‘How… How could this mark be here?’

Raven reached out with his trembling hands and touched the carved arrow mark.

He was certain. It was the mark he had engraved during his days in the demonic army, after being sent ahead to scout.

‘How is this possible? Did someone else…’

Raven shook his head. It wasn’t possible. It was simply impossible for anyone to reach this far while being undetected by the numerous monsters, including the gargoyles at the entrance. If someone had succeeded in reaching this place, the minotaur would not have been guarding the way. It should have been already dead.

So in the end, this mark was…

‘I carved it…’

As he circled back to square one, Raven was thrown into even greater confusion.

“What’s going on?”

A voice shattered his thoughts, and he jerked his head around. Eltuan was looking at him very anxiously.

“What’s wrong? Is there something going on?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Raven shook his head and stretched his back. However, Raven’s expression betrayed his true state, and Eltuan asked once more in a worried voice.

“Hey, are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Let’s keep going.”

Raven nodded his head, then continued forward. It was quite unnerving for Eltuan and the elves to see their leader and the hope of the tribe act in such away. But for now, they had no choice but to silently follow behind him.

***

“You must be confused, you who defy the cause.”

A gloomy voice flowed out of Jean Oberon’s dry lips.

“In this world, only this place retains the flow that should have passed. Even the Dragon Queen cannot resist the fate of causality.”

His focusless, blurry gaze remained on Raven’s figure contained in the crystal ball.

“It does not matter what you did here. You have perished here once before. So you will die once more. But I guess I should be thankful for one thing. Since she twisted the flow of causality, I also gained something bigger…”

A faint light was carved into the eyes of the sorcerer as he observed Raven gradually move away with the elven warriors.

***

Krrrrr!

Three-headed monsters as large as goats glared at Raven and the elven warriors. The elven warriors gulped unknowingly as they came to face the furious monsters. The dozens of monsters resembled rabid dogs with red eyes that seemed to be dripping blood.

“Kelberos…”

Dogs of the underworld. They guided the deceased who had not crossed over the Mana River to the sides of the gods to hell. They were extremely hostile to the living, so regular wizards and sorcerers struggled to summon the ferocious dogs. But now, there were more than ten such creatures standing in their way.

Their coal black fur was bristled up like ebony flames, and they slowly narrowed the distance while growling. The elves possessed a clearer and cleaner life force than any other creatures on earth, and as such, the kelberos were unacceptable beings.

Tap. Tap.

However, as soon as someone stepped forward, the dogs immediately stopped, even though their sharp fangs were still visible.

Krrr…

As soon as the kelberos saw the shining armor lightning up the surroundings, they faltered. The kelberos were dogs of hell.

They attacked everything that possessed life, but there was a sole exception to the rule. They could not attack the only living thing on earth that did not go to hell after death.

Fwooosh!

Seeing the Spirit of the Dragon soar above the White Dragon Armor, the kelberos eventually lowered their tails. They could not face a presence who possessed a stronger spirit than the lord that summoned them.

However.

“Looks very delicious. It looks delicious.”

A wild, bizarre voice resounded from the dark. The voice resembled the sound of metal skewers scraping against iron plates.

As the kelberos faltered and stepped back, the elven warriors had been advancing proudly. However, they stopped at the sound of the voice.

“Hehehehe!”

The face of a huge man was floating around in the dark. It was the face of an old man who was shrunken, wrinkled, and muddy. Various fluids dripped down the grotesque face.

However, the creature’s dozens of sharp teeth that dripped with yellow mucous betrayed its identity. It could never be mistaken for a human.

Boom!

“Hm!”

Eltuan and the elven warriors were horrified to see the creature’s entire figure. Under the face of an old man, the creature possessed a large body of a lion and wings of a bat.

“Manticore…”

The soft words flowed out of Raven’s lips. The Red Moon Valley elves froze on the spot like stone statues.

A manticore was the worst man-eating monster with a human face, as well as the king of the hellhounds. Even fully armed warriors could be devoured in a single gulp by a manticore, and the creature was several times more powerful than griffons and faster as well.

In addition, no poison or magic was effective against the manticore, and it possessed an impenetrable steel-like body. Normal weapons were not able to leave a scratch on its hide.

However, if it only possessed such characteristics, it would not have been any more notorious than a monster like an ogre or a troll.

Crack!

The creature’s thick, root-like tail danced in the air like a whip, and dozens of red thorns rose from the tail like a scorpion.

Its tail was the primary reason why so many knights and warriors feared manticores. A single thorn about the size of a human palm contained a deadly poison that could kill even a troll within a few breaths. Furthermore, a manticore’s tail possessed enough strength to render the thick hides of the ogres useless. It was not meant only as a weapon for whipping.

“Hehehe! They look delicious! I will eat them all! Ehehehe!”

After expelling a few words in a creepy voice, the manticore whirled its tail in the air.

Fwoosh!

A red thorn ejected from its tail and split into dozens of fragments in an instant before flying towards Raven and the elves. As soon as Raven saw it, he pointed his sword straight ahead, spouting a beam of light from his eyes.

Woosh!

The Spirit of the White Dragon soared through his entire body like a reverse waterfall, then quickly spread out like a deep, blue carpet.

A curtain.

The Spirit of the Dragon materialized into a curtain of impenetrable light.

Flutter!

As the poisonous thorns rushed into the wall of spirit, they burned up in the blue flame.

“Ehehehehehe!”

The manticore continued to swing its tail while screeching.

With every swing of the tail, thorns continued to form and drop, splitting into dozens of fragments and colliding with the curtain of spirit.

“Hm…!”

Blood vessels on Raven’s forehead and neck became clearly pronounced as his determined eyes burned with blue flames. He had a strong body incomparable to regular humans.

However, he was still human, and releasing the Spirit of the Dragon for such an elongated period with a human body was straining on both the body and the mind, especially since he had stretched out the barrier to protect the elven warriors on both sides.

But Raven grit his teeth and kept his gaze on the manticore, maintaining the spirit with all his might.

“Keuk!”

He just needed to endure for a little while longer. Even though the manticore seemed to be producing the poisonous thorns indefinitely, he knew they could not be endlessly produced. Raven knew exactly how many times the monster could produce the deadly, poisonous thorns before having to stop.

“Eheh! Ehehe…!”

The manticore was continuing to attack with a maniacal laughter, then suddenly paused.

At that moment.

Pop!

The swollen blood vessels had burst. Red blood soaked Raven’s face and his eyes became flushed with crimson.

Whaaaaa!

The Spirit of the Dragon glowed brightly, then soon morphed into wings of vivid light.

Flutter!

The dazzling wings gathered towards a single space as if crunching space itself.

“Kehehe!”

The manticore’s face scrunched grotesquely. A bright white light filled its vision as the wings came charging towards it.

Kwaaaa!

The tip of the illuminated wings penetrated the manticore’s body. Blue crystals blossomed like flowers and embroidered the body of the monster. Then, the king of the hellhounds tumbled in the light.

“Kiyaaaaaah!”

The manticore let out a terrible scream identical to that of humans as it blazed into death.

Woosh!

The blue feathers fluttered like snow flowers and turned into foam before it touched the ground, scattering in the wind.

The overwhelming sight caused Eltuan and the elven warriors to drop their jaws. However, their experience so far reminded them of the situation that would follow after the death of the monster.

“Keugh…!”

Raven knelt down while letting out a painful groan.

“Pendragon!”

Eltuan quickly ran towards Raven in shock.

The cost of expressing the power of the dragon with a human body was truly devastating. His hair was disheveled, and his neck and face were drenched with crimson blood.

“Heuk…! He… Keugh!”

Blood spurted out Raven’s mouth like an arrow.

“Ellaja! Bring a potion!”

“He, here it is brother!”

Ellaja ran like the wind and took out a small bottle of transparent liquid and a miniscule pill from her bag. Eltuan pushed the pill into Raven’s mouth, then opened the bottle cap to pour the contents in as well. He was gradually losing vitality.

“Heugh… Heuk…”

Soon, Raven’s harsh breathing calmed down, and he lost consciousness.

“Everybody, guard the premises!”

At Eltuan’s words, the elves immediately surrounded her and Raven in groups of dozens of people. They were still in the Troll King’s labyrinth, and numerous were their enemies.

***

[…!]

Soldrake had been flapping for a long time, but a sudden glimmer appeared in her eyes. Not too long ago, she had sensed an energy emission beyond that of the Dragon Blade.

[Ray…]

The fact that he emitted such a powerful spirit could have meant that his body and mind had already collapsed. What kind of existence could have forced Raven to continuously release the spirit without reserve?

Soldrake’s gaze reached the far ends of the Great Forest’s vast expanse. They burned bright blue, like unquenchable flames.

Fwooosh!

Her flaps became larger.

***

Rumbleee!

“Gah!”

“Ahhk! Oh gracious Earth God!”

Everyone, including the orcs, staggered with surprise at the sudden earthquake. After sending out all the griffons at the sorcerer’s tower for reconnaissance, the group had finally stumbled across the entrance of the labyrinth. 

“W, what was that?”

“I’m not sure.”

Killian looked around with caution with his scabbard in the ground, and Karuta tilted his head.

“The Earth God is angry! Gaah!”

Some of the orc warriors made a fuss. As creatures serving the Earth God, the orcs were most afraid of earthquakes.

“Stop talking nonsense! You stupid orcs!”

Karuta’s roar silenced the orc warriors. But it seemed he was a little nervous as well, as he quickly turned to Kratul before asking.

“Was that a real earthquake? Is the Earth God furious?”

“No. I cannot feel our deity’s energy.”

Kratul shook his head with a serious expression.

“The damned ground be split! What is it then?”

When Karuta spoke in a nervous voice, Kratul pushed his staff deep into the ground. From the ends of his staff, a few strands of wooden roots pierced deeper into the ground.

After a while, Kratul spoke in a slightly relieved voice.

“Keung! A strong force was expressed deep underground. It’s the energy of the guardian of the forest.”

“Keheul? Then it’s the Pendragon scarecrow.”

“The lord?”

Killian’s expression hardened at Karuta’s words.

“One-egged scarecrow, from what Kratul can tell, this is quite abnormal. An energy emission of this level is similar to when the guardian of the forest woke up. Pendragon, it’s proof that he fought against a very, very strong being.”

“…..!”

Killian’s usual playful eyes quivered at Kratul’s serious expression. With a distorted expression, he pulled out his sword.

“What kind of fuckerssss darreeeee!”

The swears of a loyal knight resonated in the skies above the labyrinth. Killian felt fury beyond anything he had felt in his entire life.