Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 374
Only Noblemtl
Forbidden Zone (3)
Iris’s appearance alternated between two. One was a seven-colored afterimage, and the other was her usual appearance. If she moved even a little, the afterimage would stretch, making her usual appearance almost invisible.
Iris’s figure stretched out and then narrowed like a water spring. She opened her palm right in front of the collector.
It was quiet. The ruined buildings, just like before, and the buildings that were still intact were still standing. The only difference in the scenery was that the collector had blocked the front with a shield.
But that was only for a moment, as cracks appeared in the shield and small fragments fell down. Starting with that, the surrounding buildings turned to dust and scattered.
A fan-shaped destruction took place with Iris at the top. Buildings stood precariously, their cross-sections exposed as if cut by a knife.
“The place you always go to is hell? Of course not on earth… a labyrinth?”
“You know how to think.”
“Shut up and tell me what you mean.”
“The labyrinth···.”
As soon as the collector took off his hat, Iris, who was about to rush in, stopped.
“···The reason I called it hell···. Hmm, but were we close enough to have a private chat?”
“You son of a bitch.”
Iris realized then that she had been teased. She clenched her leather-gloved fists and quickly extended them. There was quite a distance between them, but it was no problem.
Seven strikes, but what appeared to be only one strike, blew away the place where the collector had been. A large fist seal was deeply imprinted.
Iris growled as she looked at the empty space.
“Would you like to take your time?”
[That can’t be.]
The collector’s voice was heard from all directions. Iris lightly kicked her leg as if nothing was wrong.
A pitchfork shining with seven rays of light ran horizontally. The power contained in the light distorted space, tearing apart everything in its path. Except for some.
Cracks appeared and shattered glass, or rather space, fell down. The collector who had been hiding inside came out.
The neat black robe was torn into dozens of pieces and fluttered. Through the gaps, I could see the small, compressed brains hanging like jewels.
“Gross···.”
Iris’s body disappeared. There was not even an afterimage left where she had stepped hard on the ground.
“···young.”
Her voice came from behind the collector, who was floating in the air. The fact that he was in the air was no obstacle. His slender legs, wrapped in suit trousers, were aimed at the collector’s waist.
The tip of his foot touched his waist. The collector’s body bent around his waist and fell to the ground.
Krrrr!
The ground shook as the collector was pinned to the ground. The buildings that had been precariously holding on collapsed.
Iris landed on the floor and followed the Collector’s footsteps. She felt the touch of his feet, but she knew full well that it was just a simple greeting.
“Your greeting is rude.”
The collector appeared, opening the spatial doors on the left and right. The ring containing the brain of the former director of the Dongbunsoju Space Magic Academy shined particularly brightly.
“You’re talking nonsense when you can’t even accept it properly.”
Iris looked at the display case that appeared behind the collector. Inside the plain display case, which had no decorations whatsoever, were densely packed displays of colorful, glowing spheres.
Like the afterimage of Iris, it went against the black and white phenomenon of the forbidden zone and showed off its own colors.
The spheres, each containing a different color, are the images and dreams that the owner of the brain has been holding for a long time. The collector can open the display case and take out the images at will.
“It’s bad taste.”
The collector did not give any meaning to the things contained within, and the display case that reflected his feelings maintained an ordinary form.
“You deserve to be in this. What do you think?”
“Shit.”
The collector clicked his tongue. [The display case] opened and a sphere shaped like lightning took possession of his body. At the same time, dark clouds thicker than the restricted area gathered, and thunder rose in a loud voice.
“For a warlock, you have everything.”
“Black Cloud Song and Jinkyung (Black Cloud Song and Jinkyung).”
“Why are you telling me?”
“This is a courtesy to the nameless lightning wizard I’ve collected. If she had reached Depth 7, she would have displayed this kind of mental realm.”
Beneath the dark clouds, thunder sang. Blue light flashed and struck Iris tens, hundreds of times. A thick pillar stretched from the sky to the ground, swallowing up the land and turning the area into a basin.
Even as lightning struck a large building in reality, powerful enough to kill tens of thousands of people in an instant, the seven stars in the sky shone brightly.
In Megacorp Chilseong, she is politely referred to as a ladle, but elsewhere, she is called an axe because of her actions, which are similar to those of a butcher.
The star at the very tip of the axe shone particularly brightly. Where the lightning had stopped, a deep crater glowed with an intense brass color.
Light leapt to the ground. Iris defended herself against the fierce song of lightning with a color resembling brass.
“Is that right, Cheon Gang Seong?”
“You figure out what to do.”
Each of the seven colors that Iris wears has a different meaning, and the martial arts she excels at are also different. The seventh star, Cheongangseong, is as strong as its name suggests and is specialized in external attacks.
The order of the stars does not mean superiority. Iris treated all the stars equally. She stomped hard on the ground. The ground turned round and turned towards Iris. When she struck with her palm, the ground split like a magic wand.
The fourth star, Cheondok (天毒星), shone brightly. Its green cloak stretched out, and the rocks dripped a sticky liquid.
Green petals filled the sky and flew towards the collector. Many of them were destroyed by the falling lightning, but they eventually landed on his shoulder.
Iris didn’t stop. The third star, the Heavenly Spirit Star, touched the air with its swollen silvery hands. Her fingers caught the air. When she plucked the nonexistent string, sound waves shot out with great force.
It pushed away the lightning that was striking down, reaching the sky and scattering the dark clouds greatly. In the center of the clouds that were pushed back in a donut shape, the seven stars shone even brighter.
The collector’s field of vision completely disappeared. As the thunder that had been singing disappeared, silence fell.
“If you push a person off a cliff, they will struggle.”
Contrary to the words, the tone was extremely calm. The ring that controlled space flashed again. As the compressed brain writhed in agony, crosses were placed around Iris.
It wasn’t an attack, but it was enough to bring Iris’s spirits down to the floor.
“Please, please save me···.”
On each cross hung a person: a young boy, a healthy young man, a dying old man, and a pregnant woman.
Iris extended her index finger toward the collector. A powerful bullet made of chi pierced his body. But the scream was emitted by someone else.
“Snap!”
The shabby orc died with a groan. The hole that should have formed in the collector’s throat was now firmly in the orc’s neck.
“Killing an innocent person. You have no blood or tears.”
“···Do you find this fun?”
“What fun can you find in something so trivial? That’s a question that makes no sense.”
Iris stopped attacking. Those hanging on the cross were sacrificial shields. Their role was to take the Collector’s wounds.
The Collector let go of his powers, perhaps bored with the confrontation. Could ordinary people withstand the contamination of the Forbidden Zone?
“Whoa!”
The pregnant woman screamed. Her jaw split into four parts, new eyes sprouted, and she transformed into a hideous form that was a good mix of human and insect.
Iris frowned. The stars in the sky shone brightly, and a dark red mist spread out around her. She glared at the collector with her two eyes that were dripping with red energy.
He approached the pregnant woman with his gaze fixed on her. When the finger wrapped in a crimson mist poked her forehead, she immediately fainted. The transformation also reversed.
The second star, Cheonmacong (天魔星), wielded evil energy like its arms and legs.
“You’ve been quiet all this time, so why are you doing this?”
For a collector, he was quiet, but that doesn’t mean he was truly docile. He remained silent.
“If you thought I would feel guilty over something as simple as a sacrifice, you were mistaken···.”
Iris witnessed a fortress rising into the sky beyond the forbidden zone. The fortress, resembling a metal top, slowly rotated, sucking in and spitting out the energy from its surroundings.
The Collector slowly floated through the air, blocking the path to the castle. The meaning was clear.
“you···.”
“Stay with me.”
*
[Don’t wake me up.]
[I wonder if this will work···.]
[As long as you are healthy, that’s fine.]
[I will do as you say, brother.]
Shiva cut off the communication. Alan stroked the Titan with a satisfied heart on his finger.
The engineer officer, a major in rank, was asleep, so there was no one to disturb him. It had to be that way.
“Emergency!”
The special forces base was bustling. Unit members wearing shiny power suits that Allen had repaired were moving around busily.
Alan turned his gaze to the falcon flying nearby. In the distance, a fortress appeared in the Forbidden Zone, a replica of the old Maze City landscape.
The forbidden zone did not push the fortress away, but rather supported it like a dog waiting for praise.
‘What is this fortress? Did it swallow the stone tablet containing the soul?’
Before Alan could even guess, the fortress glowed. The target was the garrison. A flash of light split the sky and fell into the center.
Kwarrung!
The defensive magic that had been installed was shattered without warning, and a large cloud of dust rose up. Buildings fell backwards, and tents were crushed to pieces.
Communications were busy on the special forces channel.
[···Two dead in the squad! I can’t even see the bodies!]
[Three seriously injured! Medic!]
Coco approached the crater while listening to the report. His healthy subordinates followed him.
[Strong magical power response. Attack!]
As soon as they felt the waves emanating from below, the special forces threw the grenades on their waists all at once. Waves that disrupted the gathering of magical power flashed fiercely from below.
[Something is coming up…, fall!]
A black mass suddenly emerged from the edge of the crater, clutching at it. A soldier covered in a large hand screamed.
The monster’s true identity was an ogre. The giant monster, which was a whopping 8 meters tall, had absorbed the darkness of the forbidden zone and transformed into something even more powerful.
A swarm of small creatures crawled out from under his feet. I mean, relatively small, but they were close to 2 meters long.
Wow!
The power contained in the Ogre’s roar overwhelmed the battlefield. The roar of a 6th-grade, even enhanced monster overwhelmed the soldiers’ fighting spirit.
Coco bit her lip.
‘Why did it have to be while Lady Sophia was out on reconnaissance…’
The disciples also went out together. There was a commotion, so they would have to return, but until then, they had to hold out.
‘Is it possible?’
Although his fighting spirit had already been broken, he maintained a firm voice and gave orders to his subordinates.
[Find cover! Don’t gather together, spread out and respond! Absolutely···.]
Coco, who was commanding his men, soon realized something strange. The ogres were roaring not at them, but at the rising dust.
In the dust, quite high up, two eyes flashed.
‘Titan? It was clearly close to being completely destroyed···.’
Before Coco could even finish her thought, a large thing leapt out of the dust and struck the ogre in the head with its fist. The ogre withstood the blow with his levator scapulae, which were as protruding as mountains, and returned the punch.
“I almost got into trouble.”
Coco turned her head at the voice coming from beside her. Alan, who had suddenly appeared, was standing next to her.
“The bombing almost destroyed our precious Titan.”
“···.”
Coco was momentarily angry at losing his men to the bombing, but consoled himself by the fact that further losses had been prevented thanks to the Titan.
Then, I caught a strange scene. The unit member who was reported dead was walking around alive and fighting the monster. The subordinate who was crushed by the ogre’s palm was the same.
Coco suddenly realized that the surroundings had become dark. The Titan, entangled with the Ogre, was falling towards her. Coco ran towards Alan.
“damage···!”
Coco, who was hugging Alan, realized that the scenery had changed. The Titan and the Ogre were fighting each other at a distance of 50 meters.
Coco regained her composure and looked down at the battlefield. With a snap of Alan’s fingers, one of the endangered troops leaped across the space.
The monster, which had been desperately charging, lost its target, looked around, and allowed a leopard that jumped out of the shadows to strike its back.
Coco realized now that Sophia had gone out with her disciples because Alan could defend himself on his own.
‘That’s great concentration.’
Contrary to Coco’s thoughts, Alan’s mind was divided into three and was watching the restricted area.
‘On one side, there’s a battle between depth 7s, and over there, there’s a suspicious fortress. I wish it could be like this every day.’
The battlefield was quickly cleared up as Sophia, who had gone out to scout, joined in. Sophia spoke to Alan.
“The people who entered early are also fighting fiercely against the collector’s slaves. Ivan and Fyodor were sent there. What are you going to do?”
“I have to go rob the empty house. That’s why you came here, isn’t it?”
“···Ahem. Stop talking nonsense and let’s go quickly.”