[You are at the beginning of the labyrinth.]
The entrance to the labyrinth was so elaborate that it seemed impossible that it was only an entrance. It was wide enough to let thousands in at the same time, and there were various marble structures and paintings that depicted the legends of the Draconic species.
At the end was a massive door about ten meters tall. It was so thick that it seemed impossible to budge. There were statues of humans in front of it sitting in lotus position with their eyes closed. They were so realistic that it seemed like they might come to life at any second. Bloody corpses lay on the ground around them, and there were signs on the ground and iron door that an intense battle had taken place.
“I heard the advance party didn’t wait and attempted to get through. As you can see, the damage was quite bad.” The Gluttony Emperor walked past his bowing subordinates and kicked the corpses on the ground with a grimace.
“They must be the guards that I’ve been hearing about.”
“Probably. They’re not your average guards. I’m sorry that I couldn’t keep my promise. I’ll take responsibility and punish the advance party.”
Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes as he looked at the stone statue.
Although the labyrinth under the Dragon Temple was also Kalatus’ grave, more importantly, it serves as a type of museum that showcased the glory of the Draconic species.
It’s divided into multiple sections that have their own specific tests. The ones that supervise the tests are the graveyard keepers, and since Kalatus was such an outstanding dragon king, there are many of them.
Each graveyard keeper is named after a legendary dragon king, and they all live up to their names. They are as powerful as high rankers and can take on even the Nine Kings.
They have been given on only one command: to ensure that their master is not disturbed. Even those who enter by accident will be removed. Even though I am Kalatus’ descendant, I wasn’t exempted.
There are five graveyard keepers that you need to be especially wary of, especially Balnanta. He’s a battle automaton created by dragons who wanted to experiment to see how strong a player could be.
While he was clearing the Tutorial, Yeon-woo had encountered copper scarecrow automatons in the boss room of Section A. They had been based on Balnanta, who was quietly slumbering in front of the iron door.
A simple question a dragon had once asked had led to multiple dragons coming up with their ideas of the ultimate player. Kalatus himself had designed Balnanta, which was why it was so powerful.
Most of the time, the automaton was calm, its functions suspended. But once a trespasser tried to creep through the labyrinth’s entrance, Balmanta was programmed to wake up and immediately attack. The corpses scattered around it had likely tried to go through the door.
Blood Land and Yeon-woo had promised each other to pass through the door together after their preparations were finished, but it was clear that they’d violated their promise and made an attempt to enter first.
‘Not that I expected anything different.’ It was impossible to be disappointed if you didn’t have any trust in the first place.
However, the Gluttony Emperor seemed to feel guilty, so he scolded the advance party that was examining the entrance. The captain of the advance party bowed, saying that he was willing to be punished. Yeon-woo didn’t pay too much attention to this farce and approached Balnanta.
“U-um…!”
“It’s danger—!”
The Gluttony Emperor and the advance party tried to stop Yeon-woo, but Yeon-woo walked just close enough to Balnanta without activating him. He attempted to project his thoughts into the automaton.
