𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎𝟔
As mentioned earlier, the Eternal Labyrinth consists of four sections.
And to obtain all of Witch Verdi’s legacy, it goes without saying that one must overcome all four of these mazes.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙯𝙚𝙨.」
The method of using the Riftstone is simple; infuse it with spiritual power, input the destination among other mazes, and then insert it into any barrier above a certain level.
When that happens, the barrier becomes a medium for the Riftstone and transforms into a sort of portal.
「𝙓𝙞𝙖𝙤 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙮.」
She’s a top-class barrier user, but as a result, she rarely uses other types of spells aside from barrier magic.
If she had stopped the Riftstone with a method other than a barrier, she wouldn’t have ended up in such a state, to say the least.
「𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙬.」
It’s too late to say this now, but the truth is, I sent Xiao Chen to the worst area of the Eternal Labyrinth: the Blinding Mountain.
The reason why the Blinding Mountain is considered to have the highest level of difficulty is simple.
「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙚𝙩.」
I vaguely recall hearing that it was supposed to appear in the 8th installment of the series, which was the most recent one in production when I was there, but to be honest, I don’t know exactly what happened.
However, one thing was certain.
Even if Xiao Chen is a special-grade exorcist, there’s no way she can escape the Blinding Mountain by herself.
「𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖 𝙗𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 70.」
Offering silent words of consolation to Xiao Chen, who had fallen victim to power inflation, I met up with Han Seo-ah to check on the relics she’d obtained.
“What about the witch’s knowledge?”
“. . .I’m not sure yet. I think it’ll take some time before I can use it in actual combat.”
That’s only natural. If anyone could use it easily, it would be a shame to call her an ancient witch.
Han Seo-ah had also gotten her hands on several items that had been mentioned in the original work, such as:
【Sun and Moon Ring】
▶A ring that was considered a sacred relic of the ancient witch clan; the wearer gains special effects depending on whether the sun or moon is out.
Can only be worn by women.
【Formless Box】
▶A box created using ancient spells with a vast inner space. The owner can store or retrieve desired objects through the box.
Current capacity: 13%
【Witch Verdi’s Signet】
▶A signet that was personally enchanted by the ancient Witch Verdi; when used in a designated space, it can open a dimensional rift leading outside the Black Forest.
Aside from these, there was also the Riftstone, which could open paths to challenge different areas of the maze, but that had already been used up when I gave it to Xiao Chen earlier.
Even so, there was no doubt that the other two items were top-tier magical tools.
「. . .𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝘽𝙤𝙭, 𝙝𝙪𝙝? 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙄’𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨.」
In the game, it was used like an additional inventory.
With modern sorcery, it would be difficult to create such an item, no matter how much money and time one poured into it.
「𝙀𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙞𝙩’𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙮.」
After checking them, I told Han Seo-ah to put on the Sun and Moon Ring herself.
Since it’s a spell that can only be used by women, it’s of no use to me anyway.
Just in case, we searched Witch Verdi’s room one more time and then finally headed to the hideout where Yoo Tae-jin and his party were in hiding, carrying the results with us.
“. . .So you succeeded in the end.”
The party’s reaction was intense. However, they also seemed to have an air of disbelief.
The hardships they’d endured during that time must have been swirling around in their minds, leaving them unsure of what to do.
After encouraging each other for our hard work, we headed to the location to open the escape rift, our hearts filled with anticipation.
During that process, we also heard some information that we hadn’t been aware of.
“While you were gone, Han-soo and Tae-gil went out on patrol, and they found that only the bodies of Woo Ki-bum’s party were left there. It seems like Xiao Chen did it.”
Perhaps because she had lost all interest in them, she no longer saw any reason to keep them alive. In a way, it was a choice befitting of Xiao Chen.
“We’ve arrived. It’s right here.”
Finally, after walking diligently, we were able to reach our destination.
The opposite side of the deep forest, the entrance to the base point.
It was the place where Han Seo-ah and I had first landed.
“This is where we can get out. . . . . . .”
There was now an arch-shaped structure that hadn’t been there before, and its shape resembled a giant door.
And beneath it was a groove that was just the right size to fit Witch Verdi’s signet.
「. . . . . . .」
The party members looked at each other and, sensing that this was truly the end, began to bid each other farewell.
“Thank you for putting up with my shortcomings. I don’t know what will happen next, but I’ll never forget the memories I made here.”
“Leader, why are you saying that so sadly? We’ll definitely meet again outside, safe and sound.”
“. . .Yeah. We definitely will. You too, guys. Me too.”
Then Choi Tae-gil, who approached me, opened his mouth, his expression changing several times in that brief moment.
Even though he had already apologized once, it seemed that he was still bothered by his initial harsh attitude.
“You’re going to be really great. If you ever need help outside, come find Choi Tae-gil of Mapo any time.”
“I can’t go to a scary neighborhood like that, sir.”
“Aw, man, I said I was sorry. It’s not the time to be making jokes.”
After exchanging smiles and handshakes, we expressed our gratitude to the group of civilians under Yoo Tae-jin’s protection and then inserted Witch Verdi’s signet into the prepared groove.
Whoooosh.
Clack.
Clack-clack-clack!
A doorway of a slightly different shape from the dimensional rift we’d seen twice before.
There was no need to hesitate any longer, so the party members stepped inside one by one.
And so, we were finally able to escape the northern section of the Eternal Labyrinth, the Black Forest’s maze.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
On the other hand, after Han Kang-yoon and Han Seo-ah disappeared, serious anomalies began to occur in Do-hwa-won, where the Cheonghwa Academy students were staying.
The people of Do-hwa-won and the students of the academy disappeared one after another.
No matter how much they checked the CCTV, they couldn’t find any trace of them, and it was difficult to figure out which path they had disappeared through.
After securing the cooperation of the nearby Defense Corps to investigate the incident, there were those who succeeded in approaching the root of the situation first.
They were none other than the protagonist of the original work, Yoo Ha-on, and her party.
“Damn it, they’re in a place like this, so naturally the missing people can’t be seen anywhere.”
After chasing the incident for a long time due to the disappearance of their friend, Yoo Ha-on and her party finally solved all the secrets, reached Sahwanjae’s lair, and succeeded in finding the missing people.
However.
“What? Why is Seo-ah not here?”
“It’s strange that none of the people who were kidnapped and imprisoned by the yokai have seen anyone like her.”
“It’s the same here. There’s no clue at all.”
“. . .Burn it.”
Hwang Ji-hak, who helped Yoo Ha-on and her party defeat Sahwanjae, shook his head, and Ggong-sam-yi, who had made a great contribution to saving the people, also made a gloomy expression and let out a tick, tick sound of fire.
Baek Eun-seo, who was looking at Ggong-sam-yi, tilted her head and asked a question.
“The fact that this is here means that person was here too, right?”
“. . .That’s probably right.”
“Don’t tell me, they were already eaten after being caught. . . . . . .”
The one who denied it was Cheong Juhwa, who had been actively involved in the incident with Yoo Ha-on and her party, unlike usual.
“That can’t be. He’s not someone who would be defeated by a yokai of this level.”
“. . .Well, it would be funny if he died in a place like this after always taking the lead and breaking everything.”
Sahwanjae was a guy with a really tricky and annoying technique, but he wasn’t the type with high enough combat ability to overwhelm his opponent.
“Then, in the end, it’s back to square one. It’s certain that she came here, but did she just fall into the ground this time?”
As everyone fell into silence, Ggong-sam-yi, who had been still, gently pulled on Cheong Juhwa’s hem and started to head somewhere.
The place they arrived at was a cave where many passages that Sahwanjae had treated like precious treasures existed.
“Well, now that it’s all broken, there’s nothing left.”
『Keyeeeeek.』
Sahwanjae, who was being held by Hwang Ji-hak’s hand, cried sadly at the sight.
He wanted to punish this damn guy right away, but he had no choice but to put it on hold for now because he needed a passage to get outside.
“Jeez, we should probably let the outside know the truth. We can’t keep people here forever.”
And while Baek Eun-seo was pondering, Ggong-sam-yi, who suddenly approached Sahwanjae, grabbed his horn and started pointing somewhere with her finger.
“Burn it.”
『Keheek?』
As Sahwanjae blankly stared at it, Ggong-sam-yi got annoyed and grabbed Sahwanjae’s head.
Koong.
『Keheeeek!』
“. . .Burn it?”
Sahwanjae flailed around with a clueless expression, and Ggong-sam-yi continued to torment Sahwanjae like that.
Kong.
Kong.
Koong.
In the end, Baek Eun-seo and Hwang Ji-hak, who couldn’t stand it anymore, opened their mouths.
“Did this guy do something?”
“Fire Demon, I understand that you’re feeling down because you’re separated from your master, but it’ll be difficult if he dies. It would be better if you calmed down a bit. . . . . . .”
That’s when the change occurred.
Crackle.
Whoosh.
Zzzzzz!
A crack that suddenly appeared in the void began to bulge in shape and emit an ominous aura.
And from there, someone slowly walked out.
It was none other than Han Kang-yoon and Han Seo-ah, who had disappeared.
As everyone stared blankly at it, Han Kang-yoon, who understood the situation at the same time, opened his mouth as if he understood.
“You caught Sahwanjae.”
“. . .Why did you come out of there?”
Han Kang-yoon took a deep breath and continued speaking to Baek Eun-seo, who was bewildered by the absurd situation.
“Well, that’s the thing.”
Although he didn’t know the exact situation, it was clear that the two people, who were in a mess, had gone through a lot of hardship.
“. . .Burn it.”
Ggong-sam-yi, who ran quickly, clung to Han Kang-yoon, and Han Kang-yoon stroked Ggong-sam-yi’s head a few times before using his technique to put her in the shadows.
“Then, let’s sort out the situation in front of us first.”
Like that, the series of incidents that took place in Do-hwa-won came to an end for the time being thanks to the efforts of the Cheonghwa Academy students.
The other incidents that had unfolded deeper than that were left only in the hearts of Han Kang-yoon and Han Seo-ah.
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