Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 369



Only Noblemtl

53rd floor (4)

The knight’s irritation swept across the plain. As the horse ran, the ground cracked open under its hooves, and the gichang opened a large tunnel no matter what obstacle it encountered.

Compared to Malmijal, who specialized in recovery and support, the knight was fast and strong. He just took small magic and quickly fled the area when he sensed danger.

Even so, the eyes inside the exoskeleton helmet only glared at Allen. When he gave up and tried to move to another location, he kept interrupting him several times, but he seemed determined to deal with it somehow.

Purrrrrr!

The horse expressed its master’s feelings through its rough breathing. The magic contained in its rough breathing drew concentric circles in the soil.

Alan silently watched the knight as he took a charging stance.

‘Depth 6 is convenient if you have at least one movement skill.’

What can a sled do against a fugitive who opens a space gate? He’ll just be a dog chasing a chicken.

The charging knight thrust his arm out this time. The bone protruded and grew and twisted. The final form was a crossbow. The tendon of the bow was pulled, and the sphere of flesh aimed at Alan.

A sphere flew in as if erasing space and spread out in the air. It covered the area like a parasol and fired irregular waves downward.

‘You even know what a hate body is.’

Spatial magic is powerful when activated. However, it is extremely sensitive and very fragile. If you mess up the surroundings in advance to increase the uncertainty of the coordinates, you will fall by yourself.

The same goes for the film umbrella. By embedding sharp magic power on all sides, it has overcome the shortcoming of being extremely sensitive to the surrounding environment.

But even though he tried to block the door from opening, the person he was dealing with was Alan. He saw the magic knot with his eyes and disappeared.

The knight who had been charging forward with glee at the thought of stabbing Alan suddenly stopped. His shoulder holding his sword seemed to slump slightly.

In fact, the knight is very fast and strong. Even Oros would be completely torn apart by a single cavalry charge, and even the most advanced space magicians would be turned into fish cake skewers, unable to move due to the knight’s magical power.

Again, the opponent was bad. And Alan didn’t even give him a proper fight, just threw jabs and wasted time.

‘Since the odds are against us, we need to gather information.’

Any living, walking creature was a wonderful specimen. Alan observed their hardness, resilience, and magical flow in various ways.

While the knights were running around Allen’s specimen room, the abominations became like fallen leaves in the autumn wind.

The flesh golem fell to the ice giant’s counter punch. The ice plants, waiting for their chance, captured the golem and sucked out its fluids.

Taylor quickly ran over and tore the golem’s body apart with the help of his automaton squad.

“It smells like shit!”

He repeatedly ran away after inflicting as much damage as possible while shouting foul language at the stench that was seeping through the power suit’s breathing filter.

As the golem shed more blood, the ice plants growing in the [Eternal Garden] glowed even more red. The ice forest grew larger and continued to expand its power, and a cold air spread wherever the abomination stepped.

Now, the only remaining abomination was a single knight. He took all the attacks with his body and chased after Alan. I could feel his determination to take you at any cost.

“It’s really surprising that the abomination that I thought was a hive mind has such emotions. Is it different because it’s a labyrinth? On the other hand, I’m disappointed. The ability to control emotions is···.”

The knight’s spear pierced the space where Alan had been staying. Alan appeared somewhere else and finished speaking.

“···That’s pathetic. If it were me, I would have targeted another explorer. There’s a slow-footed wizard over there.”

“No! I’m fast!”

Nicola is a magician who manipulates light, so he can imbue his body with light and move quickly. Even so, he is slower than a knight.

The knight tried to run again, but the ice forest that had appeared before him covered the surroundings. Even if he pushed through the ice that stretched out his hand, he could not see the end. [Garden of Eternity] followed the knight as if it were a living being.

As the movement became slower and slower, Sophia and Ivan’s magic settled over the garden. Even the plants that had been moving actively and holding blood froze.

When Fyodor broke the spell and the garden flowed into a red river, only an ice sculpture of a charging knight remained on the plain.

The ice giant Sophia was riding also melted. Sophia, riding on a flat piece of ice, reached Alan through the flowing water.

“article?”

“No. That sounds good.”

“I’m going to do that.”

Sophia took the knight and Alan took the horse.

Zion emerged from Allen’s shadow and surveyed the plains where the battle had ended. Everyone was collecting the spoils.

“Hey! You help too!”

“We need someone to protect our juniors.”

“He’s the strongest, so who’s protecting whom? There are all kinds of excuses.”

Zion snorted at Taylor’s words and stayed by Allen’s side. The army of wasp automatons that emerged from the buffalo’s flank were busy scurrying around the plains, and adding one of their own wouldn’t make much of a difference.

“The buffalo are getting bigger.”

“The bigger it is, the easier it is to target, but if you want to act as a factory, it has to be big.”

At first it was one tank, later two, and now it is the size of three tanks combined.

“Why did you choose that horse?”

“I’m going to research and try to make a vehicle.”

“I hope so.”

“Even if you fail, the experience itself is a treasure.”

Alan and Zion crossed the Red River, which was the [Garden of Eternity]. The wizards had created an ice bridge, so blood did not soak their bodies.

In one battle, the terrain was completely transformed. Valleys and wetlands were added to the plains.

“I guess I can do it if I go up to depth 6?”

“Of course.”

The academic world estimates that depth 5 is the limit for humans. Therefore, depth 6 and above meant that they were no longer human. So, even if it was impossible to do it all at once, it would have been possible to cut down a low mountain with a few swings of the sword.

Zion lowered his voice.

“How strong is that old lady?”

Alan put Sophia in his field of vision. The bottom was like a dark abyss. The gap between depths 6 and 1 was deeper than between depths 1 and 5.

“You’re stronger than me now.”

“Strength and victory are different. Who wins in a fight?”

“Why are you fighting?”

“You never know.”

“Then you can run away.”

“Like before? Even I found it annoying.”

Zion also experienced a time when he was a slow-moving warrior, so it didn’t seem like someone else’s story. The distance of shadow movement was shorter than expected, so he was still a slow-moving warrior.

During the battle, the fire rats that Alan dispatched cleared the shelter of any traces of the abomination. Black smoke rose in thick clouds from the hole the abomination had burst through in the mountain.

The loot collection and smoke release were almost done at the same time. Allen and his party entered the shelter with peace of mind.

As soon as I entered, I saw a place similar to a checkpoint. I saw a vehicle covered in the flesh of the abomination, a collapsed management office, and a destroyed passageway.

There were traces of the beast attack, but no corpses were visible. They had all become part of the abomination.

Taylor felt the monster’s claw marks. They led up the wall, and coincidentally, they were at the same height as the ancient man’s neck.

“I was helpless and couldn’t even fight back.”

“Brother, how do you know?”

“Why? There’s no trace of the monster besides its fucking rampage.”

After deciding on an exploration area and dividing the group, Alan and Sophia headed to the power facility. The passageway through which the golem had forced its way was wrinkled like intestines.

“I feel a slight magical power.”

“It was the same at other facilities.”

“Isn’t it amazing? How did Catan leave his mark on the labyrinth, which would eventually revert to its original state?”

“I really want to know too.”

The power plant was a mess. There were traces of huge things lying down, perhaps a golem’s nest, all over the place.

Alan placed his hand on the spherical, distorted fusion reactor. The magical power that burst out of his palm spread throughout the reactor, instantly destroying the circuitry.

As soon as the power room was destroyed, a thicker line than ever before appeared. A glowing line, visible only to Alan’s eyes, danced through the air and settled on his left eye.

The fragments I had collected so far clung together. The lines that had come together as one became arrows, pointing somewhere.

Alan thought about it for a moment.

‘Shall we say that there are not enough clues?’

No one else would know anyway. If he had kept silent, he could have continued his search for shelter and training.

‘I came down here to explore anyway, so it’ll be okay. If my colleagues’ skills improve, it’ll be good for me, and it’ll be good for Sophia’s students too.’

But Sophia’s eyes looking this way were strange. Alan thought about it for about 10 seconds and then made up his mind.

Only then did Sophia’s face relax. She was in the position of whipping her disciples, but she was also tired without realizing it.

The cost of clearing out the 6 sets and the legions of abominations was high. The party rested for five days in the purified shelter and then set out again.

After resting for four days longer than usual, my steps were brimming with energy. The faces of my colleagues and wizards were glowing.

“Weaklings, tsk tsk tsk. Kids these days have no tenacity. Two days would have been enough, but they’re making me rub their butts for three more days.”

“I agree.”

The explorers shook their heads secretly, and even Taylor tapped his forehead at Alan and Sophia’s conversation.

The place they arrived at was the summit of a mountain 3,000 meters above sea level. Only sharp, rough rocks greeted the hikers.

The view itself was dark. Every time the dark clouds struck with lightning, the desolate red landscape would flicker repeatedly.

Alan crossed his arms and looked up at the sky covered with dark clouds. The explorers, sensing the heavy atmosphere, moved away, and only Sophia approached.

“Have you lost track of any leads?”

“no.”

Sophia followed Alan and stared at the sky. All she could see were dark clouds laden with lightning.

“no way···.”

“That’s right. The arrow is pointing up there.”

“Is it possible? No, reaching it would be a test in itself.”

The flight limit for the red land confirmed by Alan was 50 meters above the ground. If you went over that, you would be punished by a lightning bolt with the power of destruction.

If your level is high, you may be able to endure it a few times, but will you be able to reach the clouds while overcoming the ceaseless lightning strikes?

‘At least 2km to the clouds. If the entry isn’t the end, it would be several times longer.’

Alan flew the falcon to test it out. The creature straightened its wings and flew up vertically, scattering magical particles. As soon as it passed 50 meters, the clouds turned blue.

‘now!’

As soon as he grasped the omen, he twisted the space of the falcon. The punishment of lightning passed by, scratching the space where the falcon had been.

This time, lights went up in three places, as if he was angry because he had avoided it. This time, he dodged the first lightning strike, but he was hit by the last lightning strike because it hit too late.

The falcon crashed. It was charred black as charcoal, and to top it all off, it was torn to pieces.

Zion said as he looked at the remains of the eagle.

“It reminds me of chicken.”

“Alan is concentrating, but you’re making such strange noises. I want to eat some too.”

Even as the people around him killed time with jokes, Alan’s worries continued. They deepened.

‘If you’re not trying to tease me, there should be a clue hidden in the words to find the shining tower.’

At that moment, the edge of Alan’s vision brightened. Far behind, Shiva and Nicola were doing something. It was a game where Shiva would throw a rock upwards of 50 meters to summon lightning, and Nicola would also shoot magic to strike first.

Lightning struck as many times as the number of stones Shiva had thrown. He also called down a volley of lightning in response by throwing them like a machine gun. The surroundings became brighter than daylight.

[Try more.]

[Oh, no. I’m sorry.]

[I’m sorry for interrupting your concentration, brother.]

Two friends of the same age, misunderstanding Alan’s words, clasped their hands politely.

[I told you to try more.]

[I was wrong.]

It wasn’t a word I said to blame. It was because the clouds became lighter in color as the lightning struck. Only Alan’s eyes caught the change.

Alan sat up.

[I’ll get on my knees! Please don’t punish me for staying up all night studying for a week!]

[Why is that a punishment? It’s a reward.]

Alan cut the communication and sent a signal to the buffalo. Small insect-shaped automatons took flight simultaneously.

Kwarrung!

pop!

As they were explosive, they turned into colorful fireworks as soon as lightning struck them. The explorers at the top suffered from tremendous noise and light pollution for a while.

The clouds gradually thinned, and finally a circular hole appeared above the summit. A cylindrical beam of sunlight swept across the summit. And as usual, only the sharp rocks remained.