Chapter 37: Ninth Floor, Hounds of the Labyrinth (6)

The hounds caught in the sweep of my axe were torn apart, with their mangled bodies flung to the sides. Those that weren’t directly hit convulsed violently as the lightning arcing through the blade seared through them.

Damn it.

I swung my axe again, trying to stem the overwhelming flow of hounds, but there were too many and the underground passage was too vast. Despite my best efforts, dozens slipped past me, their breath hot and ragged as they surged forward.

How many more of these beasts are there?

I had already cut down over a hundred, yet they kept pouring in endlessly from the darkness.

I couldn’t let myself get overwhelmed.

Focus on what I can control.

These hounds weren’t strong individually. Their sheer numbers were what posed the real threat. However, I was sure they couldn’t possibly multiply indefinitely. If I kept killing them, there had to be an end, and that was my only hope.

I stopped thinking, letting instinct take over, and I started swinging my axe with renewed vigor.

“

Woof! Woof!

”

A hound lunged at me from the side, and I smashed it aside with the handle of my axe before bringing the blade down to crush its skull. The creature’s head exploded in a gruesome spray, leaving its jaws grotesquely twisted and sending an eyeball rolling across the floor.

I watched this, a wave of regret washing over me. I had let my frustration get the better of me and allowed irritation to dictate my attacks. This wasn’t how I was supposed to fight. Wasting two moves on a single hound was inefficient, especially in the face of such overwhelming numbers.

I needed to be smarter and more precise. One strike should take out multiple enemies. That was the only way I could hold my ground.

Taking a deep breath, I tightened my grip on the axe before swinging it in a wide arc. Hounds lunged at me from all directions, but I met them relentlessly with my fists, elbows, and axe. Every move needed to count.

Ten minutes into the battle, a nagging feeling crept into my mind that something was off. I had slaughtered hundreds of these beasts, yet the torrent of hounds showed no signs of slowing.

Their bodies piled up around me, forming walls that blocked the passage. However, the hounds simply leaped over the carcasses of their fallen kin, undeterred.

This can’t go on. There has to be a limit, an end to this madness.

Should I push through the endless horde of hounds?

If I did, the rear of the party could be endangered. Sure, Ha Hee-Jeong was there, but still...

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Suddenly, I remembered the sound of the iron gates crashing down at the start.

I need to close those gates.

Instead of dragging the party through this relentless wave, I needed to push forward alone and shut the gates. Once the hounds were locked in, I could return and finish off the stragglers.

“Hey, Hee-Jeong!”

“What?!”

“I’ll deal with it and come back!”

“What?!”

In the middle of casting a spell, Ha Hee-Jeong swung her wand at a lunging hound before looking at me in confusion. Not bothering to explain myself further, I wrapped my legs in lightning and launched myself forward, dashing ahead. Ha Hee-Jeong would figure it out soon enough.

“Grrr!”

Four hounds charged at me head-on. They were slightly staggered, but it wasn’t a problem. I swung my axe upward from my left thigh, cleaving through the first hound, before continuing the motion through the others in one clean sweep.

The hounds split by my axe didn’t even have time to whine, except for the last one, which let out a suppressed whimper as my axe crushed its body.

“Yelp!”

I quickly swung my elbow, countering a hound leaping at me from my left. The sickening crack of its skull shattering echoed around me.

Just then, the area behind me began to brighten.

As expected...

Ha Hee-Jeong had caught on to my plan. I continued racing forward, and a dragon made of fire roared to life behind me, surging ahead and scorching a path through the hounds. The beasts howled in terror, trying to flee.

However, their numbers worked against them. Trapped by their own kind, the fiery wave swept them up.

A straight path opened before me, left behind by the dragon tail’s trail.

This is my chance.

I drove my leg down harder, increasing my speed once more. This time, I made sure to focus on controlling my mana—just enough to wrap my legs in a faint layer of lightning without overexerting myself.

Too much speed or mana would leave me burnt out before reaching my goal. I needed to stay close enough to the dragon’s tail, and I couldn’t afford to waste energy.

Despite my efforts, controlling my speed was still tricky. I couldn’t quite stick as close to the flaming dragon’s tail as I wanted, but I maintained a reasonable gap, close enough to follow its lead.

Guttural barks broke through my thoughts.

“

Ruff! Ruff!

”

Continuing to rush forward, I buried my axe into the foreheads of the hunting hounds lunging at me through narrow gaps. There were still plenty of enemies ahead, leaving me no time to dwell on these few hounds. The path was long.

How far have I run? Two hundred meters, maybe?

The dragon was once a towering presence that easily cleared the way but had shrunk significantly. Now, it wasn’t much more than a flickering light guiding me forward. Still, that was better than nothing.

Ah, I am almost there.

Finally, the path led me to a massive iron door. A pair of large, wide-open iron gates flanked the gate, releasing a relentless stream of black hunting hounds from the passages beyond. They were what I was here to close, and I decided to start with the left side.

I unleashed a burst of lightning, electrifying any nearby hounds. Sprinting forward, I cut through the convulsing hounds. The iron gate blocking the passage lay flat on the ground, waiting to be lifted.

I spotted a hook at the top of the gateway. It would latch and close the passage if I could lift the gate into place. But the gate was massive, and it wasn’t going to be light. One hand wouldn’t be enough.

I swung my axe in a wide arc and then tossed it aside, freeing both my hands. I needed to act fast before the hounds could close in on me. Grabbing one end of the iron gate with both hands, I heaved it upward. As I did, more hounds lunged at me.

“

Krowl!

”

I unleashed another wave of lightning to buy myself a few precious seconds. The current surged through the gate, causing the hounds clinging to it to shake violently. Taking advantage of the moment, I shoved the gate forward with all my strength.

“

Yelp, yelp!”

The gate crushed several hounds in the narrow gap, and their screams pierced the air.

Damn it.

The mangled remains had blocked the gate from fully closing. More hounds charged at my unprotected back. Although I was projecting streaks of lightning to fend them off, I couldn’t keep doing that forever.

Thud, thud

—

Ignoring the pain, I slammed the gate into place again—once, twice—until finally, I heard the satisfying click of the hook catching. The left gate was sealed.

I turned around, just in time to catch two hunting hounds sinking their teeth into my shoulder.

“Arf! Arf!”

“Rrrrr!”

They snarled, gnashing their jaws and struggling in my grip. Their heads twisted and writhed, trying desperately to break free and tear into me.

Time to see whose skull is stronger.

Tightening my grip on the hounds, I mustered all of my strength before smashing their heads together. The sickening sound of bones breaking filled the air, and the hounds went limp, their fierce struggles ceasing as quickly as they had begun.

Hmm, the hounds are too weak.

I was given a brief moment of respite, quickly interrupted by more charging hounds. Grabbing the lifeless bodies of the hounds I had just killed, I swung them like weapons, scattering the oncoming attackers. When I finally tossed the corpses aside, I took a moment to assess myself.

Doesn’t seem like I am seriously injured.

The expensive leather armor I was wearing had done its job. My forearm was scratched, but the wounds were shallow. I quickly retrieved the axe I had thrown earlier. There was no time to rest as more hounds kept coming, and I needed to close the second gate.

Slashing diagonally, I cut through the next wave of enemies.

Now I need to close the right gate.

I charged forward, swinging my axe with precise, controlled strikes—horizontally here, diagonally there—and deflecting attacks with my arm. Pressing on, I took advantage of my Lightning Essence. Leaping forward, I cleared the distance in an instant. This time, I had an easier time lifting the iron gate since I knew what to expect.

Making sure to blast lightning at any hounds that came near, I closed the second gate without much trouble.

“

Woof, woof!

”

The enraged howls of the trapped hounds echoed sharply from behind the bars. I smirked in satisfaction and turned my back to them.

There were still plenty of hounds to clear along the path, but now we didn’t have to worry about more appearing. It was time to return to my party members.

***

“

Whew.

Nice work, Su-Hyeok."

“Nah, it wasn’t that hard. Hee-Jeong cleared the way, so it was manageable."

“That’s right! Hee-Jeong, that flaming dragon earlier was incredible!"

“Yeah, unnie. It was so cool!"

“Oh, come on, it’s nothing," Ha Hee-Jeong replied with her usual calm smile.

I had hoped she would show a bit of embarrassment. If she had, I would have tried to get back at her by teasing her with over-the-top praise. Unfortunately, I ended up a bit disappointed since she accepted the compliments without skipping a beat. She was always so composed.

“Everyone's fine, right? No injuries?"

“Nope!”

“Haha, we’re all good."

“It wasn’t that tough. Since our rear was blocked, we didn’t face too much pressure. Ho-Su probably had the hardest time.”

“Nah, Hee-Jeong pretty much roasted them all with her fire.”

Thankfully, none of my party members were seriously hurt. The stairs had widened at a certain point, creating a chokepoint perfect for facing large groups. Still, if it had been another party, they probably would have had a much harder time.

Without someone like me or Ha Hee-Jeong, the entire group would have had to slowly fight their way through those hounds to close the gate.

“Hm?"

I suddenly felt a strange pulse of mana coming from the far end of the passage.

Rattle—

Rattling noisily, the hunting hounds we had just taken down began to rise again, their bodies twitching unnaturally.

“Wait, are those... undead?"

“It’s a necromancer!"

“Get ready for battle!"

In the darkness, the glowing blue eyes of the hounds flickered like countless tiny flames.

Damn it, we already killed hundreds of them. How many more do we have to kill?

This never-ending swarm was exhausting. I could hold out, but my teammates weren’t in the best shape anymore.

Readying my weapon for another round, I heard Ha Hee-Jeong sigh behind me.

“

Ugh...

we don’t have time for this."

We had about five hours left—not exactly a lot of time. It had taken us nearly three hours to get here, and it would take a similar amount of time to return. And who knew how long it would take to clear the hidden room? Time wasn’t on our side.

“Su-Hyeok.”

“Yeah?"

“If I use this spell, I won’t be able to cast anything for a while. You got this, right?"

“What—?"

Before I could fully respond, Ha Hee-Jeong began chanting. She quickly finished the spell’s chant, and the reanimated hounds lunged at us.

“Let’s fight—"

I couldn’t even finish my sentence. A massive wave of fire exploded in front of the party, swallowing my words. It was a sight to behold, a brilliant blaze that pushed back the darkness of the underground like the dawn of a new day.

Could this be called a fire tsunami?

The colossal wall of flames roared down the passage, engulfing everything in its path. The grotesque undead hounds, still charging at us, collapsed into ash, completely reduced to smoldering piles where they stood. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the fiery spectacle as it surged far into the distance.

Ah, so this is what a real magician can do...

“Unnie! Are you okay?"

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just burned through all my mana," Ha Hee-Jeong replied weakly, staggering.

Seo Ha-Rin quickly caught her, helping her stay upright. Ha Hee-Jeong glanced at the rest of the team who had turned around in shock, and gave them an awkward smile.

“We don’t have much time left. Let’s finish this quickly."

“Heh, haha... Now that I think about it, Hee-Jeong has always been ranked second, hasn’t she? I guess we never really thought about it because Su-Hyeok always overshadowed her. But damn, her skills are no joke..."

Ha Hee-Jeong shrugged modestly.

“I’ve still got a long way to go compared to Su-Hyeok."

Cole, who was usually the calm and composed one, stood there with his mouth agape, unable to form a proper sentence.

“No, seriously... wow."

Honestly, I was impressed too. Ha Hee-Jeong had always held back, allowing the rest of the team to grow. Even I hadn’t realized just how powerful she really was until now. This was her true strength. And to think, she still didn’t have as much mana as she did before the regression...

I couldn’t fall behind. Watching her made me realize I needed to step up my game. I had to push myself harder.

“Alright, let’s get moving. As Hee-Jeong said, we’re running out of time.”