Chapter 691
At the same time.
A grand military parade was being held on the 42nd floor of the Tower of Trials.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A tremendous number of troops and all kinds of Egyptian Divinities gathered before the sacred site—the Great Temple of Abu Simbel.
Their purpose was singular: to invade the Demon Realm.
The plan to form an alliance with Berial, who had ties with Jinhyuk, wipe out the remaining demons, and split the entire Demon Realm was proceeding smoothly. Now, only the final inspection remained.
And among them…
Were the elite of the elite, known as the ‘Royal Guardian.’
“Good.”
Osiris nodded, seemingly satisfied.
The strongest martial force, created with meticulous care.
These monsters, all composed of Egyptian heroes, were powerful enough to hunt a Demon King—or perhaps even something beyond—once the combination was complete.
“Excellent.”
“It was worth the hardship.”
Anubis and Horus wiped away the tears welling up in their eyes.
Their efforts, which had kept them up day and night, were finally bearing fruit.
The supreme deity of Egypt, the sun god ‘Ra,’ also let out a satisfied growl.
The time had come.
Now was the time to conquer the Demon Realm and make the name of Egypt known throughout the Tower of Trials.
“Now, my proud soldiers of the desert! Go forth into the Demon Realm and show them how great and powerful we are!”
Ra’s voice echoed loudly.
“Ooooh!”
“Waaaaaah!”
The soldiers, their morale soaring, raised their respective weapons high.
Ra, not missing the timing, pointed to those standing at the very front.
The vanguard—the most elite—armed in sand-colored armor.
“The start of the holy war is guarded by the Royal… Huh?”
But then.
Ra’s eyes widened mid-speech.
His hawk-shaped head tilted from side to side.
…Gone.
Not figuratively—the Royal Guardian had literally vanished.
—
[A Challenger is being summoned!]
A large force appeared before Gardener and Judge of Repulsion.
“W-what are these things?”
Gardener, seeing the Royal Guardian, took a step back without realizing it.
It was only natural to be thrown off by the sudden appearance of Egyptian forces.
No, if it had only been that, he wouldn’t have been so dumbfounded.
The real problem was…
‘Their specs are optimized for the Labyrinth Guardian.’
As if they had been sent specifically to defeat Judge of Repulsion.
The confusion only grew because he didn’t know that [Judgment of Anubis] was specialized in crushing challengers.
“Good. Not bad.”
Jinhyuk nodded as he looked over the Royal Guardian.
Click! Click! Click!
A total of 24 Royal Guardian members moved on Jinhyuk’s orders as if measured with a ruler.
Mana, meticulously engraved by the Egyptian gods, emanated from the helmets modeled after various animals and the golden armaments.
Individual specs, countless combat experiences, even the method of hunting the strong by forming combinations.
Everything was a perfectly polished jewel.
It was exhilarating—taking and using what others had worked so hard to create.
After tasting this, he couldn’t stop relying on his Unique Abilities.
And with that feeling, he also seemed to hear someone yelling from far away on the 42nd floor.
No.
[Anubis asks why you took his Unique Ability and his bodyguards!]
The complaints actually came.
Not just from one person, but from several.
[Horus, Osiris, and Set also want it back right now…]
[Before Ra puts you in the same situation…]
Jinhyuk indifferently looked at the red status windows that appeared one after another.
He felt his conscience stir slightly, but only for a moment.
[Blocking the conversation.]
Spam texts were always a problem.
Interrupting an important battle—no manners at all. Tsk.
“Where were we?”
Jinhyuk, having blocked all the status windows, asked Gardener again.
“Ah, right. It was time to show off my Challengers in a cool way.”
The Royal Guardian, protected by [Sanctuary of the Sun].
He didn’t know whether they could defeat Judge of Repulsion.
However.
There would be no more perfect pawn to tie down that powerful Guardian.
Jinhyuk snapped his fingers.
“W-wait…!”
Before Gardener could even respond, the Pharaoh’s soldiers kicked off the ground and charged.
The Royal Guardian, closing in from different directions, quickly formed a formation.
“GRAAAH!”
The greatsword in Judge of Repulsion’s hand let out a shriek.
At the same time, the sword swung horizontally.
Riiip…!
The air tore apart, and wind erupted toward everything in sight.
The shockwave followed, tracing a clear path through the air.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOM!
Three at once.
The Royal Guardian at the very front were torn to pieces.
THUUUD!
A shield the size of a house braced against the enemies approaching from the rear.
A turtle-shell-shaped wave rose up, completely blocking one side.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Naturally, the squad trying to launch a surprise attack was thwarted.
It was as if they had wasted a precious turn.
BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOOOM!
The battle of attack and defense immediately followed.
Unlike the beginning, this time Judge of Repulsion’s greatsword did not reach the Guardians.
Now that they had grasped its range and power, there was no reason to be easily crushed.
One strike at a time.
The strongest shield and the strongest spear threatened each other.
Each blow was fierce enough to make one’s hands sweat, yet no effective hits landed.
One side attacked; the other dodged or deflected—over and over.
This time, after dodging, it was the Guardians’ turn to counterattack.
Naturally, Judge of Repulsion kept drawing up the Mana wave he’d been using, waiting for a chance to counter.
But right as the shield fully deployed—
[‘Rainbow Bridge’ is activated!]
[‘Mandala’ and ‘Daylight’ are activated!]
KABOOOM!
A streak of green light slammed into Judge of Repulsion’s wave.
The surface of the wave cracked.
The Guardians, like ghosts, exploited that weakness.
Two more were caught by Judge of Repulsion’s counterattack, but the result was completely different from before.
THUNK! THUNK!
Spear and sword merged into a single strike, successfully piercing the armor.
Red blood spurted out.
Twitch.
Judge of Repulsion’s balance broke—just slightly.
[The healing effect of the wound is reduced due to the light of the sacred desert.]
From Judge of Repulsion’s perspective, it was no more than a mosquito bite. It would be more accurate to say there was virtually no physical or Mana damage.
However, the mental blow of being struck by mere creatures was not so easily shaken off.
“Grr… Graaaargh!”
Judge of Repulsion’s mouth twisted grotesquely.
A murderous intent like a raging wave echoed throughout the Labyrinth.
“C-calm down. D-don’t dwell on that wound… Deal with them one by one!”
It was Gardener who grew anxious.
The situation was still overwhelmingly in their favor, but this battle wasn’t simply about who won or lost.
Protecting the Necronomicon.
Only then would annihilating the opponent mean anything.
In fact, as the battle intensified, Jinhyuk was slowly starting to move away from his position.
He intended to entrust the rear to the remaining members and secure the real objective.
“C-catch that guy!”
He didn’t care about the Royal Guardian.
If he just killed Jinhyuk, he could somehow deal with everything else.
Fortunately, Judge of Repulsion agreed: every enemy had to die.
[‘Judge of Repulsion’ summons Unique Ability ‘Storm Sword’!]
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
A black whirlwind raged around the sword.
A wide-area skill with terrifying power.
His whole body trembled from the wind’s resonant howl alone.
He couldn’t even imagine how destructive the blow would be.
It was truly a skill suited to annihilating everything in the Labyrinth.
“H-hiiik! N-no, if you use th-that here, what are you— I mean! J-just kill one person. J-just one!”
Gardener hurriedly tried to distance himself.
A power that didn’t distinguish friend from foe—one that could even destroy part of the garden—was gathering.
And at that moment.
The giant whirlpools widened to a range of hundreds of meters, swallowing everything in sight.
Following that, purple lightning crashed down wildly across the area consumed by the whirlpools.
—
Drip, drip…
The plants and vines were caked in mud.
The entrance to the Labyrinth before him had become such a ruin that calling it a garden was embarrassing.
Acrid dust and particulate matter scraped at his lungs.
“Y-you stupid bastard. I-I almost died too. I-if it weren’t for the Labyrinth Lord’s special ability, I w-wouldn’t have been able to piece my bones back together.”
Gardener barely managed to rise from the wreckage.
Still, despite his grumbling, a deep smile spread across his lips.
It was a blow that even the Labyrinth Lord himself had found threatening.
Of course, it was obvious what would happen to those caught in it from much closer range.
They would vanish without a trace.
If they were lucky, only a few scraps of flesh would remain.
It should have been like that.
Hisss!
From the rising smoke, he felt a familiar and unpleasant Mana.
It was definitely Kang Jinhyuk’s Mana.
“…!?”
Gardener’s pupils shook as if an earthquake struck.
This was because he saw the Royal Guardian, burned down to charcoal in a pyramid formation.
Needless to say, there were no survivors.
No one would think those whose bodies could crumble in a light breeze were ‘alive.’
Instead, they had succeeded in protecting a single Pharaoh with their lives.
[The great desert spirit has fulfilled its final duty.]
“Thank you.”
Jinhyuk whispered softly and turned his gaze forward.
Tap… Tap… KABOOOM!
He used [Demonic Heavenly Army’s Advent] to close the distance to the Necronomicon at an incredible speed.
Only a few minutes at most.
If he wasn’t interrupted, he would secure the Necronomicon within that time.
“B-Balseter!”
Gardener shouted at the last remaining Labyrinth designer.
If Balseter could only tie down Jinhyuk’s feet while the balance wasn’t completely broken, there was still a chance to turn things around.
“Yes?”
“A-activate all the traps you set up right now! Right now!”
Almost at the same time.
“Bad breath!”
Jinhyuk also shouted at the same target.
He added a warning with a fierce look in his eyes.
If Balseter moved here, he would really show him what hell was like.
“Damn it…”
Balseter’s face turned ashen.
The Labyrinth designer stood at the crossroads of his life.
Without a doubt, the most important moment of decision he would ever face.