Moon's Labyrinths

Chapter 299

After handing over the corpse, Sungyoon borrowed a small room . He then looked over the Device he had acquired from the armored Connector .

‘I was lucky . ’

The opportunities to kill a high rank Connector like that man without getting wounded were few and far between, and Sungyoon had been rewarded for grasping this opportunity .

For a brief moment, he looked at his own Devices and Gems . He had experienced many fierce battles recently, and his Gems had experienced rapid growth . His sword, halberd, ax, and hammer, all had evolved to Ruby rank, the fourth highest rank amongst the Jewel rank Gems .

The Gravity magic Gem had reached Silver rank, and the Earth magic Gem was now Gold rank . The Strength Enhancement Gem had been upgraded to Jade rank, and his shield had climbed to Platinum rank .

After all his weapons had reached Ruby rank, he had swapped them with a new set of Gems . He had been focusing on evolving his cloak and another strength-enhancing Gem . Both of them had evolved to Jade rank . As a cherry on top, he even raised the Sense Enhancement Gem and the Strength Doubling Gem to Platinum rank .

Anyone who had fought Sungyoon before would’ve noticed his increase in power if they were to fight again .

Even without the Bone Gem, Sungyoon had become plenty strong .

‘Let’s see . ’

Sungyoon now moved on to the armored Connector’s Device and Gems . Similar to Sungyoon’s devices, many Gems were slotted into the bracelet type Device . The Device wasn’t shaped like a conventional bracelet that clasped around one’s wrist . It spiraled upward from the wrist to the forearm as if it were a snake winding up the arm .

‘This is why he could slot so many Gems . ’

The Device contained thirteen Gems, but a total of twenty-six slots, most of them being high rank . Ten of the twenty-six were Ruby rank slots, and ten were Emerald rank . The remaining six were Sapphire rank slots, which could house the second-highest rank Gem in the Jewel Gems .

Moreover, all the slots were universal, and it didn’t matter what the Gems were shaped like .

‘I can decrease the number of Devices that I wear . ’

Sungyoon found it annoying to equip a lot of Devices . He welcomed the chance to wear a Device that slotted a massive number of Gems .

After the Device, he turned to the Gems . Most of them weren’t to Sungyoon’s taste . He had a Ruby rank Evolution Gem, and this cheat could help him acquire many high rank Gems .

In contrast, the armored Connector possessed a good number of low rank Gems . Moreover, a lot of these Gems’ abilities overlapped with the abilities Sungyoon’s Gems had . They mostly increased one’s strength .

Of course, he would take them, but he wasn’t interested in them .

‘I’ll take the shield . ’

Sungyoon picked up the cross-shaped Ruby Gem . Until now, Sungyoon had lost his shields the most in battles . The one he carried right now was something he had bought with money .

‘Four of my shields have been destroyed until now . ’

Aside from the disposable Gem that he had used to evolve another Gem and the multiple destroyed shield Gems, Sungyoon had lost only one other Gen, the spear Gem .

Therefore, Sungyoon was delighted to acquire a new shield . He immediately activated the Gem, and a new shield appeared in Sungyoon’s hand . The top of the shield was straight, and the curved sides met at a point on the bottom . When most people thought about European medieval shields, this was the shape that would come to mind . It was a Heater shield .

The shield was large enough to completely protect his upper body .

‘It’s a sturdy one . ’

Unlike most of his Jewel rank equipment, the shield didn’t possess any special abilities . However, it did possess a special characteristic—its unusual sturdiness .

Sungyoon was satisfied with it .

‘The best characteristics for defensive gear are durability and sturdiness . ’

Defensive gear had only one purpose: blocking attacks . For them, durability and sturdiness were more important than any random ability that came with a high rank Gem .

This idea was reinforced by the fact that Sungyoon’s shield had been destroyed four times .

‘This shield can sufficiently block weapons that are one rank above it . ’

Sungyoon didn’t hesitate in turning his current shield into his backup shield . He decided to use the Heater shield as his main shield . Since this shield was higher in rank, he didn’t need to think about swapping it out .

He then tried swinging it in various directions .

‘I need to use it in battles if I want to get familiar with it . ’

This wasn’t a problem for Sungyoon . In the current atmosphere, it was clear that the army of monsters would continue to attack humanity . He would be fighting an awful lot of battles .

Next, Sungyoon checked the mace .

‘Magical energy amplification?’

The mace was capable of amplifying the effects of support magic including healing spells .

‘This should go to Ms . Emily . ’

Sungyoon immediately had that thought .

‘The armored Connector healed and buffed himself in the fight . ’

Sungyoon had also found very high rank healing Gems and Support Gems in the lot he had gained .

‘I’ll just hand all of this to Ms . Emily . That’ll be for the best . ’

This time, he took out the armor . The armor was Ruby rank too .

Moreover, it was similar to the shield . It didn’t have any extra abilities other than being extra durable and sturdy . However, Sungyoon didn’t feel the need to swap out his current armor . Still, he was pleased with acquiring a backup armor .

‘I’ll have to get rid of this . ’

Sungyoon had kept various pieces of armors in case his main armor was destroyed . He no longer needed them . They were Orange rank boots, Yellow rank bracers, leg guards, and a helmet .

Even if these Gems were rare, a Connector of Sungyoon’s caliber carried them as backup gear . He even found that thought to be absurd, so he shook his head from side to side .

‘I’ll donate it to the company . ’

It would be given to the Connectors who would be juniors to him in the company . Of course, this was all assuming Armstrong city and the Moon returned to normal .

Lastly, Sungyoon looked at the Emerald Gem . This was the first time he had set eyes on such a high rank Gem . It was the third-highest rank amongst the Jewel rank Gem .

Sungyoon activated it .

‘It’s another special ability Gem . ’

When he saw the hexagonal shape, he had thought about all the possibilities .

‘This can increase the ability of an equipped Gem to correspond with the rank of the slot . ’

This meant that Sungyoon could slot the lowest Rainbow rank Gem into the highest Jewel rank slot . He could put a Purple Gem into a Diamond rank slot, and by activating this Emerald rank Gem, the Purple rank Gem would perform like a Diamond rank Gem .

It was a special ability Gem that was very narrow in scope, but had the potential to become a boon for Sungyoon .

‘He was supposed to be weakened on Earth, yet his mace was unusually powerful . Was this the reason?’

The man had probably slotted his Ruby rank Gem into the Sapphire rank slot and used the special ability . Thus, the Ruby rank Gem behaved like a Sapphire rank Gem .

‘The limitation didn’t come from the ability of this Gem . He could only raise the mace’s rank by one level because he only possessed a Device with a Sapphire rank slot . ’

If the armored Connector had a Device with a Diamond rank slot, he would have been able to wield power equivalent to a Diamond rank Gem .

Still, Sungyoon didn’t mind the gain . He had basically acquired the power of a Sapphire rank Gem . Now, his mind was working to decide which Gem he should use the ability on .

It didn’t take him too long to make a decision .

‘This is the only logical choice . ’

Sungyoon tapped his finger on a Gem . It was the Evolution Gem, the reason for Sungyoon’s rapid growth .

‘If I can increase its ability to Sapphire rank, I should be able to evolve the other Gems into Sapphire rank . ’

There was a possibility that even the Evolution Gem would evolve itself .

Sungyoon placed the Gems into the new Device .

‘I’ll have to return this . ’

To evolve the Gems of his comrades, he had borrowed a Device with five Ruby rank universal slots from Sir Russell . He now stored that Device into his storage Gem .

Then, he started to transfer all his Gems to the new Device .

‘This is great . I can slot so many Gems at once . ’

He made sure he still had enough space to slot in six Gems for his party members . The rest twenty slots had been filled with Gems . He slotted in the Emerald rank strength-enhancing Gem that he acquired from the armored Connector alongside his own strength doubling Gem .

Unlike before, he wasn’t wearing the arm bracer, the brooch, and the numerous necklaces . He only wore two Devices, sporting a clean look; one was the Device that spiraled up from his wrist to his forearm, and the other was a large brooch on his chest .

‘I like it . It’s neat . ’

Sungyoon loved his new look, and he was satisfied by the fact that he would be able to evolve his Gems further .

‘The only thing left is to fight . ’

He would probably fight until he was sick of it .

Sungyoon hardened his heart as he put the finishing touches on his newly-acquired power .

***

As Sungyoon had predicted, the monsters’ attacks continued . Thankfully, after a while, a pattern in monsters’ appearance was discovered, and this helped the countries avoid mass casualties . Of course, it also meant that the Connectors were fully focused on Earth .

The forces of Grenoid got their wish; humanity’s movement became greatly restricted .

“Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m fine . ”

Even though she heard Sungyoon’s words, Jimin’s face didn’t relax .

If she hadn’t been driving, she would’ve brushed his cheek with her hand to see if he had lost weight .

Jimin’s worries weren’t baseless . All the Connectors capable of using their abilities on Earth, which included Sungyoon, continuously fought the monsters .

“Please go home and rest . Don’t do any work . ”

“I’ll do as you say . ”

Sungyoon didn’t feel any fatigue, but he showed an understanding of Jimin’s feelings . Without saying much, he nodded .

The two of them were heading toward their home . After Woosang and Woosung had been arrested, they had gained a new family member in Soyoung . Therefore, Sungyoon, Jimin, and Shinhae were living at Hweeyoung and Aiin’s house . However, the situation with Fabion was coming to an end . Woosung and Woosang had been deemed innocent, and they would be released in a couple of days . Then there was Plu-El, who was trying to find a place to settle down .

It was slowly time for Sungyoon and his family to return to their home .

The two of them were going to check up on their house before bringing back Shinhae .

Jimin smoothly parked her car in the driveway . They were about to walk past the front yard to enter their home when they noticed it .

“Huh?”

Jimin, who had been walking ahead, came to a stop . Sungyoon also stared at their home .

“... Light?”

Their house should be empty, yet a faint light was leaking out through the window . Sungyoon placed a hand on Jimin’s shoulder .

“Are we expecting someone today?”

“N . . . no . I didn’t tell anyone about the security code . ”

“Step back . ”

Sungyoon stepped in front of Jimin as if he wanted to protect her . He then carefully moved forward as Jimin cautiously looked at him .

“Please be careful”

She spoke in a low voice full of worry .

Ggee-eek!

Sungyoon found the front door unlocked . He slowly entered the house and saw that all the lights were off . The light that was leaking outside was the light coming from the TV . Moreover, Sungyoon could hear voices coming from the TV speakers .

He slowly entered the living room . Someone was sitting on his sofa and watching the TV . The man looked as comfortable as if he were the owner of the house .

“You’re here?”

Sungyoon knew this voice, and he felt a chill run down his spine . He immediately activated his Gems as he raised his guard against the man sitting on the sofa . In contrast to him, the man on the sofa was relaxed . He stood up and turned toward Sungyoon .

“You’re late . ”