Chapter 389
Chapter 389
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 389
>Chapter Title: The Darkest Light
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Shin Hyun had never once raised his voice at Shin Yu.
Neither in life nor in death.
Even if Shin Rip or Shin Gang scolded him, Shin Hyun never had. In fact, he had always been the closest to him.
But now, Shin Hyun was angry.
"Stop acting like a spoiled child! You... do you even realize what you've done...?"
"Enough, Hyun-ah. Calm down. We need to keep the conversation steady, especially now."
"Th-this bastard's done something so devastating..."
"Hey, I said enough."
"Urgh..."
Shin Hyun grumbled.
"Does it hurt?"
Rustle...
- It hurt.
"...Sorry about that. Come closer and let's talk."
Shin Yu approached.
Shin Rip took the lead in the conversation, as befitting the eldest brother.
"Yoo-ah. Tell us why you haven't left."
Rustle...
- I... I can't leave. My brothers are still in the labyrinth. I... no, we...
Shin Rip spoke firmly.
"Yoo-ah, you've had a long dream, haven't you?"
- .....
"The reason we sent you through the gateway wasn't so you could grow stronger. If you're going to stay in the labyrinth, there's no need to get stronger anyway."
- What do you mean?
"There, you've seen many people die, right?"
- Yeah...
"Did they all meet deaths worth remembering?"
- .....
"They didn't, did they? Some spilled their guts while dying, others fell off cliffs. Could you find meaning in all those deaths?"
Shin Yu could instinctively guess what Shin Rip was trying to say.
"No. Not everyone can have a meaningful death. It might be hard to accept, but that's the truth."
Shin Rip nodded calmly as he spoke plainly.
"Hyun and I died here, in the Pitch-Black Labyrinth. We definitely died."
- No! If I don't accept it, then you brothers...
Crack-!
Shin Hyun rolled up his sleeve.
He showed it to Shin Yu.
Shin Hyun's wrist looked like an erased drawing, as if the joints might snap off at any moment.
"Whether you accept it or not doesn't change anything, you fool. We're... fading away. No, we could vanish right now."
- What?
A fact Shin Yu hadn't known.
The fact that his brothers were disappearing.
"Hyun's right. We're desperately resisting oblivion. Or rather, we just want to let go of this stubborn reason. The reason we can't is..."
Shin Yu backed away hesitantly.
"Don't run away, Shin Yu!"
"Face reality! Grow up! Not everyone can avoid death like you!"
- ...Brothers, you want to leave now?
"Yeah."
- Then why... haven't you left?
"Because of you."
- ...What?
Shin Rip and Shin Hyun exchanged glances and nodded.
"We promised each other we'd hold on until we saw you leave this world."
The brothers had only cared for each other.
Even in death, they couldn't give that up.
Shin Hyun grabbed Shin Yu's hand tightly and pleaded.
"If you don't leave now... you'll be left alone in the labyrinth."
Psssh...
Shin Hyun's ring finger scattered like dust.
* * *
"In the end... he didn't come."
Rumble...
The door to the labyrinth's next gateway was opening.
Up to that moment, Shin Yu hadn't appeared.
Step...
Step...
"Over... there..."
Kang Seol turned his head toward the voice calling out to him.
"Eek..."
"That's..."
It was Belldre, Bellian, and Lucia.
The three of them had changed personalities.
The difference was obvious at a glance.
'...They're scared?'
They were afraid of Kang Seol.
"You're not... going?"
"The door might... close..."
They spoke hesitantly.
Kang Seol thought for a moment.
They were right.
After parting with Shin Yu, he'd been waiting here for him all this time.
But in the end, he hadn't shown up.
'No choice... then.'
Shin Yu intended to stay in the labyrinth with his brothers.
There was no more time to persuade him, and he'd already tried as much as he could.
It wasn't a lack of time or effort that failed to convince Shin Yu.
"...Let's go."
"R-really?"
"Yeah."
Bellian, Belldre, and even Lucia.
The two followed carefully behind Kang Seol.
For some reason, ever since crossing the door, they'd been sticking right behind him.
Hoo...
He let out a sigh with every step.
28 years.
Even if his sense of time was a bit off, if he couldn't convince Shin Yu in 28 years, it wouldn't change going forward.
'...I can't afford to get distracted either.'
Why had he come this far?
Why had he spent 2 years here?
It was all for this moment.
Ruining it with regrets would only breed more regrets.
He had to keep moving.
Soon, blue flames lit up before them.
Fwoosh...
Fwoosh...
Fwoosh...
Will-o'-the-wisps lined up on both sides.
Some kind of magic, floating in the air without fuel, illuminating the surroundings.
Not brightly, but enough to make out the area.
That wasn't the only change.
Sss...
The ceiling vanished.
"My god..."
Lucia's mouth gaped open.
The place that had looked like dusty ruins moments ago had become a starry sky.
The ceiling was packed with stars.
A night sky that suddenly appeared as the ceiling disappeared.
Kang Seol didn't react much, having experienced something similar in the sleepyhead's underground garden.
Was this an illusion too?
He wasn't sure.
He just suspected this was the true form of the Pitch-Black Hall.
Step...
Step...
Kang Seol kept walking without stopping.
It wasn't far from the gateway to here. Open the door, and this would probably come into view.
Yet... even though it wasn't a long distance, it felt like quite some time had passed.
Especially for Kang Seol.
'...Am I tense?'
Of course he was.
He knew what lay ahead.
Just then, as if on cue, a voice came from the front.
"About... 2 years?"
"......"
Kang Seol looked toward the voice.
"Got bored waiting for you. Perfect timing."
A man sitting in a large chair fit for nobility spoke, head bowed. Was there someone else in the labyrinth?
The man's face wasn't visible.
With legs crossed, he spoke casually, as if knowing they'd hear anyway.
"Enjoy your trip?"
"What trip are you talking about?"
"This place, obviously. You've spent a long time here."
"...Thanks to you, yeah."
Just as Kang Seol said.
He was undoubtedly the master of this place.
The king of it, no less.
"Kukuku... But... the ragtags you brought along don't even look ready to fight?"
Kang Seol turned to the three women behind him.
"Step back."
"But..."
The three women weren't clueless.
If backup was needed, they'd help, naturally.
But... the response was cold.
"Step back, or you'll die."
No one argued with Kang Seol.
After all, they wouldn't have escaped the dream without him.
"Yeah, that's right. Do as you're told when he says so. I won't kill you if you don't get in my way."
And when the one ahead said that too, they finally retreated far away. Upon reflection, the labyrinth's master seemed awfully arrogant.
Talking like he could slaughter three people in an instant if he wanted.
On the other hand, Kang Seol didn't refute it. He knew that overconfidence had basis.
Kang Seol said to him.
"I'm no murderer."
"Oh? Is that so? Thanks for letting me know. And..."
He could feel the man smiling.
"You, you're pretty strong."
"......"
"I'm talking about 2 years ago. Not sure about now. Still, you made it here somehow."
"...And I remember being the quiet type."
"Whoops! Damn, should've said something sooner. Can't mimic personality perfectly. First time and all, so bear with me. You're probably right."
Swoosh...
The man stood from the chair.
His face came into view.
"No... way..."
"Impossible..."
Bellian and Belldre panicked.
Lucia couldn't close her mouth either.
They had no choice.
The man who'd gone through hardships with them stood across from them too.
"You'd know yourself better than I would."
There, another Kang Seol stood.
One with a slightly different impression from now, the Kang Seol from when he first entered the labyrinth.
'That guy's... me from back then.'
This was the final gateway of the Pitch-Black Labyrinth.
A place where you couldn't survive without progressing.
And where the labyrinth's difficulty flipped on a whim.
The Kang Seol who'd first reached the labyrinth had a different strength from now.
He was probably the strongest in the labyrinth right now.
His own duplicate.
That was why Shin Gang had struggled bloody trying to break through the labyrinth.
"Confident?"
"Who knows..."
"Why'd you abandon this power?"
"I didn't abandon it. Just shelved it for a bit."
"Ha... is that so? So, did you get what you wanted? Enough to challenge this power?"
Kang Seol didn't answer. Instead, he spoke to Bitan.
"Bitan."
[Yeah!]
"Tough fight ahead. You know? ...Think you can do it?"
[I know! But it's fine! I'm the strongest!]
The Kang Seol across stroked his chin.
"Bitan, huh..."
Clatter...
Chains flowed down from the man's hand.
"There's one here too."
Kang Seol's Bitan shouted at the chained Bitan across.
[Ah! Bitan's there too!]
{Ah! You a Bitan too?}
[Nice to meet you!]
{Nice to meet you, I'm a Bitan too!}
The labyrinth's master frowned briefly.
The two stood at a proper distance, staring each other down.
The final gateway.
Kang Seol was now on trial.
After over 2 years, had he become worthy to step forward?
Whoooosh...
Both gathered energy in their hands simultaneously.
Both black. But Kang Seol's was a shade darker.
[The Shadow Summoner's legend adventure begins.]
[Legend adventure 'The Darkest Light' occurs.]
[You will lose everything, or gain everything.]
Expressionless, the two.
Pull the trigger, and the opponent would too.
"Well then..."
The Kang Seol across smiled faintly.
"Welcome to the blackness. Show me your darkness."
Both clapped their hands at once.
Clap-!
Clap-!
Immense energy swirled from both sides.
[Ultimate: Dark Needles activated.]
......
Flames burst from the opposite barrel.
[Snowman summons Moonlight Knight Karuna.]
Whoooosh...
Clank...
A knight in blue light, cloaked in black, emerged from the darkness.
Now, it was time to face the past.