Arataso's words contorted Asmodi's expression.
"You damned traitor, what nonsense are you spouting now!" Woooong!
A massive surge of demonic aura erupted from Asmodi's body, far greater than before.
As he extended his hand, the bone sword began to change form.
It transformed into a long, sturdy bone spear with sharp protrusions covering the blade. Gripping the bone spear, Asmodi aimed it at Arataso.
"The Sovereign endured a noble sacrifice for all of us. I will not forgive words that mock His martyrdom!"
Asmodi, a fervent zealot of the Arrogant Savior, refused to believe Arataso's claims.
In response, Arataso clicked his tongue.
"Still unable to see clearly, Asmodi? The Arrogant Savior abandoned us and ascended to the phenomenal world to claim the soul of the Demon King. He knew full well what would become of his vassals in his absence."
The Arrogant Savior, who had built Babel in the Demon Realm, initially led the fallen constellations and served as the savior of all demonkind.
But as time passed, his ideals devolved into grand delusions.
This caused other constellations to turn away from the Arrogant Savior, isolating Babel and leading it to crumble from the bottom up.
Yet even then, the Arrogant Savior could not abandon his vision.
He discarded the vassals who looked to him and ascended to the phenomenal world.
Seizing the opportunity, the constellations tore apart the Arrogant Savior's domain, claiming it for themselves, and greater archdemons began to emerge, absorbing the power of other constellations to grow stronger.
In that chaos, Morning Star—the Arrogant Savior's most loyal followers—faced concentrated attacks from rival factions.
To prevent Morning Star's annihilation, their captain, the clear verdant aspiration, ultimately accepted an offer from Mephistopheles, who had become the lord of Pandemonium.
However, Morning Star's 2nd Battalion held out to the end, guarding Babel in hopes of the Arrogant Savior's return, only to be utterly destroyed.
Thus, Arataso could only shake his head at Asmodi's blind devotion to the Arrogant Savior.
Now even more enraged than before, Asmodi gripped the bone spear and assumed a throwing stance.
At the same time, intense spiritual pressure gathered around him, warping the space.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Asmodi hurled the bone spear at Arataso, infused with highly compressed demonic aura.
Whoooosh!
The bone spear flew through the rift in the distorted space.
Arataso, too, raised his shield and lance to meet Asmodi's bone spear head-on. "Haaaaah!"
Green energy surged from his body, forming a massive shield.
Thus, Arataso's energy clashed directly with Asmodi's.
Krrrrumble—
A powerful shockwave erupted from the point of impact, spreading outward.
The Bone Corps knights holding the rear raised their shields to block the wave, but they were still pushed back, disrupting their formation.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The fierce collision held in a tense standoff for a moment, but the force of the energies caused space to warp in places, with haze-like distortions rising.
Nebilos gripped his staff and unleashed mana to defend against the shockwave.
However, the summoned undead under Nebilos's command shattered, their surfaces cracking and crumbling.
Krrrrumble!
Once the intense shockwave swept through the entire space, it finally subsided.
Rumble rumble rumble—
From the clash point emerged Arataso in a battered state.
His shield lay in shattered fragments, and his armor was cracked and falling apart in places.
Asmodi sneered at the sight.
"How pathetic, Arataso. The former captain of Morning Star's 1st Battalion, once called the green knight and feared across the Demon Realm—reduced to this."
Arataso leveled his lance at Asmodi, who mocked him, and stepped forward.
Instead, he shook his head as if pitying the man.
"Asmodi, you're the same as ever—blindly loyal, yet never once seeing things through to the end."
Asmodi furrowed his brow at Arataso's words.
"What nonsense is—"
In that instant, Asmodi sensed something amiss.
He whipped around.
A massive explosion roared from behind.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
Zeke swung Ascalon, the holy sword blazing with golden aura, toward the high priest.
Woooong!
The high priest's body, struck by the radiant blade, erupted in a brilliant halo of light.
*
Rumble rumble rumble!
A tremendous roar shook the entire labyrinth.
"Whew. What a mess."
Boris and his intelligence operatives, who had infiltrated the labyrinth stealthily, were on high alert.
Unlike ordinary dungeons, Siemens's labyrinth was infested with all manner of monsters and black knights.
Boris had linked up with Shadia's assassin unit and been assigned the task of planting mana bombs throughout the labyrinth.
The plan was to detonate them all at Zeke's signal, collapsing and burying the place entirely.
As they delved deeper, evading the monsters and black knights guarding the corridors to plant the bombs, Boris noticed an anomaly on the detector Hades had made.
He signaled his team to halt, then sent a secure message via the telepathy artifact.
—Anomalous signal ahead.
The detector, crafted by Hades, was designed to sense the power of constellations.
Zeke's precise orders to Boris were to erase all traces of constellations within the labyrinth. That was why Boris was planting bombs in relevant spots as he moved.
He took the lead toward the source of the signal.
It pulsed strongly from inside a door at the end of the corridor, etched with grotesque patterns.
The door was guarded by figures resembling Siemens knights.
At that moment, Shadia messaged Boris.
—Captain, the power from there feels off... Still proceeding?
She was checking because triggering something beyond their capacity could derail the plan.
Boris, already wary of the ominous vibe as Shadia noted, pondered briefly before replying.
—Adol, Sion. Infiltrate inside with me. The rest, hold position and monitor.
Immediately after sending the message, Boris approached the door with Adol.
Adol, who could turn objects to sand, burrowed into the floor.
Boris and Sion took deep breaths and followed Adol into the quicksand pit.
They slipped past the Siemens knights guarding the door and entered the space beyond.
Shhh—
As the floor turned to sand around them, Boris first pulled out a periscope to survey the area.
'Nothing particularly visible.'
Carefully scanning the interior, Boris confirmed no guards were present and surfaced.
Sion and Adol followed, emerging from the floor. Boris focused his aura into his eyes and scanned the surroundings.
The room was uniquely constructed of solid black stone.
'What is this place?'
Moreover, altar-like structures, reminiscent of a temple, were placed throughout.
Boris pulled out the scanner again, probing for the source of the constellation power.
In that moment, he detected a strong signal near one of the altars.
He gestured to Sion and Adol.
At the signal, the three cautiously approached the altar.
Boris spotted a stone coffin atop it.
Raising the scanner, it blared intensely toward the coffin.
'A sacred relic of a constellation, perhaps.'
Boris pondered as he eyed the coffin whether to simply plant a bomb and leave, or to handle it directly there.
The bombs were powerful, but as mere explosives, they might not fully destroy whatever was inside.
Having the three of them deal with it on-site would be more reliable, but it was risky, leaving Boris conflicted.
Then, it happened.
Whirr whirr whirr!
The scanner's needle spun wildly, vibrating intensely.
Startled, Boris backed away, and Sion stepped forward, raising his hand.
Ready to shatter the coffin with psychokinesis if needed.
But before Sion could act, cracks spiderwebbed across the coffin, gaps forming.
Krrrrrack!
As the coffin shattered, something inside swelled and burst forth.
Fragments flew; Sion deployed a psychokinetic barrier to block them.
Ting! Ting! Ting!
The shards bounced off the shield.
From the broken coffin, grotesque masses of flesh began to inflate.
Krrrrrunch—
As the eerie lumps stirred, the sound of the door opening echoed.
"Damn! Another seal broken."
"Call the dark mages—quick!"
Boris, Sion, and Adol swiftly hid, suppressing their presence to evade the knights' notice.
The knights entered wielding long poles crackling with electricity, keeping the emerging flesh at bay.
"Stay put!" Zzzzap!
The electrified pole jolted the mass, forcing it back.
Soon, the summoned dark mages rushed in and channeled mana.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The magic circle on the altar reacted to the dark mages' mana.
Black haze rose from the floor, ensnaring the flesh mass.
Meanwhile, other knights prepared a new stone coffin.
They prodded it forward with their poles toward the mass.
Even bound by the black haze, the mass continued swelling.
Suddenly, part of it stretched like elastic, snaring one of the knights pushing the coffin.
"Gaaah!"
The knight was sucked straight into the mass.
The other knights shouted in alarm.
"Damn it! Shove it in before it regains its form—hurry!"
As they pushed the coffin closer, the dark mages intensified their mana and chanted, manipulating the haze.
The bound mass gradually shifted toward the coffin and crawled inside.
Its volume shrank steadily until it fully settled within.
The knights slammed the lid shut and placed it back on the altar.
Rumble rumble rumble!
With the mass sealed, the vibrations ceased.
The knights pushing the coffin finally exhaled in relief.
"Goddamn. These outbreaks are getting more frequent."
One knight, catching his breath, yelled at the dark mages.
"Damn it, can't you do something about that abomination? I don't know what it is, but it's getting stronger over time!"
The pale-faced, black-lipped dark mage shook his head.
"We can't. Orders from above are to guard it. We must."
The knight ground his teeth at the monotone reply but said no more.
He spat on the floor and gestured to the others.
"Those bastards upstairs... Back to our posts." Grumbling, the knights exited.
Once the knights and mages left, Boris's group reemerged.
Boris stared at the newly installed coffin, deep in thought.
'An unidentified organism that attacks indiscriminately, friend or foe alike.' Then, Sion messaged from behind.
—Captain, you're not thinking of waking that thing, are you?
Having seen countless dangerous experiments in the Nostra Family, Sion wanted nothing to do with whatever was inside, regardless of what it was.
But Boris thought differently.
—I don't know what it is, but it's a prime chance to shake up the labyrinth.
Boris's eyes gleamed.
*
"Ha, fuck. Who could've guessed my life would turn into this shitshow."
A Siemens knight spat out his cigarette stub in the corner, lamenting his fate.
Most of the remaining Siemens knights in the underground labyrinth were in similar straits.
After Ramon Siemens's death, Narak's dark mages had seized the place.
They had two choices: cooperate with Narak or become test subjects.
Those still here had opted for cooperation.
They avoided becoming guinea pigs, but were now trapped in this hellish underground labyrinth, reduced to cleaning up after monsters.
As a Siemens knight and one of Midland's power players, he couldn't help reminiscing about his days of glory.
As they wallowed in nostalgia and self-pity, it began.
Rumble rumble rumble—
A massive vibration echoed through.