Episode 12: Labyrinth (3)
A damp space filled with a razor-sharp breeze.
Upon entering the boss room, Oh Hyun-woo scanned the surroundings.
At the center stood a massive ogre, its red eyes glaring at them.
Around it, decaying corpses and rotting ogre soldiers gorged on their hunger.
Groooar!
Grrr!
The ogres’ gazes locked onto Oh Hyun-woo, Hertia, and Caligo.
Drool dripped as they spotted the trio—fresh, living prey.
The ogres noticed immediately: the intruders were coated in Overwork spores.
They knew from experience that humans doused in those spores were pathetically weak.
The leader, the Bloodthirsty Berserker Ogre, quivered with excitement at the thought of tearing into living flesh.
How long had it waited for fresh blood and meat?
No more rotting corpses to fill its belly.
ROOOOAR!
The Berserker Ogre roared.
Oh Hyun-woo smirked slightly at the expected reaction.
‘They’re underestimating us. Well, with all these Overwork spores on us.’
He called out to Hertia first.
Even with Caligo as an ally, she held the initiative.
“Hertia.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Use your new skill to blast those corpses and ogres far away. It’s fine if you don’t kill them.”
“As you command, Master!”
Without hesitation, Hertia gathered dark energy at her fingertips.
A black, dangerous power coalesced into a massive energy sphere.
Looking at the enemies, she flashed a cold smile, as if gazing at worthless pests.
Snap!
Hertia snapped her fingers.
A curtain of darkness engulfed the boss room, blotting out all light.
Swish. Swish.
Strange sounds echoed within the curtain.
Thin threads rose from the darkness, writhing as if alive, dancing delicately yet sharply like spider webs.
Finding their prey—the ogres—the dark threads shot forward in a straight line.
Swish… Swish…!
Swoosh!
The threads pierced the ogres’ hearts.
At first, the ogre soldiers scratched at their chests, annoyed by the pricking sensation, but—
《The first effect of Dark Veil activates.》
《Enemy defense reduced by 50%!》
ROOOOAR!
Blood spurted from their softened chests as the ogres screamed in agony.
The aura of death crept closer from the darkness.
Hertia’s attack wasn’t done.
“Foolish creatures.”
Snap!
She snapped her fingers again.
Whooooosh!
A fierce wind began blowing from the dark curtain, growing more violent.
It turned into a vortex, then a storm.
Within it, the thin threads from the curtain continued to writhe.
《The second effect of Dark Veil, Vortex of Death, activates!》
《A vortex forms around hit targets, pulling nearby enemies together.》
The threads pierced the ogres sucked into the storm.
GRAAAH!
KRAAAH!
The ogres’ pain-filled screams were trapped in the deathly vortex.
It swallowed the ogres and the corpses strewn across the floor.
The vortex, brimming with death, hurtled from the boss room’s entrance to its edge before dissipating.
Thud thud thud.
The ogre soldiers, buried under a pile of corpses, clutched their chests in agony.
Vortex of Death: Concentrates dark power into a vortex, destroying enemies and stealing 20% of their attack power. Damage scales with maximum health.
It gathered weakened enemies and sapped 20% of their attack power.
But it wasn’t a critical hit, likely due to the stat reduction from low Fatigue.
Still, there was a trump card left to flip the situation.
Oh Hyun-woo called out.
“Caligo.”
“Yes, Sage!”
“You know these ogres are creations of vampires.”
Caligo grinned broadly.
“Vampire creations… No wonder the blood smells familiar!”
The boss of this dungeon, the Bloodthirsty Berserker Ogre, carries the prefix ‘Bloodthirsty’—a mark of creatures born from vampire experiments.
Which means!
《Cruelest Avenger skill activates!》
《Damage dealt to vampires and their creations by Caligo is greatly increased!》
But that’s not all.
“Caligo! Reverse the law! Target our ‘Powerlessness’ debuff!”
“I’ve been waiting for this! Haha!”
Caligo pulled a dark green cube from his subspace.
It resembled a puzzle cube with a hollow center.
In it, he placed a glowing emerald flask held in his other hand.
“Law Reversal—‘Powerlessness’ to ‘Overwhelm’!”
Caligo dropped a bead of poison from his fingertip into the flask within the cube.
A massive black magic circle unfurled from it.
“Behold! This is the new law I, Caligo, have discovered! Hahaha!”
From the circle’s center, sharp emerald liquid droplets shot upward.
The cube spun wildly, like a puzzle being solved.
When it stopped, the black liquid spread out, enveloping Caligo, Hertia, and Oh Hyun-woo in a translucent barrier.
《Due to Caligo’s Law of Exchange, the Powerlessness debuff is swapped for an Overwhelm buff!》
The 80% debuff crippling Hertia and Caligo reversed into an 80% buff, enhanced further by a ‘strengthening’ effect.
《The enhanced Overwhelm buff boosts summon stats by 160%!》
“Hertia, Caligo.”
A brief pause.
“Slaughter them.”
“Yes, Master!”
“As you wish, Sage!”
The two went berserk.
Hertia smirked, feeding dark orbs into the ogres’ mouths.
“You look pained. I’ll make you comfortable soon.”
Pop!
Thud thud thud.
The orbs exploded inside the ogres, scattering chunks of flesh across the floor.
Caligo pulled every poison flask from his belt, hurling them in all directions.
“Hahaha! Meeting the vampires’ playthings is delightful!”
As Caligo began his massacre, Oh Hyun-woo’s passive skill triggered automatically.
《Cruelest Avenger skill activates!》
《Damage dealt to vampires and their creations by Caligo is greatly increased!》
Terrified by their frenzy, the ogres’ demeanor shifted drastically from when the trio entered.
They were horrified, treated like living toys.
The room’s leader, the Berserker Ogre, felt chills run through its body.
Grrrr…
The Berserker Ogre collapsed to its knees unwittingly.
The other ogres grew agitated.
They’d never considered their own deaths, driven only by hunger.
But now, they desperately wanted to escape this fight, this confined room.
Too late.
Caligo’s eyes bloomed with the flower of madness.
Oh Hyun-woo smiled contentedly.
‘This is why I love Caligo.’
Caligo’s versatility was unmatched.
No matter the summon paired with him, he always did his part.
It didn’t matter if allies lacked initiative.
His Law Reversal was powerful enough to flip the battlefield when his turn came.
“To die to such petty poison? Don’t vampires ever grow? Well, corpses pretending to be alive would cling to outdated research!”
Caligo felt a power surge beyond the high from Law Reversal.
‘This must be the Sage’s blessing!’
The ogres, infused with vampire blood, suffered even more devastating damage from Caligo.
His class skill, Rebel of the Dawn Star, amplified damage against his nemeses.
One by one, the ogres filling the room vomited blood and collapsed.
KRAAAAH!
GUOOOOH!
GRRRR!
They spewed blood, struggling to survive.
But what came from their mouths wasn’t red blood.
The greenish-brown poison coursing through Caligo’s body.
Seeing the ogres’ eyes filled with fear and resentment, Caligo sneered.
“Hah, don’t look at me like that. Blame the master who gave you such frail bodies.”
Finally, only the Bloodthirsty Berserker Ogre remained in the boss room.
Step, step.
Caligo approached the terrified ogre, biting his index finger.
Poison dripped from it.
He grabbed the ogre’s jaw to inject the poison, but it turned its head, refusing to open its mouth.
“Oh? Don’t want to open up? A vampire’s creation fearing death… Truly a failure.”
Smirking, Caligo let a drop of poison fall not into its mouth but into its eye.
KRAAAAH!
GRAAAAAH!
Writhing in agony, the Berserker Ogre convulsed and soon met its end.
“You died in such pain because you served the wrong master. Next time… pick a better one.”
Caligo laughed at the melting ogre, then furrowed his brow, grinding his teeth at the thought of vampires still surviving.
***
《You have cleared the Nightmare Mode Labyrinth (Rare)!》
《Unbelievable record!》
《Clear time: 3 minutes 22 seconds》
《You have broken the Clear Time Ranking #1.》
《Clear rank: ‘SSS’》
《You have broken the Clear Rank record.》
《Level up! Adventurer level is now 15.》
A five-level jump in one go!
But the rewards were just beginning.
《Clear rank rewards granted.》
《Received Hero-rank Equipment Set Selection Box x10.》
《Received Hero-rank Accessory Set Selection Box x5.》
And then—
《Received Artifact: Heart of the Bloodied Covenant Tainted by Nightmares.》
“!!”
I nearly shouted but barely held it in.
The rewards are sweet.
Hero-rank equipment set selection boxes?
And the cherry on top—an artifact!
‘Jackpot!’
Among the Labyrinth’s artifacts, a few stand out: the Skull Shaman’s Head for boosting damage or the Gnome’s Claw Necklace for dispelling enemy buffs.
But I’d pick the Heart of the Bloodied Covenant any day.
【Heart of the Bloodied Covenant Tainted by Nightmares】
Description: An artifact crafted from the Berserker Ogre’s heart. The equipped summon designates an ally to trigger forced joint attacks (unaffected by skill cooldowns).
Additional Modifier: 20% chance for consecutive joint attacks.
It’s obvious, isn’t it?
Place a tank in front, and the backline dealer attacks automatically.
Plus, the Nightmare Mode reward adds an extra effect.
‘Other adventurers would see the value in this. How much could it sell for?’
Curious, I checked the marketplace.
As expected!
‘How many zeros is that?!’
Eight zeros.
Five hundred million KRW.
A true jackpot.
Artifacts have a higher drop rate in Nightmare Mode, but it’s still a matter of insane luck.
Even veteran Legend Seven players often never got this one.
So, am I selling it?
‘Five hundred million is tempting, but…’
I’m giving this artifact to Hertia.
With her guaranteed initiative, she’s perfect for utilizing the Heart of the Bloodied Covenant.
“Hertia.”
“Yes, Master.”
“I’m entrusting this artifact to you.”
“This precious item to me?”
“I’ll give you something even rarer later. Take it back then.”
“…I’ll never forget your grace, Master.”
Good. It’s nice to end on such a warm note.
Usually, after battles like this, they’d squabble over who contributed more, trying to claim credit.
Calming them down was always a hassle.
At least with just the two of them, it’s manageable.
Now that I’ve snagged an artifact from the Labyrinth, it’s time to climb the Tower for real.
“Hertia, Caligo.”
“Yes, Master!”
“Yes, Sage! You called?!”
“The time has come.”
Sensing my meaning, Hertia and Caligo knelt and spoke.
“Congratulations!”
“Haha, finally! For the honor of the Sage and Pandemonium, I’ll burn myself to the ground!”
The real Tower climb begins.
As summons, they clearly know their purpose.
Caligo’s talk of honor… I’m not ready to reveal my identity yet, but I’ve got to keep up appearances in front of them.
Seeing their excitement, though…
“I’ll remind this land’s vermin how insignificant they are.”
“Hah! I’ve waited so long for this! It’s been ages since I fought under the name of the Seven Sins!”
I couldn’t help but feel my heart race with anticipation.