Sungyoon’s hammer had stopped in front of Kevil’s hand, and it seemed that the hard scales covering Kevil’s arm shone .

  Hoohng!

  Kevil moved its tail . Sungyoon quickly retreated as he put up his shield .

  Kwahnnng!

  The sound generated from the clash was on a different level .

  Like a dead leaf, Sungyoon flew through the air .

  Koo-oong!

  “Koohk!”


  “Ooh-ooht!”


  Tim caught Sungyoon, who was flying through the air . As their armor collided against each other, a harsh sound rang out .

  Tim slid backward for a while until his feet created a deep divot .

  “Thank you . ”


  “You’re welcome . ”


  Tim placed Sungyoon on the ground . Thankfully, both of them had come out pretty much unscathed .

  “It powered up when it was in danger . Isn’t that a trope that shows up in movies or novels for the main characters?”


  Tim jokingly spoke to Sungyoon .

  “If this world were a novel, they might be the main characters, and the humans might be the main antagonists . ”


  “I can guarantee such a novel won’t sell . It’ll go straight to a warehouse or the dumping ground . Who would want to read a novel like that?”


  “Who knows what will sell or not? It might become a cult hit for a certain segment of the population . ”


  Grace, who had approached them, joined their conservation .

  Emily also approached them alongside Grace and checked the condition of the two men .

  “Thankfully, you two are fine . ”


  “I’m quite sturdy . I would have to give up on raiding the Great Labyrinth if a blow of that magnitude could injure me . ”


  As Tim spoke those words, he raised his shield again .

  Kevil was slowly heading toward them .

  “The power behind its attacks are no joke . Can my shield hold up against it?”


  The overwhelming presence of his foe pressured Tim . His shield had always been sturdy and reliable, and it had been a while since he felt his shield was inadequate .

  Sungyoon placed a hand on Tim’s shoulder .

  “Let me fight it . ”


  “Are you sure you’ll be ok?”


  “Yes . I still have plenty of power to spare . ”


  Sungyoon’s heart was pumping and circulating an unprecedented amount of power in his body . At times, he felt all-powerful .

  ‘Of course, I’m not that strong . ’


  He had barely blocked Kevil’s attack . If Tim hadn’t caught him, he would have been sent flying further . It was proof that he wasn’t all-powerful, yet he was still confident in his abilities .

  Tuhk!

  Sungyoon stood in front of Kevil, who had stopped after walking for a certain distance toward him .

  “Are you really going to face me alone?”


  “Yes . I think it’ll be possible . ”


  “Is that so?”


  Kevil laughed . A smile appeared on its devil-like face, and as expected, the smile looked out of place on that face .

  However, its next action fit its profile .

  “Then die!”


  Hwah-roo-roo-roo-roohk!

  The fire sword burned once again in Kevil’s hand . However, the sword was different from before; it had grown in both length and width . Sungyoon was standing at a distance, yet he could feel the heat . It was clear the temperature had significantly gone up .

  Puhl-luhk!

  Kevil flapped its wings, and its enormous body rose .

  Hoo-oohng!

  It flew upwards, then brought down the fire sword toward Sungyoon .

  This sequence of actions happened very fast .

  Sungyoon held his shield with both hands .

  Kwahhhhhng!

  The flames exploded, and his feet sank . The intense heat had surrounded his body, but he had successfully blocked the attack this time .

  Kevil’s expression fell . It didn’t like the fact that Sungyoon had blocked its attack so easily .

  It kept pushing with his sword and swung its tail .

  Sssk!

  Hwee-chung!

  Sungyoon’s shield disappeared . Kevil couldn’t pull back, so it lurched forward . Sungyoon turned to the side to dodge the sword and tail, then swung his halberd .

  Kevil moved its wings .

  Puh-uhnk!

  The sharp horns attached to the wings aimed for Sungyoon, but Sungyoon was right on time as he deflected the wings with his halberd .

  He used the momentum generated from the blow to retreat .

  “Arms, legs, wings, and tail . You have a variety of ways to me attack since you have a lot of appendages . ”


  “It’s one of the many reasons we are superior to humans . ”


  “I guess you guys determine superiority by how many appendages one has? I’ve met a monster with a lot of tentacles in the labyrinth . It must be superior to you . Was that Grenoid? He was weaker than I expected . ”


  Kevil ground its teeth once again .

  ‘Mr . Sungyoon is on his A-game today . ’


  The nervous Tim was prepared to act as Sungyoon’s shield when needed . Sungyoon’s demeanor impressed him .

  ‘No matter what happens, I must never fight him . ’


  Whether it was in terms of strength or words, Tim had no chance against Sungyoon .

  “Today will be the last day you can flap your mouth like this!”


  “Grenoid made a trash tentacle monster, and you’re trashier than that monster! What can you do!”


  Kwahhhhhng!

  The two clashed once again .

  Tim, Emily, and Grace wanted to help in the fight, but they could do nothing .

  “.…… There’s no opportunity for us to join in . ”


  Grace, who had been aiming at Kevil, lowered her staff .

  “Is the battle too fast for you?”


  “Yes . Is it the same for you, Ms . Emily?”


  At some point, Emily had also lowered her hands .

  “One needs to properly lock onto the target to use attack spells . If I’m not careful, I might harm Mr . Sungyoon . ”


  “Aim doesn’t matter since I have to be close to use the healing spell . My problem is that I have to get in the middle of that fight . ”


  Their problems differed, but at the end of the day, both of them were of no help to Sungyoon right now .

  “We can only wait and trust that he can pull through . ”


  “We should also make preparations . ”


  The two of them kept their eyes fixed on the battle as they made preparations to immediately move if Sungyoon needed them .

  It would be useless to worry more than it was needed, but Tim kept his shield up . He was ready to charge forward in case Sungyoon fell in danger .

  Kwahhhhng!

  Kevil’s fire sword clashed against Sungyoon’s sword . Fire and lightning attacked each other . The two of them kept their swords locked in a contest of strength .

  “I can tell what you’re thinking . ”


  Kevil taunted Sungyoon .

  “You plan on dragging this out . You’re waiting for your comrades to get here . ”


  It was true Kevil would be at a disadvantage if reinforcements came for Sungyoon . Connectors like Russell and Bruce were troublesome foes even for Kevil .

  “Why do you think you’ll last that long? You’re being too arrogant just because you can use my master’s power!”


  Puh-uhk!

  Kevil kicked Sungyoon . Sungyoon blocked the kick with his elbow, but the force of the attack sent him sliding backward .

  “I’ll just kill you before they come!”


  Kevil’s fire sword burned hotter . The ground rang as he charged toward Sungyoon .

  “Even if you can use his strength, you’re a lowly being! You can’t handle that power! I just regained a little bit of my power, yet you’re losing! Just die!”


  As Kevil had said, even though Sungyoon was putting up a good fight, he was at a disadvantage .

  The flame sword swung toward Sungyoon to burn him .

  Tuhk!

  Sungyoon took a powerful step . He stared at the sword coming toward him .

  Sssssk!

  His armor disappeared, surprising Kevil .

  ‘What the hell!’


  Puh-uhhhhhhhk!

  “Koo-oooooooooooh!”


  Sungyoon clenched his mouth shut . He tilted his body, but he couldn’t completely avoid the attack . However, he hadn’t planned on dodging it . Kevil’s sword pierced his side . The heat from the sword melted his flesh outward in the shape of a circle . It was a critical wound . However, he was a high rank Connector, and it was very hard to kill a high rank Connector .

  Duhp-suhk!

  Sungyoon used his left hand to grab Kevil’s hard left arm and raised his ax with his right arm .

  “Ooh-ahhhhhh!”


  As if he wanted to forget his pain, Sungyoon yelled . His thoughts had turned white from the pain, yet he used all his strength to bring down his ax .

  Puh-uhhhhhhhk!

  “Koo-ahhhhhhk!”


  The ax pierced Kevil’s shoulder . Nevertheless, Kevil was also a veteran . It pushed through the pain as it increased the size of the flames on its fire sword . Sungyoon felt as if his body would combust in a flash .

  Sssk!

  Even though he wasn’t wearing his armor, Sungyoon still had his wings . The wings unfurled as he flew backward .

  As soon as Sungyoon put some distance, the ax disappeared from Kevil’s shoulder .

  Kevil clutched his shoulder .

  “You…… bastard!”


  Kevil raged as it tried to track down Sungyoon . However, something clashed against its sword . That something wasn’t Sungyoon’s sword, but Tim’s shield .

  Tuh-uhng!

  “GET OUT OF MY WAAAAAAAY!”


  Its rage-filled fist kept pounding the shield, but Tim just gritted his teeth and endured the attack .

  At that moment, Emily started healing Sungyoon . Sungyoon’s melted flesh regained its original appearance, and the hole in his side disappeared . Moreover, his organs, bones, muscles, and skin also returned to their original state .

  Kwahhhhhng!

  “Goo-oooohk!”


  Kevil’s attacks finally broke through and sent Tim flying away .

  Grace used this moment to hit Kevil with her spell .

  Ooh-roo-roo-roong!

  The yellow lightning that shook heaven and earth once again shot toward Kevil .

  “Ggoo-hoohp!”


  The last time, the spell had failed in injuring Kevil . However, something had changed now . Sungyoon had created an open wound, and the lightning flowed through that wound and scrambled Kevil’s innards .

  “You fucking bastards!”


  Kevil roared in anger as it ripped the lightning away from its body . It then tried to attack Sungyoon’s party . However, the first thing it saw after the lightning went away was a sharp halberd .

  Puh-uhng!

  It quickly deflected the incoming halberd, which immediately disappeared in the air .

  Sungyoon once again stood in front of Kevil .

  “Do you like the wound on your shoulder, you bitch?”


  Sungyoon had already recovered and worn his armor once again . He raised his sword .

  “Let’s start the second round!”


  “You think you gained an upper hand because you wounded me once!”


  “It isn’t just a wound!”


  Sungyoon raised his ax . He playfully tossed it between his hands .

  “How’s the poison? Normally, it would melt a normal monster . As expected of an officer, you’re different . ”


  ‘It’s indeed poison . ’


  Kevil narrowed its eyes . It had realized that its wound was healing slower, and it was feeling more pain than usual .

  The poison was doing its best in trying to reach deeper into Kevil’s body .

  ‘I can get rid of this poison in short order . ’


  If Kevil used its fire, the poison was no threat to it . It just had to burn the poison, but it needed a little bit of time to do that .

  The only problem with that was Sungyoon wouldn’t give him the time .

  “We knew you would power up in due time . We expected it, and we prepared for it . We meticulously searched for locations where the magical energies pooled . We couldn’t find all of the locations, but we had enough manpower to thoroughly search the sites where you might carry out your rituals . We knew you would regain some of your power in a place like this . ”


  Sungyoon waved his arm and felt the flow of magical energy brush against his arm .

  “That’s why, as you surmised, the plan was supposed to buy enough time for reinforcements . However, I don’t need to do that now . ”


  Sungyoon pushed off the ground . He approached Kevil in a flash and swung his ax .

  Koo-oo-oong!

  “Koo-oohk!”


  Kevil groaned . Sungyoon’s attack felt much heavier than before, and it shocked Kevil .

  “Unlike you, I don’t regain my original power here . I received a boost to my already-existing power . Of course, I couldn’t properly use it in the beginning . I was unfamiliar with it . ”


  A hammer appeared in Sungyoon’s other hand .

  “But I’m finally used to it now . ”


  Kwahng!

  The explosion from the hammer shook the ground .