Chapter 305

The building shook as if it was going to collapse at the thunderous roar of Beru.

Soon answers came from all directions.

[External intrusion detected.]

[Activating defense system.]

BZZZZZT—

Suho's head quickly turned to the side. And then a laser beam that flew from the side narrowly missed him. The failed attack beam pierced the wall behind him. 

BOOM—!

He chuckled at the obviously fatal attack power. "So the best defense is offense?" 

Before Suho could even finish his words, countless laser beams began to fly towards him from all directions.

BZZZZZT—

BZZZZZT—

BOOM—!

Suho continued forward, dodging all the laser beams that formed a net-like pattern.

[My liege! There are tiny dimensional gaps all over the place!]

As Beru said, beyond the dimension, Those laser beams were being fired through small dimensional cracks, barely big enough for a finger to fit through. In other words, there was no way to block the laser beams at their source. Just then, he heard Test Subject No. 47's urgent voice,

"Mr. Sung Suho… please, I beg you. It's too dangerous to go any further."

"Who's in danger? Me? Or the Doctor?"

"Me." Suho, who was smirking, turned around at those words and couldn't help but burst into laughter. 

"…Hmm?" 

Unlike Suho, who was dodging each laser beam, No. 47's body was being repeatedly cut and reattached behind him. As if she had no intention of dodging the laser beams, her tattered appearance, with holes all over her, was absurd.

"Your regenerative abilities are amazing. So the guy who created someone like you is hiding here?" Suho wanted to meet the Doctor even more.

But No. 47's warning was sincere. The purpose of these laser beams wasn't to eliminate the intruder in the first place.

Rumble—!

"Hmm?"

The ceiling suddenly began to collapse. It was a natural consequence. The laser beams Suho dodged, pierced and cut through all the walls and pillars supporting the building.

[It seems like he made the entire building collapse if the intruder wasn't stopped.]

"Amazing. Did he prepare for this?"

He was a brutal but smart guy. The idea of burying his entire lab if the enemy's intrusion couldn't be prevented was interesting. But Suho had no intention of backing down. Rather, he calmly observed the surroundings as he deflected the falling debris with his fists.

"Then what did he prepare for next?" From experience, smart guys always prepared for the next thing. So wouldn't he have prepared for what would happen after the lab collapsed?

"Found it." Suho's eyes sparkled. Although the laser beams seemed to be flying at random angles at first glance, there was something unique if you looked closely. The floor.

"What's the reason for cutting through all the walls and pillars, but never touching the floor?" Suho raised his fist towards the floor, which was surprisingly well-preserved unlike the collapsing ceiling and walls.

[Using Skill: 'Iron Body Technique']

BOOM—!

Suho's fist, enveloped in terrific energy, struck down vertically. And with that momentum, it pierced through the lab floor.

Crash—!

[Warning! Intruder alert in the lab!]

[Warning! Intruder alert in the lab!]

An alarm, seemingly more urgent than before, rang out from all directions.

"Earlier, it just said it detected an intrusion, but now it says there's an intruder in the 'lab.' Then, as expected…" Suho, who came down through the floor, looked around and soon found a classy staircase leading underground.

"Just as I expected."

It seemed like the 'real lab' was located deeper underground. Suho, slowly approaching the stairs, suddenly tilted his head. No matter how much he focused, he couldn't see beyond the stairs. It was like the entrance to an abyss.

"A Gate?" Suho grasped the structure at a glance.

"There's a Gate at the bottom of the stairs. Or is it the other way around? Was the Gate there first, and the stairs built on top of it?" He looked at No. 47 for an answer, but she shook her head.

"I don't know because I wasn't born long ago. The lab has always been like this since I can remember."

"That must be one of the reasons why he sent you as a gift." If she didn't know anything, there was no way to extract information from her.

Anyway, what was certain was that the scale of the lab hidden under the snowfield was much larger than expected. If the Apostle of Paradise chose to expand his territory by planting trees that soared into the sky, the Apostle of Evolution was the opposite. To secure his safety and focus on research, It seemed like he built his base deep underground.

Beru asked, [Shall we enter right away? It could be a trap.]

Although they arrived quickly before he could do anything, they didn't know what awaited them when dealing with someone smart. But what could they do?

"Let him do the thinking, and let us keep things simple." In the end, to meet the Doctor, the only option was to enter his territory.

"Like a Hunter." Suho's eyes gleamed meaningfully as he dodged the laser beams still targeting him.

"If there's a Gate, we just raid it."

Whoosh—!

Suho's foot stepped onto the stairs without hesitation. At that moment, the laser beams that were pouring down from all directions stopped as if by magic, And the scenery beyond the Gate unfolded before Suho's eyes.

[Activating Labyrinth System.]

"Seriously, what a pain."

What lay before his eyes was literally a labyrinth. Countless walls and mazes blocking his vision. And numerous traps hidden along the complicated corridors blocked Suho's path.

Whirr—

Starting with automatically moving saw blades,

Iron spikes shooting up from the floor,

Acid rain pouring from the ceiling,

Deadly traps were activated one after another, aiming for Suho's life.

"Oh dear." Suho just sighed.

"This isn't a playhouse, what the hell was he doing, hiding in here?" The laser beams from before were much more threatening.

"Arise."

At Suho's command, his shadow spread along the corridors and walls of the labyrinth. And countless shadow soldiers rose from within, accompanied by black steam.

"Break through."

Whoosh—!

That was all it took. The shadow soldiers destroyed all the traps hidden in the labyrinth and cleared Suho's path.

"W-wait!"

No. 47 hurriedly blocked Suho's path.

"Besides the defense system, there are numerous test subjects in the Doctor's lab! If you do this, the great achievements he created will be damaged…"

Grab—!

[You're in the way.]

Beru's black hand lifted No. 47's head. And he glared at the woman, hanging from his hand, and gritted his teeth.

[Guide us if you don't like this.]

"A-alright…"

[Too late.]

"…?!"

Crash—!

[We already broke through.] As Beru said, Suho's path was already clear.

Seeing the walls and traps turned into a desolate wasteland, No. 47 let out a small sigh. And at the end of that path, there was someone waiting for Suho with a troubled expression. A boy. A young child who looked to be less than ten years old sat on a chair, sighed at the sight of Suho, and spoke,

"…I was planning to meet you someday, but you're much earlier than I expected, so I'm a bit flustered."

"Are you the Doctor?"

"Yes. For now, I'm using that title. You can also call me the Apostle of Evolution." Surprisingly, the Apostle of Evolution didn't seem disappointed at all that his hideout was destroyed.

Creak.

As the doctor got off the chair, his small figure became even more noticeable.

"It wasn't planned, but since you're here, would you like to see my lab?" He moved his short legs and walked towards his lab, which Suho hadn't destroyed yet.

[Master, shall we kill him?]

[First, I'll use my poison…]

The shadow soldiers by Suho's side glared at the Apostle of Evolution's back, waiting for the order to fall. But Suho stopped them for a moment. Besides, the doctor didn't seem to care whether they attacked him or not.

"I'm a bit embarrassed to show you this so suddenly. These are all my failed creations."

If the path Suho passed through was a labyrinth full of traps, the place he was shown now was a space with the atmosphere of a scientist's lab. Countless glass tubes and fish tanks. Pink cells wriggling inside them. And…

"Weapons?"

There were even various types of weapons floating, half-finished, emitting the same energy as Hasul's scythe of harvest.

"Ah, yes. Those are all unfinished. I started making humanoid weapons from No. 41. And No. 47 I gave you is among them…"

"Wait." Suho interrupted him and cut to the chase.

"Are you saying there are 39 more weapons like the scythe of harvest? Where are they?"

Suho's gaze quickly scanned the surroundings. He couldn't see any properly completed weapons here. The Apostle of Evolution replied awkwardly to Suho's question,

"Strictly speaking, they're all failed products, so it's embarrassing to even call them weapons. But it was a shame to just dispose of them, so I gave them as gifts to those I met along the way."

"Gifts?"

"Yes. It hurts my pride to trade with failed products, so I just gave them away."

Gave them away. Suho recalled what Woo Jinchul told him. He also said that he received the scythe of harvest from the 'Doctor' he met by chance. Just like that, without expecting anything in return.

'…But there's no way there was no real purpose.' To gauge his intentions, Suho pointed at No. 47 and asked,

"Then is this woman also a failed product?"

"Unfortunately, yes, she is. But she's a useful result, so it's a bit much to give her to just anyone."

"So you sent her to me?"

"Yes. It's literally a gift with pure intentions. Just so you know that I have no intention of being hostile towards the Shadow Monarch's son…"

"Then I'll ask one more thing." Suho ignored his useless words and got to the point.

"Then who did you give the rest of the weapons besides the scythe of harvest to?"

"…"

* * *

Meanwhile…

Woo Jinchul and his party, who parted with Suho, split into two groups. 

Choi Jong-In and Woo Jinchul.

"You must not burn the tree trunks."

"I'll keep that in mind." With that answer, Choi Jong-In went around North Korea to deal with the remaining Elvenwood.

FWOOSH—!

His fire skill was perfect against tree-type magical beasts. Of course, it couldn't compare to Sung Suho's flames of destruction, but it was enough against Elvenwood, which was already in chaos due to the Apostle of Paradise's death.

"Then I should also… do what I can."

The place Woo Jinchul visited was the city of villains.

'Alfheim'

The Apostle of Paradise's favorite Elvenwood. And at the same time, the last hideout of the villains who ran away from Woo Jinchul. Arriving there…

"This is hell itself." Woo Jinchul muttered with a hollow laugh.

He was told that winter had come to this land, but this was too much. As in all the places Sung Suho passed through, this land was also a mixture of hellish heat and harsh winter. In short, it was a complete mess. And in the middle of that, Where Alfheim should have been at the center of the city, a giant ice pillar soared high, boasting its presence.

"We'll guard this place from now on."

"Yes. I'll set up camp nearby."

Woo Jinchul left other miscellaneous tasks to Choi Jong-In, and he decided to protect what Sung Suho considered most important. But he wasn't planning to just stand here and do nothing. Although the Apostle of Paradise was dead, his traces would still be buried under this snow-covered field.

"Let's search everywhere. For traces of the 'bank'."

Woo Jinchul took off his black sunglasses, and his eyes gleamed like a hawk's.