the Knight to leave that woman in that city, then he should immediately return to Armstrong...”

Kwahng!

“Mayor!”

One of the city hall’s employees slammed the door opened. He almost broke the door as he entered.

The mayor and the deputy mayor frowned at the same time.

They knew their subordinate wouldn’t act this way if he had good news.

This was especially true in their current situation.

“What’s wrong?”

He really didn’t want to ask the question. He was sure the employee was about to say something that would give him a headache.

However, he was obligated to hear it as the mayor.

The employee uttered the cursed statement. It was a statement that signified that the worst-case scenario was about to unfold.

“A Connector near the Great Labyrinth sent a message…!”

The employee shut his eyes as he almost yelled out his news.

“He confirmed magical energy is leaking out of the Great Labyrinth too! Monsters from the Great Labyrinth are crawling out of it!”

***

Kwahhhhng!

Sungyoon’s party kept their pursuers in check as they fought through the monster. They continued to move towards the city hall.

In some ways, Sungyoon’s party was surrounded by enemies on all sides, but this new development did give him some comfort to his heart.

‘I can use the portal now!’

If he used the portal, he wouldn’t have to continue their troublesome efforts to escape from their pursuers.

He just had to open a portal, and his party had to throw their bodies through it.

The pursuers wouldn't be able to follow after them. It would be an exercise in futility.

However, Sungyoon didn’t plan on using it unless it was a dire emergency.

‘I have to keep it a secret.’

If the one that kept attacking him was really Hyunwoo, he really didn’t reveal the fact that he could open a portal.

However, it was also true that his party would only be able to hold out for a couple of seconds if Hyunwoo decided to get serious.

Sungyoon kept a close eye on the man, whom he suspected to be Hyunwoo, and he got ready to open the portal at any moment.

Currently, Grace and Emily were clearing the monsters in front of them as the two men kept pursuers at bay.

Thankfully, the monsters seemed to have come out from the Beginner’s labyrinth. Grace and Emily were effective in fighting against them.

They were able to gain some breathing room, but a single existence ruined everything for them.

Koo-ohhhhhhhhhhh!

Everyone stopped fighting when they heard the roar.

The monsters, who had been indiscriminately attacking the humans, froze. All the Connectors including Sungyoon’s party turned towards the source of the sound.

“…what is it now?”

Tim cussed. He felt an ominous feeling as a tingling sensation ran down his flesh.

The sound was coming from the direction of the Great Labyrinth.

As soon as everyone realized this, the ominous feeling amplified by several folds.

A dark shadow emerged from the entrance to the Great Labyrinth. The monster was enormous.

Sungyoon knew this monster very well.

It was the first monster to appear on earth. It was the monster that made him into a global star called the Knight.

“…Behemoth.”

On earth, a weakened Behemoth had shown up. This Behemoth possessed its full strength when it emerged into the human city. It let out an enormous roar to let its presence known.

Koohng!

The Behemoth took an enormous step, and it easily destroyed a building in the process. It was a surreal moment.

The Behemoth looked like a lion attacking a group of rabbits. A small smirk appeared on its mouth.

It was as if it was mocking the beings called humans.

Zzuh-uhk!

It opened its mouth wide. At the same time, a bright light started to appear within it.

All the Connectors knew what followed this phenomenon. It was the Breath. It was the attack that almost destroyed the Buckingham palace. It was the attack that had almost killed the queen.

“Shit!”

Even Sungyoon had to swear when he saw this.

It happened when the light became bright as it could be.

Puh-uh-uh-uhng!

An enormous pillar of light shot forth from the Behemoth's mouth..