Battle Against the Gatekeeper
Whether you fought it or dodged it determined your evaluation. That's why people like Karkda, who needed solid achievements, always targeted the Gatekeeper.
Lying about having faced a Gatekeeper never worked. You might fool someone for a moment, but it always came out eventually.
The Labyrinth wasn't a place to venture into lightly—it was a demonic realm that embodied high risk, high return better than anywhere else.
That's why you could tell right away if someone was a novice or a veteran just by looking at their skill and attitude toward enemies.
As the two men's conversation wrapped up, Dennis peeked curiously at the book Allen was reading.
Of course, knowing the value of knowledge, he first asked the owner's permission.
"Mind if I take a quick look? I've been wondering what a Star Letters book looks like."
"I won't lend it out, but you can look over my shoulder."
"Let's see... Ugh..."
Dennis glanced at the pages for a moment, made a face like he'd chugged pure lemon juice, and backed away.
"What is that?"
"An introductory interpretation of Star Letters."
"All I see are pitch-black blobs. There's more text than white space, and all the characters look the same."
"Not at all. The meaning changes based on the intensity of the star, which depends on the amount of mana infused. The angle of the connecting lines matters too."
Dennis pretended to plug his ears like he didn't want to hear it, then muttered to Karkda.
"He seems more like a scholar than you."
"He is a magitech engineer."
"But aren't mages a type of scholar too?"
"He's enlisting in combat, so it's different."
*
The next day, the party finally encountered the Gatekeeper they'd been hoping for. Fortune smiled on them—no packs of automatons were prowling nearby.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Recognizing the enemies, the Gatekeeper lumbered forward with heavy thuds.
Its bulky steel body was matched by thick legs and a massive hammer that evoked heavy machinery.
Every step from the automaton, which towered over 3 meters and resembled a troll, sent tremors through the Labyrinth walls.
The Gatekeeper's single eye sprayed red light in all directions, so intense it made the gray rock walls look like they were soaked in blood.
Eye (4)
They'd encountered the Gatekeeper shortly after passing an intersection. Even though the 10th layer's passages were wider than most, it still felt oppressively cramped, as if the sides were closing in.
Though the Gatekeeper approached slowly, the ground trembled all the way to Allen's feet at the rear.
It was proof of how massive the enemy was—and a heavy combat machine meant it carried a lot of weaponry.
The red single eye locked onto its target.
No words were needed between Labyrinth explorers and the Gatekeeper.
The Gatekeeper guarded the unknown creators of the Labyrinth, while explorers were drawn to the treasures or secrets at its depths.
To each other, they were nothing but obstacles. The simplest, most reliable way to clear a nuisance was extermination.
The Gatekeeper raised its hammer. The head resembled a revolver's cylinder, with red light condensing inside its six chambers.
"Hammer pattern! Shields up!"
At Dennis's shout—his prosthetic leg shifted to reverse-joint mode—the three mages thrust their hands forward.
Blue lines traced across the surface of their EBI helmets' basic form, racing down their arms and bursting from their palms to erect a honeycomb-structured barrier in front of the explorers.
Simultaneously, the hammer slammed down.
Boom!
Red beams flashed like stun grenades, dyeing the surroundings. A deafening roar engulfed Allen, as if lightning had struck right in front of him.
The Labyrinth stone floor shattered under the explosive force, and the following shockwave whipped up a dust fog.
In principle, the Labyrinth was indestructible and would recover soon, but amid the floating dust, the Gatekeeper's stark red glare was plenty menacing.
The shattered barrier and one empty cylinder chamber. A fair trade achieved, Dennis crouched low and slid forward like a bullet.
"Splash water now!"
The three mages, including Karkda, dumped the water they'd brought onto the floor.
"While Dennis holds its attention, ready the mana pulse grenades!"
The frontline adventurers rummaged at their waists. They pulled out round objects, yanking the pins.
The items were mana pulse grenades. Their explosion could pulverize a normal person's bones up close, but their main function was to disrupt mana circuits.
Beings like the Gatekeeper weren't just metal frames—they brimmed with mana inside. High mana possession equated to strong magic resistance.
The reason for stripping that resistance was obvious: the mages. Using their EBIs' short-range linking function, they were preparing a powerful combined spell with high penetration, biding their time.
"Hya!"
Dennis, drawing the Gatekeeper's gaze, leaped high with a kiai, dodging the sweeping hammer like a pole-vaulter and vaulting over its body.
Now the Gatekeeper had exposed its flank to the main group—the perfect moment. Three mana pulse grenades flew like fastballs, striking its chest, torso, and thigh.
Pop!
The sound wasn't loud. The grenades split like bursting balloons, spewing blue electricity.
Greedy blue serpents probed into the gaps of the Gatekeeper's outer armor. Some burned away against the magic resistance, but more than half penetrated inside.
"Now!"
At the shout, the mages completed their combined spell.
Moisture drawn from the already damp, chilly Labyrinth air met the water on the floor and froze solid.
Piercing Ice Spear
A spear trailing pure white chill rocketed forward, embedding into the Gatekeeper's torso just before impact.
Even amid the mana pulse grenades' shock, the Gatekeeper—which had been pursuing Dennis—whipped its head 180 degrees. For a human, it would have been a grotesque sight of neck and chest facing opposite directions.
Sensing the incoming magic, the Gatekeeper twisted only its torso this time. The hammer, boosted by the spin, smashed the ice spear.
White powder scattered. Thanks to the mana stone lamps tossed aside before the fight, it made for a beautiful scene. If it weren't combat, anyway.
"Kisssik!"
Karkda hissed through his teeth in classic lizardman fashion.
"So close."
"We'll wear it down eventually."
"True. The fight's still stable."
Karkda nodded at Allen's words and prepared the next spell.
They burned mana for firepower; it burned mana for defense.
It was simple logic. Proof: only three lights remained in the hammer. Blocking the ice spear had cost it two charges' worth of attack mana.
Still, no room for complacency. Chipping the hammer's power wasn't enough—the Gatekeeper's core energy reserves were substantial.
Allen's enhanced eyes fixed on the Gatekeeper's single eye.
Its glow had intensified since the start. Without the mana stone lamps, it alone would illuminate the Labyrinth.
'Next pattern's coming soon.'
The eye's glare grew fiercer with each hit taken. When it peaked, it fired a red beam—devastatingly powerful.
'The passages are wide but narrow enough to make dodging hard. Plus, a slight head twitch sweeps the beam fast.'
Allen eyed the magitech devices the frontline pulled out. Familiar gear.
It was the shield generator he'd used on the escape ship from Ranka, firing mana grenades at the floating Nobak.
One-use only—the mana circuits fried upon activation.
Now, though, he was more interested in how it paired with the mages' defensive spells to block the eye beam, far beyond tower or corporate gimmicks.
As Allen observed silently, a shrill beep-beep! pierced his ears. Source: Karkda's waist. The alarm they'd left at the previous intersection signaled something approaching from behind.
Startled, Karkda whipped around. Allen followed his gaze into the pitch-black darkness.
Vrrrrooom!
A helicopter-like whir echoed. No real chopper underground—it meant automatons.
Karkda's brown scales paled to white.
"We circled the area thoroughly—no enemies."
"Bad luck with a manhole spawn, I guess. What now?"
"We take down the Gatekeeper here. Eye beam's next—turn our backs, and we're all dead."
"What about the group closing in? Getting flanked is the same death."
"Ugh..."
Karkda was trapped. The stress had piled up; he trembled his scales with a weird hiss.
"Kkisssit!!!"
"Calm down."
At Allen's steady voice, Karkda steadied his racing heart and spoke.
"Eye beam's nearly charged—no dodging. Combined shields might block casualties, but..."
"Frontline?"
"They guard us while we exhaust and strike the Gatekeeper!"
He rattled off the situation like a machine gun in his panic.
Allen knew: survive this pattern, and it entered rapid recharge—buying breathing room.
The eye beam guzzled mana, so the Gatekeeper hunkered defensively for a fast charge.
If under underground dweller control, it'd use the beam smarter, but Labyrinth automatons had combat logic limits.
Allen scanned the panicking party.
Gearhead flaw: perfect until one cog jammed, then it squeaked—or broke. Lucky if it just squeaked.
Allen, who'd been spectating, tapped the crouched panther with his staff.
"I'll handle it."
"You... can?"
"We met at the 9th layer entrance."
"Right, you solo. ...I'll back you soon."
Karkda didn't argue. No time for debate, and the eye glow was intensifying.
Allen reversed the cart. The panther bounded forward like a tank he'd mounted.
A glance back: mana lamps gone, darkness total. Another Labyrinth mystery—and mind-grinder for explorers.
Vrooom!
The roar grew, scattering Allen's thoughts. His headlamp pierced the straight passage. Something burst from the dark.
Automaton form: hornets. Ten of them.
Spotting Allen, they flipped tails forward—hooked stingers, spear-sized, that burrowed into flesh with barbs, impossible to extract. Brutal design.
Allen halted the cart, ducked behind it, and flung a [Magnetism] card.
Magnetism
The hornets wobbled mid-flight along the card's path, but only briefly. The 10th layer's magic-resistant automatons shrugged it off.
"Charge."
At his quiet command, the panther advanced. It blocked a launched tail spear with [Hardening]-infused outer armor and leaped high.
Hardening
Crunch!
Like a volleyball smacking a player's palm, the hornet took a front paw to the face and slammed into the floor, testing durabilities.
Floor won, naturally. But the automaton's toughness was no joke—even twisted, its chainsaw-like jaws clacked.
The panther snagged another, but eight remained.
Unlike upper-layer models, they ignored the panther, wings buzzing straight for Allen behind it.
A do-or-die moment. Yet Allen's eyes remained serene, as always.
His mind too. Post-Ranka escape traumas scarred him deeply—but also granted strengths.
A cold rationality, an unmoving heart—ideal for wielding mana and shaping nebulous mysteries into form.
Allen activated his left eye. No mere blink; mana-fueled ability activation.
Blue light sprayed like a net. The instant hornets touched it...
'I see it.'
Allen beheld a galaxy. The net's mana permeated the automatons' soul stones, and