Moon’s Labyrinths (Web Novel)

It appeared as if time had stopped around them.

The woman who had been saved by Sungyoon was frozen. The people who had been running away came to a stop. Everyone was staring at Sungyoon.

The Behemoth was a monster beyond their imagination, yet a knight straight out of the fairy tale had suddenly appeared to confront the monster. No one could have imagined such a thing happening.

However, it was happening in front of their eyes.

“Hoohp!”

Sungyoon put strength into his body as he pushed with his shield.

Tuh-uhng!

It seemed the Behemoth was taken aback as it was easily pushed backward. Still, its gaze remained fixed on Sungyoon.

This new man in front of itlooked like the other prey, but the monster could tell that he wouldn’t be an easy foe.

Sungyoon raised his sword as he kept the monster at bay.

‘What the hell is she doing?’

The woman whom he had saved, was absentmindedly staring at Sungyoon.

“Run!”

Sungyoon yelled out.

Finally recovering her sense, the woman clutched her child as she started running away. This was the same for other people. Everyone started running away again.

“Mr. Knight!”

Sungyoon, who was holding the Behemoth at bay, heard the voice of a young child coming from behind him. The voice belonged to the child he had saved. She was in her mother's arms, and she was yelling out loud toward Sungyoon.

“Thank you for saving us!”

It was out of place considering the current situation, but the girl started waving her hands. A knight of justice had appeared in front of her, and she wholeheartedly believed that the he would defeat the monster.

Sungyoon subconsciously felt strength enter his hands when he heard the words of support from the girl.

Koo-rook!

The Behemoth became quite upset when the nearby humans started to run away. It let out a cry of displeasure.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The monster’s gaze remained fixed on Sungyoon as it took a couple of steps to the side. It was trying to find an opening.

Sungyoon also started to move a little bit in response.

Koo-ahhhhhhhhhh!

It seemed the Behemoth had lost its patience, and It charged toward Sungyoon. Wherever it moved, the road broke.

When the Behemoth started to move, people started to scream once again. Sungyoon took a firm grip on his sword and shield.

Hoo-oong!

A terrifyingly powerful strike came flying towardhim.

Sungyoon angled his body. He had blocked a direct attack earlier because he had been defending someone. It had been a problem since the weight difference between him and the monster was too massive. However, he no longer needed to block the attack from the front.

Hoo-oohng!

The Behemoth swiped with its other claws this time, but Sungyoon jumped diagonally. He arrived next to the Behemoth’s side and swung his sword.

Poo-shook!

The sword cut through the Behemoth’s skin.

However, Sungyoon frowned.

Kyahhhhhhh!

The monster let out a roar as it indiscriminately stomped the ground with its eight feet.

“Koo-oohk!”

Sungyoon immediately distanced himself from the Behemoth. If he had been unlucky, he might've been flattened like a pancake.

While he was doing this, he looked at the wound he had created.

‘It is too shallow.’

He expected the Behemoth's magic resistance to be high, but he hadn’t expected that his overclocked sword would leave such a shallow wound. It was a scratch. If one took in the size of the Behemoth, it was a very small wound.

Moreover, even though his sword had the ability to attack with lightning, the electricity had barely done anything to the monster.

‘It’ll be tough if I do this by myself.’

He desperately needed Grace’s support.

However, Grace hadn’t arrived on-site yet.

‘I’ll have to be conservative. I’ll keep it at bay.’

He had no solution if he had to do this by himself.

Sungyoon made sure the Behemoth didn’t attack any other humans, and he waited for Grace to contact him.

***

The first one to live broadcast this nightmare-like situation was BBC news. Their helicopter flew in the air as the camera captured the rampage of the Behemoth.

“What the hell is that?”

It was an open mic, so the reporter's words were being broadcasted unfiltered.

However, the reporter didn’t even have the time to think about what he was saying.

“Is that a knight?”

The scenewas too far from him, so he was having a hard time seeing it. However, he was sure that he was right.

The cameraman zoomed in. The sight of Sungyoon keeping the Behemoth in check came into clear view.

“Ah. I’m sorry. Currently, some kind of a knight is fighting the monster.”

The reporter continued to explain what he was seeing.

“I don’t know who or what he is. I don't care if he is a knight or an angel. I just hope he can defeat the monster.”

The reporter mumbled. He felt a little bit of hope rise up when he saw the knight block the Behemoth’s attack.

However, he didn’t sound too optimistic. The size difference between the knight and the Behemoth was too large.

But soon, the reporter's eyes widened. It was inevitable.

Kwahng! Kwahng! Koo-koohng! Kwahng!

The loud destructive noise could be heard above the sound of the helicopter’s rotor. The reporter’s mouth fell open when he saw what was occurring down below.

“Ah. Everyone! The knight... the knight is fighting the monster on equal footing!”

Sungyoon looked like an ant compared to the Behemoth. However, his fast movements allowed him to make a fool out of the Behemoth.

It wasn’t just that. The times when he couldn’t dodge the Behemoth’s attack, Sungyoon deflected the attack and counterattacked. He looked like a knight straight out of myths, a knight going up against a legendary monster.

“What the hell is he? Did he jump out from a fairy tale? Are the Knights of the Round Table still in existence?”

Regular humans couldn’t enter the labyrinths, and machines didn't work inside the labyrinths either. Therefore, there was no footage of Connectors fighting against monsters. Although the Connectors were famous, not many knew what they were truly capable of doing.

Even if one had some knowledge about monsters and Connectors, it was common knowledge that labyrinths and monsters only appeared on the Moon. This fact distorted the views on what was going on right now. The reporter couldn’t connect the dots between this fight with the Connectors, labyrinths, and monsters. It was to be expected.

“Anyway, there is hope for London now!”

The Behemoth had been laying waste to London, killing and eating humans up until this moment. It was all that the news could report. But now, the reporter had something else to show his audience. He clenched both his fists as he cheered.

It happened at that moment.

Kwahhhhhhhhhng!

Suddenly, a pillar of fire erupted around the Behemoth’s body, and the monster let out a pained scream. It had taken a great amount of damage, and its body rocked.

“What the hell?”

The reporter yelled out in surprise.

At the same time, the camera moved toward the direction from where the flames had erupted.

Someone was standing atop the roof of a house. This person was positioned a bit away from the battle. The cameraman zoomed in.

Unlike the unknown knight with his entire body covered in silver-colored armor, the face of the person standing atop the house was in clear view.

A robe covered her body, and her hood was off her head. She was aiming her long staff toward the Behemoth.

“A magician appeared after the knight?”

The reporter was so surprised that he sounded exhausted. However, his eyes widened when he saw the face of the person wearing the magician’s robe.

“Wait a moment! That person is…!”

She was a strikingly beautiful woman, and her blonde hair fluttered in the wind.

“Everyone! It's Princess Grace! Princess Grace just used her magic!”

The reporter shouted his words as if he had caught sight of the world’s most important secret.

***

- Princess Grace is fighting the monster with the unidentified knight.

The excited voice of the reporter could be heard from the TV. The screen showed Grace sending another fire spell at the Behemoth.

When the enormous fireball struck the monster, it screamed in pain. The reporter cheered.

If one listened carefully, one could hear cheers from the surrounding too. It seemed everyone was watching the broadcast.

“This is how Grace fights.”

The Queen was tense as she watched the TV on her sofa.

Connectors had to fight monsters in order to acquire moonstones. The Queen knew it was a dangerous occupation, but this was the first time she had seen a fight between Connectors and a monster.

This wasn’t true only for the Queen. It held true for all the regular humans on Earth. They could now know about the battle between the Connectors and the monsters.

“Mother! You have to evacuate right now!”

She heard a panicked voice from her side.

The Queen looked toward where the voice had emanated.

The Crown Prince stood there with the other members of the Royal Family.

“You guys can evacuate. I am the Queen of England. I will not leave my palace. Above all else, Grace is fighting right now. As her grandmother, I can't leave.”

“Mother!”

The Crown Prince desperately called out to the Queen, but she didn’t budge.

“I don't have long to live in this world even if these were normal times. I want all of you to escape this place. If something happens to me, the bloodline of the Royal Family must continue. When you leave, I want you to take everyone in this palace. I want you to make sure I am the only one left here.”

She spoke the next sentence with an iron will.

“This is an order.”

Afterward, the Queen didn’t even bother looking at her other family members. She just watched the screen. The Crown Prince continued to talk, but the Queen acted as if she didn’t hear him.

In the end, the Crown Prince had to give up. He led everyone out of the room. This might be the last time the Queen would be with her family, yet she never looked at them.

It seemed the Behemoth considered Grace to be a bigger threat than Sungyoon. It heedlessly charged toward her, and the camera captured this sight.

Screams could be heard from everywhere. The Queen subconsciously clenched her hands.

However, Sungyoon ran in front of the Behemoth to block the charge. Once again a cheer rang out from her surroundings.

She felt a sense of relief. However, this feeling lasted only a moment. Her heart was now full of worry.

‘Is this what you do up there?’

The Queen never wanted to send Grace to raid the labyrinth. No grandmother would want her granddaughter to do something so dangerous.

However, Connectors had to live on the Moon. It was their fate. And the Queen couldn't stop Grace from being a Connector.

Grace could reside on the Moon without working. She could do so if she received support from the Crown, but this would inevitably lower the Royal Family's popularity. It might lead to the anti-monarchist gaining control of the government.

The Queen had known the work of Connectors was dangerous, but she only had an abstract idea about it. And when she now watched the battle between a monster and Connectors, she realized it was more dangerous than she had expected. The fight was much more rough and desperate than what she had imagined them to be.

‘How terrifying it must have been?’

Her lovely granddaughter had been fighting these terrifying monsters in caves where only darkness existed.

The Queen could feel an overwhelming sense of pity press down on her heart.

Her granddaughter was desperately fighting for this city and country. She couldn’t run away when Grace was fighting.

The Queen focused on the screen as if watching the TV was an important mission.

Shelooked at Sungyoon when he appeared on the screen. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew it was him.

‘Please protect Grace and London.’

He was currently putting his life on the line to fight for England and the people of London. She desperately prayed for success for the hero of the East.

***

Sungyoon was barely able to stop the Behemoth, who had been charging toward Grace. He frowned.

‘Heavy.’

The Behemoth was immense. Of course, its attack felt heavy. That was why he was dodging its attacks rather than blocking them. However, he had no choice but to block the attack straight on when the Behemoth started charging at Grace.

He barely blocked the attack using Gravity magic on himself.

‘I really miss Mr. Tim right now.’

Tim was like a sturdy wall, who always blocked the monsters from the front. Sungyoon could feel his absence in his bones.

When Sungyoon turned his head around, he realized Grace hadalready disappeared. She was moving to a different location for her next attack.

He had to keep the Behemoth occupied until Grace was ready to attack once again.

“Hoo-ahhhhhhhp!”

So helet out a shout as he charged at the Behemoth.

Koo-uhhhhhhhhhhh!

The monster roared in response as it also rushed Sungyoon.

He dodged the claws. Then he dodged the feet which were trying to make pancakes out of him.

Sungyoonkept swinging his sword as he created wounds all over the Behemoth’s body. However, he still couldn’t create a wound beyond a scratch.

‘This will never end at this rate!’

He was causing too little damage compared to its size. The magic was effective, but it wasn’t fatal.

They needed another plan.

It happened at that moment.

Boom!

The Behemoth put strength into its legs and jumped into the air.

‘Shit!’

It was trying to kill him using its entire body. Sungyoon could barely dodge, but his fighting stance was disturbed in the process.

The Behemoth swung its claws at him, but he blocked them with his sword.

Kwahhhhhhhng!

However, Sungyooncouldn't withstand the attack, and he was sent flying through multiple buildings.