Moon's Labyrinths

Shinhae got off the kindergarten bus with a bright expression . She then looked around .

“Shinhae . ”

When she heard a familiar voice, Shinhae ran toward the speaker .

“Unni!”

Jiyoon had her arms wide open, and Shinhae jumped into her arms . A warm sensation and the fragrant smell of Jiyoon greeted Shinhae .

“Where’s dad?”

Shinhae’s head swiveled to look for Sungyoon . Shinhae really liked Jiyoon, but Jiyoon couldn’t be compared to her father .

“Your dad had some work, and he won’t be able to look after you today . ”

“Again?”

Recently, Sungyoon rarely picked up Shinhae . The little girl’s cheeks puffed up with displeasure . Jiyoon let out a bitter laugh and stroked Shinhae’s head .

“You dad is really busy right now . You understand that, right?”

“Ooh . ”

Even though Shinhae was in a very bad mood, Jiyoon had spoken in a gentle manner, so the little girl couldn’t refute her words .

Shinhae nodded with a pout .

“You’re such a good girl . In return, let’s ask your dad to buy us something delicious!”

“Tonkatsu! I like tonkatsu with cheese in it!”

“Ok! Unni will make sure to call him!”

“Wah-ah!”

As if she had never been in a bad mood, Shinhae raised her hands into the air . Jiyoon laughed at the sight . Shinhae was always so cute, and Jiyoon thought that if she had a daughter in the future, she wanted one like Shinhae .

‘Daughter? What am I thinking?’

Jiyoon became embarrassed for no reason as she tightly held onto the small hand of Shinhae . They headed toward Sungyoon’s house .

“Hmm?”

Jiyoon came to a stop . She had just walked down this road to pick up Shinhae, and nothing had been there . However, a road-under-construction sign had appeared when she returned now .

“Unni! Construction!”

“Yes . I guess they are working on the road . ”

Left with no other choice, Jiyoon decided to go the roundabout way . She turned away from the large road and chose a side street with low traffic .

Sssk!

Was it just her feeling? Jiyoon felt as if someone was following her . On the other hand, Shinhae was in a good mood as she hummed to herself .

At that moment, two men were tailing Jiyoon and Shinhae . Their heads were covered with hats, and they had worn sunglasses and masks to hide their faces . These two men quietly followed Shinhae and Jiyoon from the back . They kept checking their surroundings as they waited for people to clear out from the side street . When their targets were the only ones in the side street, the men moved into action . Circulating their magical energy, the men were about to increase their speed to catch up to their targets .

However, they weren’t the only ones waiting for the side street to clear out .

“What business do you have with my daughter and the temp worker of my company?”

Flinch!

The men reflexively turned around when they heard the voice . However, they didn’t even have the opportunity to do anything . Powerful hands gripped both of them and dragged them toward a nearby alleyway .

“Huh?”

Jiyoon turned her head around . She thought she had heard something .

“What’s wrong, Unni?”

“No . It’s nothing . Unni must have misheard . ”

Jiyoon started walking down the street with Shinhae once again .

***

Tahk!

The vice grip on their necks was loosened, and the two men moved far away from their ambusher . Sungyoon appeared in their sights . He had his arms crossed, and his face held a harsh expression . The faces of the two men became distorted .

“You guys moved pretty quickly . ”

Sungyoon opened his mouth, and the displeasure in his voice was apparent .

“Wh-what do you mean?”

One of the men asked in a trembling voice .

“Yo-you are Mr . Woo Sungyoon? You are the hero of London! The Knight . Why are you attacking us?”

“Do you plan on playing innocent until the end?”

“P-playing innocent? You must be mistaken . We were just walking down this road!”

The second man started coming up with an excuse too . The two made a desperate bid to convince Sungyoon that they were normal people being mistaken for attackers, and they did sound convincing .

However, Sungyoon didn’t budge an inch .

“Then why do you have Devices and Gems?”

The men’s eyes headed toward their wrists . Their bracelet type Devices were peeking out of their sleeves . It seemed their sleeves were pulled up when Sungyoon had grabbed their necks .

Despair appeared on their faces . However, it only lasted for a moment, and their faces turned cold .

“Shit! I never expected to be caught so easily . ”

“For real . It seems this bastard was waiting for us . ”

“This might be preferable . I didn’t like the plan where we had to kidnap his kid to kill him . ”

“I feel the same way . ”

After a short amount of time, weapons appeared in their hands . Their activation speed was very quick, and it surprised Sungyoon .

“You might be the great Knight, but we’re plenty strong . ”

“This is a two-on-one fight . We don’t need to call the others to handle him . Honestly, the client who hired us is being too cowardly . ”

The two talked to each other to psych themselves up as Sungyoon concentrated on the words ‘others’ and ‘client’ . The two of them had carelessly given away numerous information to him . He glared at them with a cold expression .

“Let me ask you this . Did Lee Jaeho send you guys?”

“Who knows? If you want answers . . . ”

“Find it out through strength!”

Hoo-oong!

The two men moved like the wind as their swords were swung toward Sungyoon . These sharp sword strikes could cut through steel plates, and they were coming at Sungyoon’s neck .

Cheng! Cheng!

However, an ax and a hammer appeared in Sungyoon’s hands and blocked the swords .

“I’ll give you a warning . I’m in a very bad mood . ”

It felt as if magical energy would explode from Sungyoon’s body . That very energy overflowed in his Devices and Gems . Sungyoon used his absurd strength to push back the swords .

The attackers’ eyes turned round . They had held their swords with both hands, so they didn’t expect to be pushed back by Sungyoon, who was using one hand to push each of them .

“I’m just annoyed that you bastards dared to aim for my daughter . ”

Ggee-gee-gee-geek!

With a clang, the ax and hammer ground against the edge of the swords .

“I did this for Shinhae, but you made me use my daughter as bait!”

Boom! Boom!

The swords were sent backward as the ax and hammer hit the ground . The cement road cracked, and rocks flew into the surrounding .

“Ooh-ook!”

“Koo-oohk!”

The two men barely avoided losing their grip on their swords . They slowly edged backward . The skin on their hands had split open, and blood dripped down the handle of their swords .

“Oooooooh!”

In just one clash, they had experienced the overwhelming power difference between Sungyoon and them; they could feel it in their bones .

They had been drunk on the power that they had acquired, so they had looked down on Sungyoon . They had even taunted him . However, they had soon realized that the Knight wasn’t someone they could deal with .

The understanding of why the client had said to kidnap the little girl hit them . However, it was too late as Sungyoon approached them like death incarnate .

“Shit! Run!”

The two of them quickly turned around and ran as Sungyoon chased after them like a starved beast .

***

Jaeho stood in an abandoned warehouse situated in a deserted location . The warehouse was dirty and smelly, and Jaeho felt as if he were seeing a representation of himself .

“I’m sure it went well, right?”

The person next to him answered the question . He was a striking individual with bulky muscles .

“They contacted me saying they are going to carry out the plan . If things went well, they should be coming back right now . ”

“It went well . Of course, it went well . ”

Jaeho bit his fingernail in anxiousness as he spoke . It was a habit that he had developed in his childhood . Hooyoung’s strict teachings had beaten that habit out of him, and it never bothered him when he was an adult . However, the habit came back when he had lost everything .

“Why do we need to kidnap his daughter? There are five of us . We can take care of him . ”

“You guys can defeat Woo Sungyoon?”

Jaeho suspiciously looked at the man . The muscular man pounded on his chest .

“I believe the five of us would have been enough! We are powerful!”

“... I guess so . You’re powerful enough to activate your Gems on Earth . ”

Jaeho didn’t know much about Connectors, so the man’s words sounded plausible to him . The hooded man had provided him with five talented Connectors, and it made Jaeho wonder the hooded man’s identity . However, he pressed down on his curiosity .

‘There’s nothing to be gained by having that knowledge . ’

He just wanted his revenge .

“Shouldn’t they be here by now?”

A tall man leaning against the corner of the warehouse asked .

The muscular man also checked his watch .

“Yes . If they were successful, they should be arriving by now . ”

It happened at that moment .

Clank!

The door to the warehouse violently opened .

“Leader!”

“Oh . You succee . . . ”

The muscular man didn’t finish his sentence .

The two men who had gone out to kidnap Woo Shinhae limped through the open door . Their bodies were a bloody mess .

“What! What the hell happened?”

The four in the warehouse, including Jaeho, were all stunned . It was clear something had gone really wrong . As if to prove that idea . . .

“B-behind us!”

It was like a horror movie where the main characters were being chased by a ghost . The injured men desperately spoke up .

“So this is where the rats were holed up . ”

A newcomer entered the warehouse .

“Oooh-ahhhhhk!”

“Oooooh!”

The injured men quickly retreated . Forgetting about the injuries all over their body, the two scrambled across the ground to distance themselves from the newcomer . However, Sungyoon ignored them and looked around the warehouse . He saw three men that possessed items that looked like Devices, then he found another person .

“As expected, it was you . ”

Sungyoon’s frigid gaze landed on him . Sungyoon regretted meeting this person the most in his lifetime . At one time, he had believed Jaeho to be his friend, but he was a sworn enemy now, and their relationship was irreparably damaged .

“Lee Jaeho . ”

Sungyoon called out his detestable name .

“H-how!”

Jaeho had planned on calling Sungyoon here, but he was going to do it after the men had kidnapped Shinhae . He would have called Sungyoon after pulling out all of his teeth . The situation happening right now wasn’t part of the plan .

“This bastard knew we were coming!”

One of the injured men shouted .

“I knew you would aim for Shinhae when cornered . It was easy to predict your move . Armstrong wanted me to come back quickly, but I ignored their requests . I stayed near Shinhae . If I’m being honest, I never wanted this day to come . ”

Sungyoon’s eyes flashed in a terrifying manner .

“However, everything changed when you threatened Shinhae’s safety . If you had quietly let go of the technology and stayed in your home, I would have let you live . However, you went too far . Do you think I’ll let anyone threaten Shinhae!”

Sungyoon roared like a fierce beast announcing its presence .

Lee Jaeho had operated amongst experienced political and business figures, but he couldn’t withstand Sungyoon’s glare and shout . His life had never been threatened this way before .

“K-Kill him! Kill that bastard!”

He yelled out in panic . When the Connectors saw their client pointing at Sungyoon and yelling orders, they glanced at each other . The two who Sungyoon had injured had been healed by their comrades .

However, all five of them looked nervous now .

They had initially thought their combined power could easily defeat Sungyoon . However, the chance of Sungyoon being stronger than all of them became a possibility in their mind when they had seen their two comrades’ pitiful state .

However, the milk had been spilled already . Even if they asked for forgiveness, Sungyoon would never forgive them . That was obvious .

“Tsk! Let’s do this! There are five of us! We’ll figure something out!”

The muscular Connector—who was the leader—spoke in a forceful manner . The other Connectors nodded .

“Oooohahhhhhh!”

The one to attack first was one of the two Connectors whom Sungyoon had beaten . He raised his sword and shouted to erase the fear he felt . The other four connectors fanned out . It seemed their boast of being able to kill Sungyoon wasn’t an idle boast . Their co-operation was impressive, as they used their numbers to their advantage .

“Hoo-ahhhhht!”

As if he was heartened by his trustworthy comrades, the man swung his sword with confidence . Sungyoon watched him with a deadpan expression .

Boom!

Puh-suhk!

A loud sound was followed by an explosion .

The four Connectors had moved to support the Connector who had decided to lead the attack, but they all came to a stop .

Poo-ook!

The sword went flying and pierced the ground . Cracks had appeared all over the sword, and the sword had become unusable . However, that didn’t matter . The owner of the sword would never be able to take up his sword again .

Tuhl-suhk!

The headless body of the Connector flopped to the ground .

Sungyoon shook the hammer coated with blood and flesh and mumbled .

“I don’t need you to guide me anymore . ”