Moon’s Labyrinths (Web Novel)

“Honestly, we don’t need Armstrong city.”

After the meeting ended, the Mayor walked with Sungyoon and spoke these words.

“Until now, Armstrong city acted as a base where we could gather moonstones. Of course, it will continue to fulfill that role. However, we need military bases where we can conduct our campaign against Grenoid. In that respect, the capital city, the holy city, and the fortress city are much better choices. After all, they don’t have entrances.”

Once they had gained full control over the portals, these cities had become impregnable fortresses. However, the command group was fixated on Armstrong city.

“It's because of the Aldrin spaceport.”

“That's correct.”

The Mayor's mood became good as if he was pleased that Sungyoon immediately came to the right conclusion.

“It would've been great if the forcefield we are about to erect was semi-permeable to our portals. However, I was told it doesn’t work like that. We have to go back to what we did in the past, transport people and resources by spaceships. However, the number of large spaceports on the Moon is limited.”

The Mayor raised his head and looked at the blue sky where he assumed the Moon to be.

“We have two such candidates: the Aldrin spaceport and the spaceport in Gagarin·Yang city. Of course, the one in Gagarin·Yang city isn’t an option. It was a recently-built city, so its spaceport can’t compare to the one that has served humanity for dozens of years. It wouldn’t have the functions we need, unlike the Aldrin spaceport.”

The Mayor’s voice contained unmistakable pride. Everyone was used to this, so no one reacted to his words.

“We need a station where a lot of spaceships can land. We need to receive a lot of resources from Earth and send Mana Knight to Earth.”

Sungyoon looked at his surroundings. A large factory had been built within this large plain. Loud noises filled the air as the factory continued to run.

“I never expected you to have such a large factory built in such a short period.”

The factory in front of them was a munitions factory. It churned out weapons and bullets made from Mana Knight. Moreover, this factory was also capable of manufacturing magical energy suppressors.

“All the countries contributed to its construction. An incredible amount of resources, manpower, and money was mobilized.”

As soon as the plan to reclaim the Mana Knight mines was agreed upon, the construction of this factory had started. With the resources used on it, the construction finished at lightning speed.

“This is only possible in times of emergency like this.”

They could see an open portal at the center of the factory. People and equipment kept moving back and forth through the portal, contributing to an incredible amount of Mana Knight.

“If it were up to me, I would've liked to create a safe zone before the forcefield is put up. The safe zone would've protected Armstrong city. However, the Mage Gem can only awaken after the force field has been erected.”

The Mayor was the most ardent supporter of the plan to recapture Armstrong city, but even he hesitated when he thought about the casualties that would occur in the near future. However, it was a necessary evil.

“I’ll leave it to you all.”

The Mayor spoke those words.

***

It had been a while since Armstrong city had fallen. Therefore, most of the monsters outside of the city had drifted away. However, the city still contained a lot of monsters.

- How is it?

The Mayor’s voice transmitted through the bone conduction earphone. Russell tried moving his hand through the air a couple of times. He felt magical energy brush against his skin.

Toohk!

He tapped on his communication device once. Since he was on the Moon, he couldn’t speak out loud.

- Are you saying there is still ambient magical energy near the city?

Russell tapped the communication device once again.

One tap meant yes.

- I guess we didn’t even need to check for it since the monsters are still there.

Russell wanted to berate the Mayor for making him check for magical energy despite knowing the monsters were still inside the city. However, he had no way of expressing his complaints without sound.

- Alright. We’ll start the plan ‘Outer Space Step Two.’

The Mayor declared.

***

Woo-oong!

The Ogre had no destination. It only followed the command embedded in its head as it kept patrolling the outer walls of Armstrong city. At that moment, its eyes caught sight of blue light.

The monster turned to look at the light and saw a blue vortex appear near it. It tilted its head in puzzlement. If air were still here, the Ogre would have made a sound as if it was thinking very hard.

Toohk!

Something popped out of the portal. The Ogre checked to see and found a human. Seeing a human suddenly appear in front of it, the Ogre came to a brief stop.

Grin!

The human laughed, and this offended the Ogre. It let out a soundless roar and tried to rip apart the human.

Light flashed.

The Ogre blinked. It found itself unable to move, and its vision darkened. The head of the Ogre fell away from its body. The body also fell to the dusty surface of the Moon.

The Connector who had decapitated the Ogre with one blow moved forward, and a lot of Connectors started exiting the portal.

***

Connectors appeared in various parts of Armstrong city in large numbers. This was completely different from what had happened before, and they slaughtered the monsters.

They had already achieved their goal of reclaiming the spaceport, and they moved to retake the city. The Connectors pushed the monsters out toward the various holes present in the outer wall.

At that moment, someone was watching all of this unfold from the top of the outer wall.

‘They are here.’

She had a beautiful face, but a creepy lower body of a snake.

Glaia showed her fangs as she grinned. It was as if she were watching moths fly into an open fire.

‘I won’t kill them immediately.’

She had to slowly lure them in so that she could inflict a huge blow to the Connectors. Glaia continued to commit more and more monsters to her cause to lure all the Connectors into the city.

***

“How’s the plan going?”

Sungyoon had his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. He asked the question. At a glance, one would think he was cool and collected. However, he kept tapping his finger against his arm, which showed his anxiousness.

“Everything is going smoothly for now.”

The Mayor, who stood next to him, spoke. He was anxious too as he kept sipping his coffee. In the end, he emptied the coffee cup. When he realized the cup was empty, he frowned.

He made a sucking sound as he drank the last drop before putting the cup down.

Sungyoon wasn't participating in the fighting. He had to carry out the important task of maintaining the portal. No one wanted him to participate in this highly dangerous plan. Moreover, it was the right tactical move.

“I hope nothing eventful happens.”

Emily, who was on standby next to Sungyoon, spoke up.

“I hope so too, but the probability of it being uneventful is low.”

“Yes. It should be low.”

When Sungyoon and the Mayor disagreed with her, Emily became a bit dissatisfied.

At that moment, they heard a loud shout.

“Portals are opening on Earth!”

“They are here.”

The Mayor mumbled. He didn’t look surprised by the new development. Portals were a double-edged sword. If the Connectors attacked using their portals, their enemies could also use their own portals to attack Earth.

Since this would result in a lot of casualties on Earth, no one felt good about their current situation.

“There’s no way they’ll stop at attacking Earth, right?”

“Of course not.”

As soon as Sungyoon and the Mayor started to talk to each other, a new report came in.

“An incredible number of monsters are pouring out of the Beginner’s Labyrinth and the Great Labyrinth inside Armstrong city. Monsters are also coming out of the nearby labyrinths! They are all congregating toward Armstrong city!”

The man reporting the situation sounded brittle, and his voice shook.

“The important part starts now.”

Sungyoon went silent after speaking those words. He kept listening to what was going on, but it was clear that he was becoming more anxious. The pace of his finger tapping on his arm increased.

In the end, he opened his mouth again.

“Do you think we could've done this with no casualties?”

“We are doing our best to minimize the casualties.”

The Mayor answered him.

“We plan on using whatever Mana Knight we have in stock. They won’t be able to kill us so easily this time around.”

Despite these words, the Mayor’s answer also made it clear that he was expecting casualties.

Sungyoon tried not to outwardly display his displeasure, but he frowned a bit as he answered.

“I see.”

After speaking those words, he again silently waited for his turn to come.

***

The Connectors in Armstrong city this time were on a different level compared to the Connectors who had defended the city before.

They were the highest-ranked Connectors, but the monsters charging toward them weren’t exactly low-level monsters. Moreover, the monsters were coming in droves.

The Connectors had to slowly back up. In due time, they lost the part of Armstrong city that they had reclaimed earlier. Now, they were in danger of losing the Aldrin spaceport and its runway.

Glaia’s claws kept clashing against Russell’s sword. Russell was careful of Glaia’s poison as he blocked her attacks.

‘This was easy.’

She created a momentary reprieve for herself to look at her surroundings. An incredible number of monsters had overrun the city. The Connectors were cornered, and they were fighting for their survival.

‘What is he feeling?’

Was it despair? Fear? Glaia looked at Russell and thought. In that aspect, she hated fighting in space.

She was still thinking when several blue lights started flashing all over the place. The Connectors started to disappear through the portals. They had started to retreat.

‘In the end, they are running away.’

She didn’t plan on letting them escape so easily.

[Follow them!]

Her will lashed out like a maelstrom. The monsters that received her orders dashed toward the portals.

‘The other monsters should be counterattacking on Earth. I don’t know where those portals are connected to, but I’ll cause them some trouble.’

Glaia knew that most if not all of the monsters would die once they passed through the portals. However, she didn’t care since monsters came out in infinite supply from her god’s body. Even if a good number of monsters died here, the number would soon be replenished.

‘Huh?’

However, she saw something unusual.

She had expected only a few monsters to make it through the portal, but unexpectedly, the portals were still open.

‘Are they so flustered that they forgot to close the portals?’

Something unexpected was happening.

Glaia didn’t care what it was. She just assumed this would be advantageous to her side.

‘I don’t know where your base is, but it won’t be able to get out of this with light damages.’

Even now, the monsters kept passing through the portals.

Glaia laughed. Her smile was a cruel and joyful one. She wanted to show it to Russell. She nodded in front of him as if she wanted him to look behind him.

Russell turned his gaze.

The Connectors had retreated through the portal, and monsters were tracking them down. It was pandemonium.

‘She’s making fun of me.’

Russell was being careless by turning his head, but Glaia did nothing.

‘However...’

Russell looked straight at Glaia.

‘We have a very smart person on our side.’

Russell returned the exact smile to Glaia.