Chapter 692
It was often said that in life, there were three opportunities that could completely change everything.
Whether it was fortune in wealth, health, fame, or power.
And.
Balseter instinctively knew this was the most important moment that would decide how his life turned out.
Gulp.
Dry saliva slid thickly down his throat.
His fingers twitched incessantly, like he was going through withdrawal.
Every minute and every second felt like an eternity, so he couldn’t easily choose which way to go.
“Y-you, you idiot! Who are you more afraid of right now!”
The Gardener glared at Balseter as if he wanted to kill him.
He was tempted to turn him into a handful of blood on the spot, but right now, he had to pour everything into catching Jinhyuk.
In the end, all he could do was threaten him.
He had to remind him of the fate that awaited those who defied ancient beings.
But.
Balseter tried hard to avoid his gaze.
He seemed to have already made up his mind.
He was turned completely toward Jinhyuk.
That alone answered which side he feared more.
“Heh… heh!”
The Gardener tightened his grip on his scissors.
The enemies besides Jinhyuk should’ve been wiped out by Judge of Repulsion earlier, which meant there was only one true threat left.
[Labyrinth Lord’s Authority ‘Gloomy Mud Heap’ is activated!]
The Gardener’s body vanished.
He reappeared right in front of Jinhyuk, along with writhing mud.
“Well. It wouldn’t be fun if it were too easy.”
Jinhyuk pulled First Blade from Subspace.
“Hah! A mere human like you can’t possess that. Th-that book!”
The Gardener’s scissors shot up as if to pierce the sky.
A purple wave overflowed, completely enveloping the blades.
Even if the Labyrinth Lord lacked combat prowess, he still oversaw the garden on the 50th floor. He possessed at least the minimum power worthy of his name.
But.
BOOM!
Jinhyuk met the attack head-on.
His daggers crossed and stopped the massive scissors in place.
Purple sparks scattered in every direction.
Crack…!
Behind Jinhyuk, space split open, and a massive one-eyed moon appeared.
[Unique Holy Spear – ‘One Eye Moon’ is activated!]
Gros’s annihilation power.
Light that could evaporate its target on the spot condensed at a terrifying speed.
“G-Gros’s ability…?”
The Gardener’s eyes widened like lanterns.
In truth, the only weakness of [Unique Holy Spear – ‘One Eye Moon’] was the preparation time required before it fired.
But he wasted those precious seconds—stunned that some strange human was using the ability of the great Divinity he served.
The result was fatal.
Uuuuuung!
The light within the eyeball finished condensing into a perfect sphere.
Now, there was no dodging it.
“H-hiiik!”
The Gardener recoiled, horrified, and desperately looked back.
There, Judge of Repulsion was preparing the second strike.
Originally, the plan was to buy time until that attack was complete, but now he had no choice but to exploit it to survive.
Heh heh heh heh…!
[Storm Sword] began to shine again.
This time, it wasn’t a wide-area attack.
It was meant to twist the beam of light from Gros that was converging into a single point.
BZZZZZT…!
A bizarre resonance that pierced the eardrums sent a shiver through every cell in the body.
Light and storm collided at one point.
In an instant, a tremendous shock ripped through the air.
BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOOOM!
Shockwaves erupted one after another.
But it only lasted a moment.
As the two attacks warped each other’s trajectories, they shot out in different directions.
He barely avoided it, but the problem was the garden beyond.
Flash.
The moment the blinding light flared, the garden within his field of vision vanished.
—
Good.
Jinhyuk clenched his fist.
If his first goal was to obtain the Necronomicon, then his second goal was to copy the Gardener’s ability.
Since the garden had been completely destroyed, it was safe to say the condition required by the system had been satisfied.
As if to prove it—
Ding!
[Copy conditions have been met!]
That always-pleasant notification sound rang out.
[Since the Gardener’s mental damage has reached its maximum, you can select and copy one ability or skill from all of the Gardener’s abilities and skills.]
Jinhyuk barely swallowed back the cheer that threatened to burst out.
It was the best possible result.
Normally, he would’ve taken his time choosing which ability to copy, but he couldn’t afford that thrill right now.
BOOM!
Using the opening created by the explosion, Jinhyuk pushed through in a final burst.
His vision shifted rapidly.
Thirty meters ahead, a landscape that didn’t belong to this world came into view.
A bizarre altar made of floating stones, with a thick book placed atop it.
Hisssss…!
Serpent Sword shot forward and sliced through the floating stones in midair.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The stones shattered, and a straight path to the Necronomicon opened.
Right then.
Heh heh heh heh…!
Judge of Repulsion moved.
[Labyrinth Guardian activates Unique Holy Spear ‘Iron Blood Sword and Shield’!]
A shield of Mana waves and a sword of storm fused into one.
CRACKLE!
BZZZT…!
The storm swelled into a typhoon, spawning thousands of lightning bolts and whirlpools.
And as Mana waves infused every lightning bolt and whirlpool, offense and defense achieved perfect harmony.
…It’s coming.
Jinhyuk clenched his teeth.
If he could just get past this last one…!
[Zodiac Constellations ‘Sagittarius’ awakens!]
Countless stars flickered beyond the night sky.
[Sharing of All Things – ‘Apocalypse of Revelation’ is activated!]
[Unique Holy Spear – Phase 2 is activated!]
Arrows of starlight and countless skewers collided with the incoming lightning and whirlpools.
BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOOOM!
KABOOOM!
Lights crashed together endlessly, leaving no safe space behind.
The ground trembled.
Every place he stepped was dangerous. If he stopped for even a moment, he would be torn apart beyond recognition.
“S-stop him!”
The Gardener also tried to seize Jinhyuk by mobilizing countless plants and insects.
Jinhyuk shifted direction and moved.
His ability to slip away like an eel while avoiding fatal wounds was truly at its peak.
“Tsk…!”
The Gardener clicked his tongue.
But it was fine.
No matter how fast he was…
…If he knew where Jinhyuk would end up, he still had a chance to land the finishing blow.
Through mental sharing, the Gardener relayed the final plan to Judge of Repulsion.
Guide him properly. Drive him into place. Make it clean.
Not yet.
Not yet.
Jinhyuk had already reached the altar.
Almost there. Almost there.
Just one more step.
The moment Jinhyuk set foot on the altar’s stairs—
“N-now!”
“GRRAAAH!”
The Gardener and Judge of Repulsion poured all their power into one point.
RRRRRIP!
Countless whirlpools merged into a single massive vortex. The typhoon became a blade and crashed down on the altar.
Purple blades of Mana raged without mercy.
CLANGCLANGCLANG!
“D-did it!”
Seeing Jinhyuk swallowed by it completely, the Gardener cried out.
It was a perfect trap.
The timing and power were perfect.
The problem was…
[‘1 Second Invincible’ is activated!]
The instant he was caught in the whirlwind, he gained one second of complete immunity.
And that single golden second announced the end of this fight.
“I can see it all. Cheap tricks.”
Jinhyuk’s fingertips brushed the old forbidden book.
[You have acquired the last forbidden book ‘Necronomicon’!]
[You have achieved an amazing feat!]
Uuuuuung!
He had acquired countless Sacred Relics and items until now, but he could say for sure—this was the first time he’d ever felt something like this.
An indescribable mass of light completely surrounded Jinhyuk and blew away the raging blade storm.
The wind that had been roaring like madness vanished in an instant, as if it had never existed.
‘There’s a reason people say reputations aren’t for nothing.’
Jinhyuk clicked his tongue in admiration.
Even seeing it again, it was absurd—deflecting the [Unique Holy Spear] deployed by one of the strongest Guardians so lightly.
Now, it was time to choose the ability he’d had to postpone earlier.
[You have copied Unique Holy Spear ‘Labyrinth Transformation’.]
Difficulty of acquisition: Labyrinth Lord limited
Contents: Only the Labyrinth Lord, the owner of the Labyrinth, can manage the Labyrinth in the Tower of Trials. However, if you use this ability, you will be able to obtain the same authority as the Labyrinth Lord. Depending on your proficiency, you can rearrange everything from minor components to the overall structure of the Labyrinth. You can truly manage everything.
With the conditions met, he obtained a new ability.
‘Labyrinth Transformation, huh…’
The corners of Jinhyuk’s mouth twitched.
It meant he’d secured a fairly useful card ahead of the great war with Eden.
But he couldn’t stop here.
If copying the opponent’s ability was a top-tier Unique Ability…
…then fusing copied abilities to create something even higher was outright fraud.
Jinhyuk pulled two more abilities from the stored archive.
[Unique Holy Spear ‘Labyrinth Transformation’, Unique Holy Spear – White Night, and Unique Holy Spear – Final Genesis are fused!]
Abilities capable of creating a new mental world, combined with [Unique Holy Spear ‘Labyrinth Transformation’] copied from the Gardener.
As the three abilities merged into one, a dazzling light shot into the sky.
[Fusion successful!]
[Unique Holy Spear ‘Labyrinth Creation’]
Difficulty of acquisition: Unmeasurable
Contents: You can freely transform top-tier strongholds such as Labyrinths and ruins, and you can even create structures and creatures from other strata. However, it requires an incredibly demanding level of proficiency, and a large amount of coins and Mana Stones are required to create things in the Labyrinth.
[The fused ability is stored in ‘Memory of the World’.]
Yeah.
It had to be at least this level to be called out of spec.
—
“D-damn it…”
The Gardener stared at the Necronomicon in Jinhyuk’s hand.
As the worst-case scenario he’d tried to prevent unfolded, his mind filled with confusion.
But the game wasn’t completely over yet.
This was still the garden he managed.
Every structure and creature obeyed the Labyrinth Lord’s orders.
Which meant there was still a chance to reclaim the forbidden book—and recover the honor that had been trampled into the dirt.
[The Gardener activates Unique Holy Spear ‘Labyrinth Transformation’!]
All he had to do was trap him in a complex maze and make sure he never escaped.
Even if he secured the Necronomicon, interpreting it was an entirely different matter.
“Heh… heeheehee… E-even if it takes 100 years, everyone will d-die…”
And even if not, he could recover it the moment Judge of Repulsion regained Mana.
Either way, it was only a matter of time.
But.
Even as the Labyrinth shifted, Jinhyuk’s face remained calm.
“A-are you out of your mind with f-fear?”
“No. It’s not that….”
“T-then why are you so confident?”
“Well… I don’t think a Labyrinth at this level can trap me.”
“Heh, kehkeh! D-don’t overdo it with the bluff. Y-yeah. I know your combat ability far surpasses humans. B-but this is different. This is another realm.”
If he wouldn’t believe it, then he had no choice but to show him.
Jinhyuk lightly flicked his finger.
[Unique Holy Spear ‘Labyrinth Creation’ is activated!]
Then—
Heh heh heh heh… BOOMBOOMBOOOOM!
Plants surged up, vines tangled in chaotic knots. Walls that hadn’t existed a moment ago rose into place, as [Labyrinth Transformation] and [Labyrinth Creation] intertwined within the same space.
“T-this is i-impossible.”
The Gardener stared blankly at the changing garden.