Moon's Labyrinths

Chapter 257

Chapter 257

After revealing his inner thoughts, Tiotudo worked with Plu-El to come up with a plan . They had to somehow acquire the outsiders’ help, and at the same time, convince their comrades that it was the right move .

Despite brainstorming, they failed to form a clear plan . Neither of the two could comprehend how the outsiders’ society worked, and they didn’t know who was an ally and who was a foe . When they had made contact with the outsiders the first time, the worst possible outcome had occurred .

Just when their minds had stopped working, something favorable happened .

“Look at this, Plu-El!”

Tiotudo raised his Device .

“This is... . ”

Plu-El’s eyes turned round . One of the Gems mounted on Tiotudo’s Device started glowing . It was the copper-colored Gem .

“Yes! The Warrior Gem is awake . ”

The Warrior Gem was one of the special Gems alongside the Royal Gem and the Shaman Gem, and that same Warrior Gem was announcing its presence .

“It is as I had thought . The Royal Gem and the Shaman Gem awakening around the same time isn’t a coincidence . ”

“You were right . Congratulations . ”

Plu-El congratulated him, but she looked wry . Tiotudo had awakened his Warrior Gem, which had remained non-respondent over a very long period . It should be an occasion for a celebration, and being his friend, she was happy . Moreover, the might of their people had increased, and Tiotudo’s influence would grow amongst his people . He would be able to encourage others to join forces with the outsiders .

The scary part of this awakening was that it gave more credence to Tiotudo’s theory about the creature’s seal unraveling . Tiotudo knew it as well, so he wasn’t disappointed with Plu-El’s lackluster reaction .

Plu-El soon got rid of the bad aftertaste and focused her attention on the Gem .

“What ability does it have?”

“I only awakened its basic ability . ”

“Do you mean the Mental Shield?”

This power shielded the user from any negative influence on their mind .

“You have to quickly awaken the other abilities . That’ll give us some leeway . ”

“We have work to do . That’s more important than awakening my abilities . ”

“What work?”

“Our plan . ”

Plu-El scrunched up her face .

“Are you talking about the cooperation with the outsiders?”

“Yes . ”

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“You’re rushing this . ”

Plu-El said in a tense voice . The distrust of outsiders had taken a deep root within their people . Even if Plu-El and Tiotudo raised their voices at the same time, the probability of their comrades listening to them was slim . Rather, the move might buy enmity from their own people .

However, Tiotudo didn’t back down .

“We have no time . Magical energy is starting to leak out of the labyrinths . It’s proof that the unraveling of the seal has begun in earnest, and soon, their officers won’t be so passive . We have to set up a cooperative system before that happens . It’ll increase our chance of victory by a little bit . ”

“Even if we try to convince them, how many would listen to us?”

“You’re missing the forest for the trees, Plu-El . ”

Tiotudo spoke in a low voice .

“The chances of us winning the fight against the creature is minuscule in the first place . ”

Plu-El had no response to that .

“Don’t worry . I have a plan . ”

Tiotudo spoke .

“We use the authority passed down for generations amongst our people . ”

“What authority?”

“The descendants of the royal, the shaman, and the warrior families hold no sway over our people now . You, me, and Aruwen do not have much authority over our people . ”

In spite of that, some followed Aruwen . This remained true for Plu-El and Tiotudo too, but the number of their followers was tiny . Them being descendants of these important families didn’t earn much prestige .

“However, it’s an entirely different story if a real royal, shaman, and warrior show up . ”

Their people longed for the days of their past: the golden age of peace in their large kingdom . As they faced more adversities in their lives, the yearning only deepened . This yearning was what gave Aruwen, Plu-El, and Tiotudo a modicum of power .

“Soyoung is the daughter of an outsider, yet she can somewhat live amongst us . It’s because your husband was one of the few outsiders who took our side . At the same time, you awakened the Shaman Gem and received the authority that came with being a shaman . You used this authority to shield your daughter . ”

Plu-El didn’t deny Tiotudo’s assertions since it was all true .

“Yes . It also bought Soyoung much more hate . ”

Tiotudo didn’t deny it either . Plu-El possessed proof of the power they revered, yet she had a daughter of mixed blood . This colored the eyes of those around her when they viewed Soyoung .

“You can be the proof that the authority of old is still alive . Let’s break this down . You have the authority of the shaman . I awakened the Warrior Gem, so I have the authority of the warrior . If these two pillars join forces, we can create a once in a lifetime opportunity . ”

That opportunity was the opportunity to come in contact with outsiders .

“Moreover, Aruwen no longer has the authority to oppose our opinions . No, his opinion is worthless . He lost the Royal Gem, and the one who stole it awakened it . ”

Tiotudo stared straight into Plu-El’s eyes .

“You don’t have to do anything . I just want to borrow your authority as a shaman . I’ll carry out the plan, and if things go wrong, I’ll bear the responsibility . ”

Tiotudo’s eyes remained firm, and it was enough to make her want to trust him . He was blunt and wooden, and on top of that, he was the friend she trusted the most .

“Alright . I’ll trust you . However . . . ”

This time Plu-El spoke in no uncertain terms .

“Do not say that you’ll bear the responsibility by yourself . You might have overlooked it, but I’m the one who activated my special Gem first . I’ll not be pushed around like this . If we’re carrying this out, both of us will bear the responsibility . You got that?”

She winked at him . Tiotudo just silently looked at her for a while . He then smirked . It was a very rare smile from him .

“This is why I like you . ”

“Oh my! Are you trying to seduce a married woman? I’m sorry, but you aren’t my type . My only love is my husband . ”

“I was dumped even when I’m not even interested . That isn’t fair at all . ”

The two of them bumped fists as they laughed for a long time .

“Let’s go do this . ”

“Alright . ”

They had to convince their comrades, so they moved to gather them . However, someone had already done what they went out to do .

“Hey! You’re finally here . ”

A familiar face was standing at the center of a crowd . Aruwen had shut himself inside his room for a long time, so he looked gaunt . However, his eyes were sharp .

‘This isn’t good . ’

Tiotudo didn’t know what was happening, but he knew it couldn’t be good . Plu-El had the same thought, and she frowned .

“I was planning on calling you guys here . You have excellent timing . ”

Aruwen pushed past his comrades as he approached the two of them . Unlike his rough outer appearance, his eyes were full of killing intent .

Tiotudo spoke in his usual tone of voice .

“Did you make peace with yourself?”

“Why would I make peace with myself?”

“I’m talking about you saying farewell to the Royal Gem . ”

All expressions from Aruwen’s face disappeared, and his eyes became empty as if they belonged to a dead person . Plu-El felt a physical aversion to him, so she took a step back .

Aruwen laughed as if the previous blank face had been a lie . However, the sound of his laughter gave away that it was forced .

“No way! It’s the treasure of our people . We can’t let that go away so easily, right? We have to get it back, and we had already decided to do that . ”

“About that... we should discuss our plans again—”

“Wait a moment . I received some very good news . ”

Aruwen stopped Plu-El from speaking . He then brought forward a short man who looked like a mouse .

Tiotudo and Plu-El felt a sense of crisis . This man was supposed to be monitoring the person who had the Royal Gem .

“Can you explain it to the two of them?”

“Understood . ”

The short man stood in front of Tiotudo and Plu-El and proudly spoke .

“Magical energy is leaking toward the city built by the outsiders . Of course, the monsters followed the magical energy . So the outsiders are sending patrols out of their city to kill the monsters . Our target is part of the patrol . ”

The faces of Tiotudo and Plu-El hardened; in contrast, Aruwen’s face brightened .

“You hear that? After we ambushed him, he hid in the city like a coward . But now, he has finally crawled out . We’ll never get a better chance . We have to kill him before he gets corrupted by the awakened Royal Gem . We have to kill that bastard and recover the Royal Gem . ”

A faint trace of madness appeared in Aruwen’s eyes .

“Of course, you’re going to help me, right?”

***

Sungyoon took a stride . The combination of his enormous strength and the low gravity of the Moon allowed him to jump high .

‘It’s scary every time I try this . ’

Sungyoon glanced upward . He felt that the abyss of space would pull him in, and he would disappear into the black sky . Fortunately, the gravity kept him bound to the Moon, and Sungyoon could look at his surroundings without worry . He used his excellent eyesight to aid in the search .

His gaze stopped somewhere in the distance .

“What do you see?”

Sungyoon heard Tim’s voice through the communication device installed in his helmet . He kept his eyes fixed on his target as he answered .

“I found one . I believe it’s a Troll . ”

“Is that so?”

Sungyoon pointed toward the troll . Tim pushed off the ground and his body also soared upward .

“You’re right . ”

While Tim was in ascent, Sungyoon approached the descent part of his jump . After landing on the ground, he approached Grace, who was holding a tablet displaying the terrain around Armstrong city .

“It’s around here . ”

Sungyoon took a stylus and drew a circle around the region where he saw the Troll . Tim soon rejoined the party .

“Let’s move . ”

Sungyoon’s party jumped across the surface of the Moon to the shallow crater where they had spotted the monster .

“I see it . ”

They caught sight of it .

‘Did it come out of there?’

Sungyoon saw a labyrinth entrance next to the Troll . The labyrinth was also marked on the map . It was a mid-rank labyrinth, and the party didn’t have much interest in it .

“I’ll kill it . ”

Tim accelerated, and his ax flashed when he reached the Troll .

Suh-guhk!

If there was air, that was the sound the attack would have made . The Troll’s head was lopped off way too easily .

Sungyoon, Emily, and Grace arrived after the Troll’s corpse turned into a moonstone .

“Here . ”

Tim handed over the moonstone to Sungyoon . When he was done, he looked up .

“Let me check if there are any monster—”

Tim stopped speaking . Sungyoon, Emily, and Grace looked toward the labyrinth . They had spotted some people coming out of it . The party knew them, but also didn’t know them .

“They came out again . ”

Tim spoke as he raised his shield .

The group that had ambushed Sungyoon’s party not too long ago once again encircled them .