Chapter 13
**CHAPTER TITLE: The Heretic's Web**
Blaze Clan formed a red wave and plunged into the Mushroom Cave.
The main strategy was nothing but a reckless gamble with nothing but courage.
I opposed this strategy.
But unfortunately, I was not the leader of that group.
I asked Marian when we returned to our positions.
“**Marian**, can you dispatch the spirit immediately?”
“If not, we’ll have to use Passer as well.”
We had to keep a constant watch on the situation in real time to identify any weaknesses in Mosquito and be ready to provide support at any moment.
“**Zeo**, what the hell are you thinking? Wandering around here?”
Kai ran was shouting with his face flushed red.
“It can’t be helped. No matter how much I respect General Jade, taking an enemy right out of someone else’s hands is something the pride of a Royal Knight simply cannot endure. I’m going too.”
He was about to grab his greatsword and charge in with a heavy stride.
“**Denied**.”
I blocked him.
I was the leader of this organization.
Jade might not be stoppable, but I could control the team members.
“**Don’t stop me!**”
“Not now.”
“You coward. You’re scared, aren’t you?”
He glared at me with his reddened eyes.
I could accept the insult.
But I could not afford to lose another person.
At least, not my teammates.
“The raider has been surviving in this place for over four years now. Do you truly believe he could have done it all by himself?”
I did not think so.
People often hid in the depths of the labyrinth, but no one had survived longer than four years.
No sunlight, constantly threatened by monsters.
More importantly, this was a labyrinth.
An environment where no human could possibly live.
“There must be a third party. Until we can confirm it, we cannot blindly charge into enemy territory.”
“Damn it.”
Kai spat on the floor.
It was a display of discontent, but it meant he understood.
Someone who had worked as a Royal Knight for a long time would know the basic rules of combat well.
An ill-timed attack without knowing your enemy would only bring about a meaningless death.
He leaned against a rock and hurled his greatsword down roughly.
Jade was receiving a report from a man with transparent skin named Pablo at the cave entrance.
If the raider came out, he stood firm, ready to settle everything in one go.
Mysterious light began to flow around Pablo’s body.
He appeared to be a high-rank spirit seer.
“The vanguard has lit torches and advanced two hundred meters.”
“No major threats detected.”
“Advanced four hundred meters. No sign of the raider anywhere. However… um… it’s terrifying.”
Clear pain appeared on Pablo’s face.
The inside looked even worse than expected.
“Senior, the inside is even more horrific than the outside.”
Marian was seeing the same thing.
“**Marian**, report only on Mosquito and tactics.”
Marian’s shoulders twitched.
This was the middle of a battle. There was no time to waste on unnecessary speculation when information was the most valuable asset.
At that moment, Pablo’s report began.
“One hundred meters ahead in the front, an unidentified person with red eyes. Positioned one kilometer from the entrance. No weapons in hand, but the movements are abnormal.”
“Senior, it’s Mosquito.”
Kai and Lenox the Priest sat beside Pablo.
Piaje the Chief of Staff sat awkwardly in the middle between Pablo and Marian.
“Battle has begun. Raider location secured. Sir Cyril has initiated preemptive attack with Fireball.”
“General, Mosquito seems to have set up many traps. The rocks where Fireballs hit are exploding in chain. No damage thanks to the Light Shield. We continue the encirclement.”
Pablo reported the start of the battle in a tense voice.
“Just now, Lenox-nim’s Light Spear flew out. Failure. The raider is retreating again.”
“Senior, Blaze Clan has launched a large-scale attack using Fire and Light, but no effective hits. Mosquito is retreating deeper into the cave, but… this is just my feeling, but he seems to have laid traps and prepared.”
Marian’s expression was uncertain as she trailed off at the end.
“That is not just your feeling. It is the spirit’s intuition. Heighten your senses and examine your surroundings carefully.”
“Yes, Senior.”
Marian’s spirit sensing ability was noticeably improving under extreme stress.
Even an elf with high-rank spirit sensing like Pablo had not detected what Marian had located.
“General, pursuit begins. Vanguard and rearguard positions swapped. The rearguard is closing in quickly. The raider falters when we begin long-range attacks.”
Power entered Jade’s fist.
“General, Cyril-nim has activated the Trial of the Black Waterfall. Rocks are exploding and one of the two tunnels is completely blocked. The other tunnel is also blocked. The raider is surrounded.”
Kai shot up at Pablo’s explanation.
“Blaze Clan has surrounded Mosquito with our attacks, but… Senior, something feels off. I have a strange feeling. It’s cold, suffocating, and scary…”
Marian’s shoulders trembled.
“Lenox-nim has cast Shadow of Light. Mosquito is completely cornered and has lost all fighting spirit. Lenox-nim is approaching.”
A smile began to spread across Jade’s face at Pablo’s explanation.
“This is the advantage of a swift attack.”
It looked like arrest had succeeded.
Jade gave me a victorious smile.
“Corner the raider.”
Jade spoke into the magic transmitter in his hand.
I asked Marian.
“How is it?”
“We have surrounded Mosquito, but the atmosphere is still eerie. I’m getting goosebumps. It’s dark and too cold.”
It was the spirit’s warning message.
“**Marian**, look underfoot.”
“Underfoot… Ah, Senior. Something is pooling there. Black and thick…”
Marian’s body was shaking uncontrollably.
“Is something dripping on my body?”
“No. It’s not dripping. Water is gushing up from under my feet.”
‘…!’
“Senior, it’s not just gushing. It’s erupting at an incredible speed. If I continue like this…”
It was a trap.
“**General Jade**, order full retreat!! Full retreat!!”
Jade glared at me.
“It’s a trap. That guy intends to drown everyone completely.”
The cave passages had been blown up, sealing the surroundings with stones to catch Mosquito.
Blaze Clan members were encircling him in concentric circles around the raider.
It was a deliberately designed trap and an intended capture.
If water poured out uncontrollably in a sealed cave… we could no longer guarantee the lives of the people who entered.
“Lenox, Cyril, full retreat. Retreat immediately.”
Jade could not hide his suspicious gaze, but he accepted the danger warning with great swiftness.
It must have been instinct from his long battlefield experience.
“Senior… Blaze Clan members are turning and running out.”
“General, retreat begins. Cyril-nim is installing Light Shield to secure the escape route… AAAAAH!! The raider is hiding in the black water. Water… water is pouring out. The water is bursting and sweeping my comrades…”
“Ah… Damn it…”
Pablo and Marian crossed their explanations and let out deep sighs.
Marian had joined me as I ran toward the cave.
“Senior, that bastard is a black mage. It seems he has obtained a filthy aura… If we stay like this, we’re all dead.”
It flickered, and the spirit’s aura began to gather underfoot.
Then blessings flew above my head.
Blessings from Blaze Clan — [Wings of Wind], [Light Enhancement], [Angel’s Pursuit] — began to pour down.
“Let’s go together.”
Jade had joined us, his body wrapped in flickering light.
* * *
Drip, drip.
Thanks to the spirit and various blessings, we arrived quickly, but hell unfolded before our eyes.
Black water swallowed people.
“AAAAAHHHH!!”
“Where the hell is all this water coming from?”
People’s screams filled the entire cave.
The more people struggled to live, the stronger the water pulled them.
A hand of someone who had turned completely black above the water appeared.
It trembled thinly as if trying to grasp its last breath.
“**Cyril**!!”
Lenox, barely holding on underwater, shouted toward that hand.
“Catch this.”
Lenox shot a light rope toward Cyril, but black water showed its teeth and cut it.
Every cell of the water seemed to carry malice as it pierced into people.
It pressed people down with water and wrapped around the necks of those who barely managed to raise their heads out of the water.
The water pulled people with will.
“Gasp…”
Sounds of people choking echoed everywhere.
Black water polluted by black magic took the last breaths of people.
“No!!!!”
With a scream, black water erupted like a giant fountain and coiled around people’s limbs, tearing them apart roughly.
A clear red trail was carved above the black water.
It was water made from people’s blood.
The water rose into the air, forming eerie threads of blood, and was being sucked into the hand of a single man.
The blood of the sacrificed members was being pulled into thread form and sucked into Mosquito’s palm.
The vast cave was filled with threads of blood.
And in the center of the whirlpool of black water, a man reaching out to receive that blood.
It was Mosquito.
“The curse of Caedis…”
Marian muttered dazedly.
Caedis…
Just the name alone evoked a terrifying nightmare.
“What is that?”
Kai asked.
“It’s the curse of a black dragon called Caedis. I thought it was just a legend…”
Mosquito’s figure reflected in her eyes, which were filled with fear.
He flicked his hand in the air, and black water, as if it had gained life, shot toward the remaining people.
“**Light Blessing**.”
A solemn-looking shield formed at the tip of Jade’s hand, his eyes wide.
The shield, which released immense light as if blind, grew in size by itself and flew toward Mosquito.
Bang.
The massive shield plunged into the center of the black water, creating a huge water column.
The stream of water Mosquito had shot was instantly stopped.
The threads of blood in the field snapped, and blood began to flow down like a waterfall.
“**Light Blessing Shield**… I never thought I would see this in person.”
Blood vessels bulged in Kai’s eyes.
The Light Blessing Shield had earned legendary merit in repelling monsters in the Herz Mountains.
At that time, it had been created through the combined efforts of many mages and priests. Now, Jade had created it alone.
“General, are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
One of the Blaze Clan members helped Jade, who was bleeding from his ear.
He shook off the subordinate and pulled out the axe behind his back.
Clang.
He was about to charge toward Mosquito, who was supposedly beyond the Light Blessing Shield.
“General, the raider is using the curse of Black Water.”
“Black Water curse…?”
Jade’s pupils shook.
“Then what?”
“Yes, the moment it touches black water, he will be drowned while his sanity is taken.”
The Black Water curse polluted a person’s mind with water.
It dropped the victim into the deepest, most terrifying memory of their soul and drowned them in it.
The more the victim resisted out of fear, the deeper they sank.
And that water sucked in the person’s blood, strengthening the curse’s power until the end, strangling the neck and tearing the limbs apart.
“So the only countermeasure is holy power?”
But the clan members sinking in the water were everywhere.
They were still alive.
We had to save them.
And we had Lenox.
“**Priest Lenox**!”
“Ready, Inspector.”
Lenox approached.
Lenox, fluttering the hem of his robe and drawing up his holy power.
“Destroy that black sphere while purifying this water.”
“And Piaje. When I give the signal, fire the Rune Cannon.”
Piaje the Chief of Staff, with the Rune Cannon slung over his shoulder, nodded.
He scanned his surroundings quickly.
No assistants to Mosquito were visible.
Instead, there was a black sphere glowing sinisterly behind him.
This was the only way.
We had to eliminate Mosquito without touching the black water.
At the same time, save the others.
“**Lenox**.”
I shouted, and golden aura exploded from his body.
Streams of light cascaded, forming a massive sun in the air.
And the sun fell into the black water with his gesture.
Gwaaaah!
Light writhed intensely in the black water.
And behind my back, Jade’s Light Blessing Shield was created again.
Bang!
The black water churned.
As if touched by something unholy, the black water roared and spewed out smoke.
The black water began to disappear as if evaporating.
The level of the black water dropped.
Mosquito faltered.
“Now!”
Crack.
Piaje spread his legs, took a stance, and fired the Rune Cannon toward Mosquito.
The magic bullet advanced, condensing mana scattering like dust.
Kugung!!
Along with a powerful shockwave, a massive explosion swept through the cave.
Flames and smoke from the explosion point became a huge dust cloud, filling the vision.
The Rune Cannon’s bullet that had passed through Mosquito tore through the cave wall, and the cave disappeared as if it had never existed from the beginning.
The uneven terrain flattened, and the pooled black water began to flow.
We had created a path for people to escape by taking advantage of the brief gap when magic was weakened by the Rune Cannon strike.
Huff. Huff.
The rough breathing of people was heard.
Their minds were returning.
Jade and the remaining members of Blaze Clan began to rescue the survivors.
And my gaze turned toward Mosquito, who was raging in anger at the sight of his prey disappearing.
Bang!
The Rune Cannon was fired again.
Kugung.
All that remained was dust and debris, and Mosquito standing alone, glaring at us while covered in them.
I ran out.
* * *
Splash, splash.
Black water wrapped around my waist.
Seven or eight years ago?
No, eight years?
My memory was hazy.
I was active as a Team Blood labyrinth hunter.
“Boss, give up already.”
Next to me, one of the black dragon’s eyeballs lay on the ground with a hazy gaze.
Caedis, once hailed as one of the Gilorian Empire’s guardian dragons, had become the lurking king of the labyrinth, hunting people.
“We’re done for. Even the boss has to live.”
My comrade, whose body was covered in blood, squeezed out his last strength and cast [Authority of Blessing].
“No. I die with you.”
A faint smile appeared on his blood-soaked face as if he did not care about my resolve.
“Deliver this necklace to Daisy.”
The cold touch of the pendant necklace Vincent, my old comrade, had given me with his last strength, touched my hand.
His thick blond hair was turning black.
The battle with dragon Caedis.
It had to be done only once.
I was sure my hand had reached his heart, and my sword had pierced Caedis’s heart.
The dragon as large as a castle castle was howling in pain, vomiting out red-black blood from its heart.
“Only once.”
I clenched and unclenched the fist that struggled to follow my command.
Blue lightning tore through the air.
A flash appeared before my eyes, and my vision went dark.
And it struck down on Caedis’s black body.
The scales that seemed impossible to pierce fell like rain, and the leather that wrapped the dragon heart melted away.
And the pink heart pulsing violently came into view.
I charged at Caedis, holding the dagger tightly.
Momentarily, Caedis’s eyes blinked left and right, and his large mouth slowly but clearly opened.
Soon, hot flames enveloped my body.
It was [Dragon Suppression], his final trump card.
The hot heat and pressure of the breath Caedis spat out while squeezing out his life stopped me from advancing.
“Ah… No.”
Contrary to my will, my knees buckled.
I raised my arms to block the breath, but the melted shield was no longer useful.
I looked at the dagger firmly held in my left hand.
A faint light seeped into the rune letters meaning [Eternal].
It was the rune letters connecting from the dagger to my left hand’s third finger.
“How little time is left.”
I threw the dagger from a distance of less than two meters to Caedis.
Light exploded.
The surroundings were filled with heat.
No pain, no sound, no sensation.
I saw my third finger being torn off and spurting blood.
That was the last thing I remembered.
I survived alone that day, having lost all my comrades.
The day everything collapsed and disappeared.
A box resembling an endless abyss appeared mysteriously in the deepest darkness of the first floor of the labyrinth.
People later called it Atra Lux.
* * *
Swoosh.
Marian’s arrow brought me back to reality.
“**Senior**!!!”
Black water was wrapping around my waist and leading me toward the space of suffocation.
“**Pull yourself together**!”
Jade had come up to me and was cutting the water wrapping my waist with his axe.
His axe was shining with holy blessing.
But his face was still bloodless.
He poured a flask over my head.
“It’s holy blessing. No matter how much you receive the blessing, if you stay too long in black water, you’ll be polluted.”
I had definitely felt it.
The moment it touched the water, an eye of an unknown abyss split open horizontally and looked at me.
And it called out to me in an obscene voice.
“I’ve noticed.”
“What?”
I said while fixing my gaze on Mosquito, breathing heavily.
“But this place seems to be an incubator for some being.”
Round, grayish-white slime was writhing between the cave walls.
The slime changed its size and searched for something, then when it found the mushrooms rising from the corpses, it swallowed them viciously.
“So this place…”
“It’s a birth chamber.”
“!!!”
Mosquito kept raising streams of black water to prevent anyone from touching the grayish-white slime.
“So many things…”
Jade’s pupils turned grayish-white.
“You’re quite sharp-witted.”
It was the first time Mosquito opened his mouth.
“Humans are weak. We cannot defy his will or understand his plans. We can only follow and submit.”
Contrary to his firm words, a trace of fatigue appeared on Mosquito’s face.
Because he had not seen sunlight for a long time, his skin was pale green.
His thin arms and legs were so emaciated that the bones were visible, and his clothes hung loosely as if they would fall apart with the slightest wind.
It was pitiable and pathetic.
“I cannot let you go lightly after trying to steal my future. I will give you the opportunity to devote your flesh for him. That too will be an honor.”
Mosquito’s eyes momentarily became empty.
Then blood-red spheres gathered on his body, and his hands turned into black blades.
“**Lie down**!”
Black blades swept dangerously over my head.
“Support me.”
He left the words and pushed off the ground, charging forward.
The distance between me and Mosquito was about five meters.
I raised my eyesight and examined his weapon.
Beyond the hands that had turned into blades, another blood-red sphere was forming.
I asked Jade before jumping into the black water.
“General Jade, attack with the strongest holy magic to that sphere.”
“It’s a suicide attempt.”
“But there is no other way.”
“…Understood.”
“If you look closely, there is clearly a gap.”
Mosquito’s attacks had a certain pattern.
He threw cold weapons like blades, absorbed people’s blood, and when the blood-red sphere was complete, he began to rampage.
There was about ten seconds of gap between the cold weapon and the rampage.
At the moment, since there were many clan members trapped in the water, I could not summon lightning.
Summoning lightning would definitely kill Mosquito, but I could not guarantee the survival of the Blaze Clan members.
So I intended to kill him with my own hands.
The remaining distance was now about two meters.
Whirrrrrick.
From behind, something heavy flew in circles and stabbed with a thud into the blood-red sphere.
The blood-red sphere momentarily faltered, then began to spit out white blood.
“It’s because my axe is the strongest.”
It seemed he had enchanted his beloved axe with holy magic and thrown it.
“Ah.”
As if hit, Mosquito’s body was pushed back.
I did not miss that gap and rushed toward Mosquito.
Black water blocked my approach.
I raised the dagger and cut through the water, advancing forward.
The black water began to writhe like an octopus.
The water streams split into multiple strands shot straight up into the air and then twisted and shot back sharply.
“**Senior**!”
Along with a sharp cry from Marian, the bow flew continuously.
Pang! Pang!
The blood-red sphere faltered again, and the power of the black water began to recover.
Blood was spurting from the corpses floating on the water.
Then, the concentrated fire from Blaze Clan toward Mosquito began.
Pang! Pang!
Mosquito smiled viciously.
“Such childish attacks. Stop it already.”
Momentarily, Mosquito’s eyes darkened and became empty.
With the hand that had turned into a blade, he slashed his last palm without hesitation.
Black flames rose on the hand he cut, beginning to devour his body.
It seemed like he was pouring out everything at once, and the blood-red sphere grew in size.
“Damn.”
I heard Kai groaning in pain.
It seemed cutting the black water streams extending like tentacles with his aura was too much for him.
Behind him, Lenox the Priest’s face, which had turned deathly pale, appeared.
Within the group of priests, he was creating a light wave of overwhelming size.
It was a wide-area blessing that filled this space. Hot aura began to rise from behind.
I turned my gaze and saw Jade gathering the power of the clan members and casting his final technique, [Wings of Fire].
[Wings of Fire], which consumed a portion of his lifespan.
A pair of wings engulfed in fire, illuminating the darkness, approached.
The wings of fire that fluttered in and landed on the blood-red sphere as if discovering their child enveloped it in a jewel-like glow, then burst it apart.
Kwaaang!
The black water, which had thickened, flowed down like a waterfall, and red blood gushed out.
“Ah!!! Goddess of Eria! You have allowed us to witness the Wings of Fire.”
Lenox the Priest’s voice echoed softly.
“Aaaah!”
Mosquito’s face, screaming his last words, paled, and blood from the other corpses began to flow from his skin.
But only for a moment.
Mosquito’s figure briefly became blurry, then he twisted his arm that had turned into a blade and cut his side.
Blood splattered.
“**General**!!!”
A sharp scream came.
Jade, exhausted, looked like he had used all his strength.
The priests rushed over to support him.
The Mosquito in front of us was growing the blood-red sphere as if burning his last moments.
The corners of his mouth twisted subtly.
“The one who faces his gaze will definitely die at his hand. You saw it too? Just like your comrades.”
Mosquito was mocking in front of me. I said in a low voice toward Mosquito.
“You touched Atra Lux, didn’t you?”
Momentarily, the mockery disappeared, and a hollow light passed through Mosquito’s eyes.
Mosquito’s blade extended like rain toward me.
I twisted my body to dodge and at the same time bent the angle of my left hand, slicing Mosquito’s wrist with the sharpest part of the dagger.
“Ouch!”
The blood-red sphere that Mosquito had been collecting blood for suddenly shook with the sudden pain.
At that moment, he clenched and unclenched his fist.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Blue lightning flashed.
“What is this?”
“Something flashed in front of my eyes just now.”
The voices of the bustling Blaze Clan members.
Mosquito was on the ground.
This meant there was no water nearby.
The black water spun into a vortex and rushed toward me, but it had not arrived yet.
There was time.
I clenched my fist again.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!!!
“Something’s wrong.”
“Senior!!!!!”
The scream faded, my vision turned white, and blue light tore through the air and pierced the blood-red sphere.
My vision shook.
The black water with its open maw and blue lightning enveloped my body, and my mind became hazy.
At that moment, a clear voice was heard.
- The boss must live.
- The boss must definitely survive.
The voices of old comrades faded, and the raging figure of Mosquito became clear.
“No!!!!!! The power Caedis gave me!!!!!!”
The blood-red sphere vomited red blood, shrank, became a single point, and exploded.
Mosquito jumped into the light as if it were a moth to a flame.
I reached out toward him as he jumped into the light, but he somehow squeezed through the light and embraced it.
His body shattered with the light.
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