Moon's Labyrinths

Chapter 274

Chapter 274


Chapter 274


Kahng!


Sungyoon skillfully deflected a sword coming at him . When the weapons clashed, he used the rebound to swing his ax to the side .


Hoo-oong!


The ax split through the air, but the attacker easily dodged .


However, Sungyoon’s effort wasn’t in vain . His opponent had to bend his upper body almost parallel to the floor, and this gave Sungyoon"s party the time to create some distance .


“s.h.i.+t! Annoying b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”


Tim smacked away a spear with his ax . He then swung the pointed edge of his s.h.i.+eld toward his opponent .


Boom!


The opponent’s s.h.i.+eld blocked the attack, but the shock transmitted by the impact was significant . The man groaned and came to a stop for a moment . This scenario kept repeating itself for some time; the intruders caught up to Sungyoon’s party, then Sungyoon and Tim would push them back by retaliating .


The situation was precarious, but the party was maintaining the status quo .


“We can’t increase our lead . ”


Tim mumbled as he looked at their tenacious pursuers .


Unlike the pursuers, Sungyoon’s party didn’t consist of all warriors . Due to the presence of Emily and Grace, they were slower than their pursuers . Moreover, there was another problem . Emily had to carry another person in her arms .


“I’m . . . I’m so sorry!”


Chelsea was aware of the fact that she was a hindrance to the party .


“You don"t have to apologize . I’m the one who"s slow . It"s not your fault, Ms . Chelsea . Please don’t worry about it . ”


Emily consoled Chelsea, then glared at Tim, who had been expressing his frustration . There was no ill intent behind his words, so he was fl.u.s.tered by Chelsea’s reaction .


He tried to apologize to her, but he was attacked once again .


“These sons of b.i.t.c.hes!”


His enemies weren’t even giving him the opportunity to apologize . The irritated Tim swung his ax .


In terms of strength, Sungyoon and Tim were superior to Emily and Grace . But neither was carrying Chelsea because they were busy protecting the party . Plu-El, who was on Sungyoon’s shoulder, was causing enough trouble as it was .


‘I can’t let Ms . Emily or Ms . Grace carry her . ’


Even if she was in a weakened state, Plu-El was a Connector . Emily and Grace lacked physical strength, so if Plu-El decided to struggle within their arms, their speed would further decrease .


‘The Mayor wants us to protect this woman, but if push comes to shove, we might have to abandon her . ’


Even if she was an important figure, she wasn’t more important than his comrades .


“Mr . Sungyoon!”


Tim wheezed as he blocked another attack .


“I believe we know what they are aiming for, right?”


Tim’s eyes were fixed on Plu-El .


Sungyoon felt the same way .


“Yes . Both groups are aiming for this woman . ”


“However, their reasons are different, right?”


“Yes . ”


Sungyoon looked at the archer"s group .


“This group is trying to rescue the woman . ”


Sungyoon"s gaze moved to the other group .


“That group wants to kill her . ”


“Is she that important?”


Emily kept glancing toward Plu-El with a hostile expression in her eyes .


“Even the Mayor thinks she"s worth holding onto . I believe she"s important . That’s good news for us . We can use her to our advantage . ”


“What? Are you going to let her go?”


Tim was surprised on hearing Sungyoon"s words, but Sungyoon firmly shook his head .


“That"s the last resort . ”


Sungyoon said those words as he brought down Plu-El from his shoulder . He then placed his arm around her waist . Plu-El tried to resist, but her fists lacked strength . Moreover, Sungyoon’s body had the extra protection of his armor .


One of the pursuers got close to the party once again, and Sungyoon looked at him .


‘He’s in the group that wants to take this woman back alive . ’


This situation was perfect . The usefulness of the woman depended on how this group would react to his next move .


“Hoo-oohp!”


Hoo-oohng!


Sungyoon heard the pursuer take a breath as he put strength behind his swing . The sword let out a frightening sound as it split through the air near Tim . Tim grumbled once again as he raised his s.h.i.+eld . Since they were running away, he couldn’t get into a proper fight . He was as angry as he could be .


However, what happened next made Tim, the pursuer, and even the struggling Plu-El rear back in shock .


Hweek!


Sungyoon kept a firm grip on Plu-El as he extended his arm forward . Plu-El’s body appeared in the path of the pursuer"s sword .


“Ooh-ooht!”


The shock was evident in the man"s voice . The gasp was so loud that even a normal human would"ve heard it from far away .


Hoo-oong!


The sword took a sharp turn as the pursuer almost threw his entire body to change the direction of his attack .


Puh-uhk!


The man"s body had bent low to the ground in the process, and Tim used this opportunity to smash him with his s.h.i.+eld . The s.h.i.+eld was already hefty, and the blow contained Tim’s strength as well . The s.h.i.+eld"s edge hit the pursuer, and the man’s armor couldn’t withstand the blow .


“Kuh-huhk!”


Following a short scream, the man rolled across the ground as Sungyoon’s party left him in the dust .


“M . . . Mr . Sungyoon! You!”


Tim had attacked the pursuer on reflex even though he had been shocked by Sungyoon"s actions . His round eyes kept staring at Sungyoon . The living s.h.i.+eld named Plu-El was in a similar state . She didn’t need to breathe, yet she took ragged breaths to calm down herself .


Emily, Grace, and Chelsea were also shocked, but Sungyoon was surprisingly nonchalant .


“The s.h.i.+eld works better than expected . ”


All kinds of words poured out of Plu-El’s mouth . Sungyoon couldn’t understand the words, but he knew they weren"t praises . He then silently pushed Plu-El toward his rear once again .


Flinch!


One of the pursuers, who had gotten close to Sungyoon, froze in place . As Sungyoon said, the tactic was quite effective .


“It really works well . ”


The frequency and the power of the attacks noticeably decreased, so Tim mumbled .


“Still, it won’t work against the other group . ”


The other group wanted to kill Plu-El . If Sungyoon used her as a s.h.i.+eld, Tim a.s.sumed they wouldn’t hesitate to attack her .


When Sungyoon heard Tim, he shook his head from side to side .


“The other group"s attacks will decrease too . ”


Sungyoon said those words as if he were predicting the future .


Tim tilted his head in confusion as he couldn’t imagine any scenario where the other group would slow down because of the woman . However, he soon found out the meaning behind Sungyoon’s words .


Kwahnng!


The sound of weapons clas.h.i.+ng rang out, but Sungyoon’s party hadn’t been attacked .


‘This is what he meant . ’


Tim watched as one of the pursuers swung his weapon toward the woman, but his attack was deflected by the weapon of another pursuer . Until now, the two groups had been in an uneasy truce as they had chased after Sungyoon’s party .


This status quo was disrupted when Sungyoon started to use Plu-El as a s.h.i.+eld . The Moon people felt bitter about it, but they defended Plu-El from the Fabion Connectors" attacks .


Kwahng! Kwahng! Kwah-kwahng!


As the two groups fought, the attacks coming at Sungyoon’s party lessened . In fact, it dropped to zero .


“It"s very effective . ”


Grace sounded a bit despondent .


Plu-El once again cussed out Sungyoon, but Sungyoon couldn’t understand what the words meant . Even if he could, it wouldn"t have mattered . He was deep in thought so her words didn’t reach him .


‘The result is good . ’


Things were working better than what he had expected, but something bothered him . He looked toward the group that had the intention to kill the woman .


‘It feels as if they aren’t trying their best right now . ’


Suddenly, a chill ran up his spine . Sungyoon’s eyes met a pursuer"s, and he understood something at an instinctual level .


‘He"s aiming for me!’


Sungyoon pa.s.sed Plu-El to Tim .


‘This s.h.i.+eld thing won"t work against him!’


If Sungyoon were careless, he might lose his valuable s.h.i.+eld .


Tuhk!


The pursuer who Sungyoon stared at hunched his shoulders and reached Sungyoon in a flash . Sungyoon had already taken out his halberd and swung it .


Kwahhhhhhhng!


“Koo-oohk!”


When Sungyoon received the blow, his hands stung . He realized the pursuer was very strong .


‘He’s dangerous!’


The pursuer indiscriminately swung his mace, and Sungyoon increased his concentration to the maximum to deflect the attack .


Sungyoon"s hands became numb from deflecting those powerful blows, but he somehow defended against all of them .


‘This man is a novice at using a mace!’


Sungyoon realized that the mace wasn’t the man’s weapon of choice . However, this weakness was masked by the pursuer"s amazing powers . Sungyoon had overcome all kinds of hards.h.i.+ps, so his battle sense was unparalleled . Yet, his opponent was crus.h.i.+ng him with pure physical ability .


It was obvious that his opponent was using incredibly high rank Gems .


‘As expected, they weren’t using their full power!’


If this man started to fight in earnest, the other group and Sungyoon’s party wouldn’t stand a chance .


‘What is he planning?’


The man wasn’t revealing his true skills, and his moves didn"t contain killing intent either . In fact, his movements gave off the impression that he was very curious about the fight . The man acted as if he were a child poking at a frog with a branch to see how the frog would react to each jab .


‘This is unpleasant . ’


Sungyoon felt that he were a doll being pulled by its strings, but he didn’t complain . This pursuer’s unpleasant actions allowed his party to continue escaping .


“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Get away from him!”


Tim was about to swing his ax, but Sungyoon quickly stopped him .


“No! I’ll face this person . Mr . Tim, you should keep an eye on the others!”


“But . . . ”


“Do it!”


Tim flinched when Sungyoon wielded his words like a knife . After a moment of hesitation, he did as Sungyoon ordered and moved away . He had a.s.sumed Sungyoon had a plan, but that wasn"t the case .


‘There is a high probability that this man might kill Mr . Tim . ’


A child playing around would become very angry if someone interfered with the game . It would be the same for this man . His every action expressed deep interest in Sungyoon, and if Tim interfered in his game, the man might take severe action .


‘At the very least, he doesn’t plan on killing me . ’


Sungyoon decided it was best if he faced this man, so he increased his focus and became oblivious to his surroundings . He didn"t have the luxury to pay attention to anything around him, and this was true for the others too . Therefore, they didn"t notice the magical energy that had started to spread across Armstrong city .