Chapter 345

Udocus extended his hand and shot forth a stream of water shaped like a large snake. A massive amount of water pressure tried to crush everything in its path.

“Hoo-ahhhhhp!”

Tim let out a shout as he blocked the water snake with his shield.

Puh-uh-uhng!

The water snake couldn’t pierce through Tim’s shield and lost momentum. It then lost its shape and fell, flooding the nearby region. However, since it was only regular water, Tim was fine despite being inside the water.

“Haha! Is that all you got? Are you really an officer for Grenoid? You're too weak!”

Tim yelled.

“I feel sorry for our people on the outside! They are fighting with their lives on the line, yet I’m leisurely fighting this pushover!”

Of course, unlike what Tim had said, Udocus wasn’t an easy opponent. If they had been fighting a one-on-one battle, Tim would have lost his life. However, right now, the battle was going just too easy for Sungyoon.

“You...You bastard!”

Udocus yelled louder. He was simmering with anger and was losing his cool. He again raised his staff to deliver justice to the pleb who didn’t know his place. However, Grace was a step faster. A light appeared in Grace’s hand.

As soon as he saw the light, Udocus reflexively moved. Even though he was arrogant, he couldn’t underestimate Grace’s light magic. Twenty half-translucent walls appeared in front of him.

‘It shows up from time to time, and it worries me.’

Sungyoon furrowed his brows.

Udocus could quickly cast his spells, but he wasn’t instantaneous like Sungyoon. Nevertheless, there were times when Udocus used spells without much delay, and during these times, his spells were much stronger.

‘There must be some limitation.’

If there wasn't, Udocus would use his stronger spells that took less time to cast.

Flash!

A beam of light erupted from Grace’s hand.

Puhhhhhhhhhhhhhng!

In a flash, the light beam destroyed thirteen of the half-translucent walls. As if that wasn’t enough, the beam of light continued to put pressure on the remaining walls.

“Koo-ooooooooh!”

Udocus desperately created a couple more barriers, but those barriers were obviously weaker than his previous barriers.

Ssssssk!

Thankfully for Udocus, the light magic disappeared before it could pierce through the last barrier. He was about to let out a sigh of relief when...

“You shouldn’t look so relieved.”

Kwahhhhhhng!

Sungyoon’s hammer crashed onto the last tattered wall. A large explosion erupted, and it broke apart the barrier.

“Kooh-ahhhhhhhk!”

Udocus’s body flew backward through the air. Sungyoon immediately followed Udocus, unsummoned his hammer and shield, and took up his halberd.

Tuhk!

The halberd’s hook caught Udocus’s robe. Sungyoon pulled back the hook and brought Udocus’s body to an abrupt halt. Udocus was like a fish caught on a fishhook. Sungyoon reeled him in as he once again raised his hammer with his other hand.

Kwahhhhhhhhng!

Was it just his feeling? This explosion felt larger than before. Udocus flew through the air with greater momentum and unceremoniously hit the ground.

However, the attacks had yet to end. Grace sent a fireball toward Udocus. Udocus desperately raised his staff. It seemed he was trying to use the spell with no delay, but nothing happened.

‘He’s reached his limit.’

Sungyoon had a hunch as he watched Udocus flounder.

Kwahhhng!

The fireball scored a direct hit on Udocus, and the heat increased the temperature of the room.

“Phewwww~!”

The pleased Tim whistled.

As the smoke dispersed, the flame extinguished itself. Against such a spell, most living beings would have become a pile of ash several times over. However, Udocus was alive.

“He’s still alive?”

Tim frowned. Nevertheless, his face brightened when he saw Udocus's appearance.

It seemed the robe was a good defensive gear, unlike its flimsy appearance. The robe was burnt and tattered.

Currently, Udocus looked like a gutter rat that had rolled in a pile of dust.

“Ggoooooh.”

He m.o.a.ned. One could sometimes catch sight of his hideous appearance through the damaged robe.

“He isn’t dead, but….”

Tim lowered his shield a little bit.

“I don’t think he’ll be able to fight any longer.”

Udocus had been completely neutralized.

The fact that the last officer of Grenoid was in such a sad state was almost unbelievable.

“Lowly… Lowly filth…!”

He sounded as if he was on death’s door as he kept repeating ‘lowly filth’ towards Sungyoon and his party members. He looked beyond wretched. He looked unsightly.

Of course, no one felt pity for Udocus. In fact, they felt the exact opposite emotion.

Juh-buhk! Juh-buhk!

Sungyoon’s steps sounded like a countdown signaling Udocus’s death.

“Ke ke! Do you think you’ll be able to save Earth if you kill me?”

Was it Udocus’s last-ditch effort?

Udocus mocked Sungyoon.

“You want to return the Moon to its original trajectory? Yes, you would. In truth, we didn’t plan on letting the Moon collide with Earth. However, this place has no method that’ll allow you to reverse what we did!”

Sungyoon came to a stop.

“Even if you go up after you kill me, you won’t be able to find what you want! You fought for nothing!”

His statement was what everyone related to this plan had feared including Sungyoon. This would signal that their gamble had failed.

Sungyoon started to walk once again.

“We’ll check it out after we kill you.”

His hope wasn’t extinguished yet. His eyes continued to burn with hope. He’ll continue to hope until he saw despair with his own eyes.

Udocus ground his teeth when he saw the dark blue sword in his hand.

He was the last officer of the great Grenoid. There was no way he thought he would die such an ignominious death here. This was why he had derided anyone that had offered their help in fighting Sungyoon and his party. Despite doing so, he anxiously called out for help.

“Sung Hyunwoo! Come out right now, Sung Hyunwoooooooooo!”

His voice sounded shrill as he yelled out.

Sungyoon and his party members became vigilant once again.

Juh-buhk! Juh-buhk!

The sounds of footsteps coming down the staircase could be heard.

If Sungyoon’s footsteps had sounded like a countdown, these new footsteps sounded like a symphony that maximized the tension.

“…Mr. Hyunwoo.”

Sungyoon spoke in a low voice as he watched Hyunwoo descend the stairs.

“It has been a while.”

Hyunwoo had a warm smile on his face. They were enemies, yet he had a very friendly smile on his lips.

“In the end, you finally reached this place. You are really amazing.”

It might just be a feeling, but it felt as if Hyunwoo sounded happy as he laughed.

“As expected of someone I...”

“Stop talking!”

In a flash, Hyunwoo’s expression crumpled. He looked like a little kid, who had his much-anticipated gift opening interfered with.

It seemed Udocus hadn’t caught on to this fact. He sounded breathless, but his dirty attitude shone through. He continued to shout towards Hyunwoo.

“Kill those damned bastards!”

Hyunwoo looked displeased as he looked at Udocus.

“I offered my help earlier, and you ignored my help saying you can kill them on your own. Have some self-respect for yourself. Stop barking at me like that.”

“What…!”

Udocus was struck dumb by Hyunwoo’s abusive language. However, Hyunwoo ignored Udocus as he looked at Sungyoon’s party.

He was very laid back.

“However...”

Hyunwoo looked at Sungyoon’s party. To be precise, he looked at the three members excluding Sungyoon.

“I don’t need you guys.”

Ddahk!

Hyunwoo snapped his fingers. In a flash, a magic circle appeared below Grace’s feet.

“What…!”

She was taken aback.

In a flash, the circle expanded. It encircled Tim and Emily, who stood next to Grace.

The magical energy thickened.

“Sung…!”

Grace extended her hand towards Sungyoon, but the magic circle activated before she could do anything.

Ssshooohk!

The magic circle flashed. Tim, Emily, and Grace disappeared from the room.

Sungyoon had been standing a bit away from his party members. The only one left in the room was Sungyoon, Udocus, and Hyunwoo.

“…what did you just do?”

Sungyoon asked the question. He didn’t go on a rampage.

However, one could hear the worry in his voice, which he had done his best to suppress. Moreover, he was clearly angry towards Hyunwoo, who had made his party members ‘disappear.’

“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t harm them.”

In contrast to Sungyoon, Hyunwoo remained laid back.

“I just expelled them from this room. I just sent them back to the labyrinth within the tower.”

Sungyoon’s relaxed a bit at his words, but Udocus became apoplectic when he heard Hyunwoo’s words.

“H…How!”

Udocus was in disbelief.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he considered this tower to be one of his masterpieces. Of course, he was the only one that should be able to use the functions of the tower.

However, Hyunwoo had just expelled Sungyoon’s three party members. He showed that he was capable of using the power of this tower.

“How can you use the power of this tower?”

The first thought that came to mind was that Hyunwoo had stolen the tower from him.

Udocus had been sure the power of this tower could only be used by him, so his pride took a big hit when he realized that wasn’t true. However, he didn’t pay attention to his hurt pride. He didn’t even have the presence of mind to care about his wounds.

“Did you forget who was in charge of constructing this tower?”

Udocus was emotional as he yelled out loud. In contrast, Hyunwoo spoke calmly.

Udocus was dumbfounded.

“Did you change the design of the tower? Nonsense! A mere human can’t easily change the design of my work!”

Moreover, Udocus hadn’t realized someone had changed his design.

Hyunwoo stood on the side of the monsters, but he was clearly human. Udocus considered humans to be lesser beings. He felt a sense of superiority, so he couldn’t accept the fact that a human had outmaneuvered him.

“A mere human… That is something you would say… You wouldn’t have left the construction of this tower if you didn’t think that way.”

Udocus had left the construction of the tower to Hyunwoo not because he trusted Hyunwoo. Udocus believed a lowly human should do the dirty work. It was thanks to his arrogance that he had made this choice.

He was also confident he would be able to catch Hyunwoo in the act if he did anything suspicious.

“That was why you were outplayed.”

“Even if you built this tower, there is no way you would know the technique to change my design!”

Udocus continued to be in denial.

“Hey. You taught me how to do it.”

Udocus’s eyes moved furtively.

“I did?”

“Yes. You taught me about magic, magic circles, and the circulation of magical energy. You taught me the knowledge that was lost to the descendants of Planote.”

“No way! You changed my design using just those basic knowledge!”

“You also kept a lot of books. I read the books written by the people of Planote. It was enough.”

As if to emphasize this fact, he tapped his forefinger on his temple.

“I am somewhat of a genius.”

Udocus was speechless. The feat pulled off by Hyunwoo was that ridiculous.

At that moment, Udocus suddenly had a thought.

“Can it be? The Royal Gem wasn’t the one to bring them into this room?”

“I did it.”

Hyunwoo immediately gave a confirmation.