Chapter 224
“Look at this!
I found something pretty!”
The voice echoing inside his head.
He did not know where, or from whom, he had heard it.
“I’ll give it to Dad!”
“…….”
It might have been a fragment of a memory from the past.
Or perhaps it was a memory that had never even existed.
He could not even rummage through the memories passing through his mind.
He had only a thread of consciousness left, so he could not afford to worry about such things.
“Ha… sob… h-hic……!”
So, for now, he simply wanted to.
Even just one… more…….
As many… as possi…….
Glenn knew almost everything about the underground laboratory beneath Angrelzer Castle.
Its size and purpose.
The security level and guards protecting the laboratory.
Even the hidden secret experimental rooms.
‘Whether you chose the humans or the demons in the original story, you had to come here eventually.
So how could I not know about it?’
Kacherto Rienz, considered one of the worst villains in Gray Eden, was someone who had to be defeated regardless of which faction you chose.
Because of that, searching Angrelzer Castle and his underground laboratory was something players did quite often.
‘Of course, only a few users knew about the highly classified secret experimental rooms.’
According to the flow of the scenario, countless users searched Angrelzer Castle.
But even they could not uncover the whole truth.
The security level was comparable to that of an actual country's scientific research facility, and the traps were infamous for being more nasty and unfair than those found in any other area.
-I've been playing for 1,400 hours, but I'm giving up.
-The bastard who designed Angrelzer's underground laboratory seriously deserves to be killed.
-Just grab the essential items and get out.
Even the most experienced players in Gray Eden could not completely conquer Angrelzer's underground laboratory.
Except for one person.
Seong Yohan.
Bzzzz— Kiiiing—
The enchanted iron door opened.
Beyond it stretched a long passage.
Normally, this was a passage reserved for researchers, and it could only be opened by using the eyes of a demon mage wandering around Angrelzer Castle for recognition.
However, Glenn forcibly opened the door by injecting demonic energy into the magical device.
After all, a magical device ultimately operated using the power of demonic energy.
As long as one could handle demonic energy to some degree, opening something like this was easy.
‘Besides, this passage isn't a highly secured area to begin with.’
“Let's go.
There are no traps on this side.”
“Ah, yes……
You're really skilled at this.”
Following closely behind Glenn, Luceria subtly raised her eyes toward him.
“Have you perhaps handled demonic magical devices before?”
“Yes.
Since they operate using demonic energy, even if an ordinary person obtained one, they wouldn't be able to take it apart and examine it at all… but as you can see, I have another talent.”
Glenn created particles of black demonic energy around his index finger.
Luceria lowered her head and quietly nodded.
“Talent…… I see.”
“The circumstances are complicated, but since I can avoid the traps installed in the laboratory, isn't that enough?”
“That is true, but… it's really impressive.
He even went to the trouble of installing traps in his laboratory…….”
“Because he's Kacherto Rienz.”
Kacherto was the kind of man who would willingly sacrifice not only humans but even his own kind and subordinates if it helped him achieve his magical goals.
For someone like him to turn his own laboratory into a dungeon filled with traps and monsters was hardly unusual.
‘A crazy bastard doing crazy things.
That's all there is to it.’
“By the way, Brother.
It seems we've been heading deeper inside this whole time… is there something further in?”
As Luceria asked that, she glanced back at the path they had come from.
She was probably bothered by the experimental subjects they had passed without killing.
“Unfortunately, if we want to destroy the entire underground magical laboratory, we have to start from the deepest part.”
“As expected… that makes sense.
Since the magical materials have been collected for hundreds of years, there must be an enormous amount of them.”
“Exactly.”
If they merely destroyed the laboratories near the entrance, Kacherto's research materials that actually needed to be eliminated would survive.
Considering how often, in the original story, Kacherto would take revenge after someone foolishly destroyed only part of his laboratory and drove him completely mad, that was absolutely something Glenn had to avoid.
That was why he planned to use every piece of knowledge and every ability he possessed to erase not only the underground laboratory, but Angrelzer Castle itself from the map.
‘There's nothing difficult about it.’
As long as he destroyed the thing located at the deepest part of the laboratory, everything would be dealt with.
Tap—
“Brother?”
Glenn, who had been walking ahead for quite some time, suddenly stopped.
Luceria's eyes became tense as she slowly gathered her holy power.
“……Don't tell me.”
Glenn adjusted his grip on Einheria and slowly lowered his stance.
Kieeeeeeeek—!
A monstrous scream came from the opposite end of the passage.
At the same time, something began crawling toward Glenn and Luceria, making a slithering sound against the floor.
“Looks like we can't avoid a fight after all.”
“That's because this is a passage for researchers.”
Because they had used the researchers' exclusive passage, they had been able to avoid the traps.
But that also meant their location had been discovered by the administrator of the laboratory.
Still, this was already within the range Glenn had expected.
He smiled coldly.
“There is no such thing as a perfect infiltration.”
Wooooong—
Dense holy power tinged with gold began wrapping around Glenn's body.
Clank!
Kieeeeeeeek—!
At the same time, a monstrous creature burst out from the opposite passage.
It screamed horribly as it rushed toward them.
Its body looked like that of a human or demon, but strange flowers and plants were twisted around it.
‘Flowers from the Other Side.’
It was the signature magic of the mage Kacherto Rienz.
A vile magic that summoned plants from another world by offering living beings as sacrifices.
The one producing the horrifying screams was the flower with teeth growing from the host's shoulder.
The host's eyes had turned completely white.
Its body and mind had been consumed by the otherworldly plants wrapped around it.
“Ugh……!”
“Don't worry, Saintess.”
Luceria's brow furrowed at the grotesque sight.
Glenn pushed her behind him and stepped to the front, slowly lowering his stance.
“It's weaker than us.”
Those crude otherworldly plants were incapable of stopping Glenn and Luceria.
Boom—!
The moment Glenn stamped his foot down, a violent windstorm swept through the surroundings.
At the same time, the otherworldly plants blocking their path instantly crumbled apart, bursting into sprays of blood.
“Vice Director.
It seems D Area has also been breached following C Area!”
“The five-star experimental subjects have been wiped out.
We'll release the six-star and seven-star subjects to respond.”
Urgent voices continued coming through the artifact transmitting their voices.
Inside the underground laboratory director's office, Lintelln clenched his molars and slammed his fist against the desk.
“You fucking useless bastards!”
“Ugh!”
Bang—!
The tea set sitting on the desk fell to the floor, producing a sharp sound.
“How can none of you do anything properly?!
Do you all want to be thrown onto the front lines?
Huh?!”
Veins bulged on Lintelln's forehead as he shouted at the chief researcher and security chief standing before him with their heads lowered.
“If the Legion Commander sees this mess, what the hell do you think he'll say?!”
“I-I'm sorry, Vice Director.
We're doing our best to find the intruders' entry route…….”
Thud!
Before the security chief could finish speaking, a thick book flew straight into his forehead.
“Are you trying to mess with me?!
What good is finding out the route those bastards used after they've already broken in?!”
“……Even so, we need to find it in case reinforcements come later…….”
“We can't even deal with them head-on right now, and you're talking about that?!
Everyone, move!”
At Lintelln's shout, the security chief nodded while sweating nervously.
Lintelln naturally turned his attention toward his next target.
