“Hoarder!” Ivan was the first to react to Yeon-woo’s presence. The battlefield was filled with confusion from Balnanta’s sudden attack, and he was the only one who chased after Yeon-woo. However, Balnanta stretched its hand towards the door, as if it wouldn’t let anyone approach. It brought the blade of its palm down, dividing space.
Ivan activated his signature skill, Lion Mobilization. “Hup!” Ivan quickly turned from running to Yeon-woo and brought his sword down. There was a wild clang, and his body shook as it was pushed away. His sword trembled and it was nearly cracked into pieces.
Sweat dripped down his back. If he had moved just a fraction slower, his back would have broken. Balnanta was more proficient in Lion Mobilization than him. ‘How can a mere combat automaton…!’
From what he knew, combat automatons could only imitate movements and not their opponents’ proficiency and power. This was too much. Was this the secret weapon the Hoarder had prepared when he’d gone missing for a year? Or was it part of Blood Land’s machinations?
If neither of them had anything to do with it, then was it related to the strange message that had appeared when he’d crossed the portal?
[You have entered the hidden stage ‘Dragon Labyrinth’.]
Dragon Labyrinth? What was that? There were many different areas on the fiftieth floor, but there was no section with that name. Since it was a hidden stage, it was clearly a secret area—could it be related to the ruins that everyone thought lay under the Dragon’s Temple?
Rumble! However, Ivan didn’t have a chance to consider this much longer. Balnanta had arrived in front of him and punched him in the stomach. Ivan’s sword exploded, and blood spurted up.
In the meantime, the Head Bishop and Waltz chased after Yeon-woo and the Gluttony Emperor at the speed of light.
“Your Majesty! We’ll take care of this place, so please open the door! Tarbing, escort His Majesty!”
“Duan Tien!”
Duke Tuan Tien, who had been attending to the emperor, fell back. Boom! He activated his magic power, skidding as his flesh ripped apart and bone blades popped through his skin like a porcupine’s quills.
Duke Tuan Tien’s signature skill, Skeleton Sword, turned his bones into swords. After being combined with Guai from the Gluttony Emperor, his bones had grown abnormally tough, and he was a walking weapon.
When Duke Tuan Tien gripped his shoulders and pushed magic power in, his sharp bones instantly multiplied until he looked like a bush. The Head Bishop and Waltz frowned in annoyance and waved their hands in front of them. As they did, space trembled and the pieces of bones exploded futilely.
However, the broken pieces obscured their vision, and taking advantage of this, blazing Inferno Sight appeared. 「I…forbid…you to….approach.」 Magic fell from the magic squares in the air. As the ground cracked, columns of fire shot up. Now that Boo was an Elder Lich, he had grown more powerful.
Swoosh. Holes appeared in the fog of bone dust, and the cracks in the ground stopped the Head Bishop and Waltz from approaching.
“You bastards!” Waltz destroyed the attacks with a scowl. However, it wasn’t easy to get past Duke Tuan Tien and Boo, whose main purpose was to stop them. She tried using a dispel-type magic her mother, the Summer Queen, had taught her, but Boo brushed it aside as if he were showing her how superior he was to her. Waltz couldn’t allow this to continue, and so she separated her Nascent Soul Bodies.
She wasn’t eager to do it because she might expose her weaknesses as she divided her power, but she had no choice. Dozens of Nascent Soul Bodies spread around her and chased after Yeon-woo.
