Chapter 158: Chapter 158

#60. Gluttony

The Eyes of Truth weren’t perfect. Rather than reading one’s mind, they only revealed one’s state of mind. That was what Kim Jin-Woo continuously tried to target.

Kim Jin-Woo persistently interrogated all those who showed even the slightest sign of unusual behavior, employing a mix of Intimidation, conciliation, and threats against them. He found that four more of his subordinates were acting strangely.

“What was it that you said about never betraying me? How pathetic,” he sneered.

He had never believed that the Vassal’s Pledge was absolute. The Vassal’s Pledge was enforced by the fact that, whether the contractor’s labyrinth was destroyed, the vassal would also share that fate.

However, that provision for the labyrinth’s extinction was extremely vague. If someone was ready to die for their own cause, this constraint was pretty much useless… No, they didn’t have to be prepared to die, if all they had to do was gather information. If their goals were just to remain by his side and relay information to their real masters, anyone could do that.

Kim Jin-Woo was upset at himself upon finding that there were more spies hiding on the 9th Floor than he had expected, despite his being well aware of such loopholes.

“Eat them all,” he commanded. Just as soon as he finished speaking, the spies kneeled as they begged for forgiveness. But Kim Jin-Woo’s mind was already made up

Gwoooaaar!

The Grand Labyrinth’s feeding time began, and all Malaxus and the rest of the survivors could do was watch all over again.

***

[Malaxus and his dwarves have become inhabitants of the Grand Labyrinth.]

[The dwarves’ value does not lie in their combat abilities. Their true value shines not when they enter the battlefield with their axes, but when they strike their hammers against their anvils.]

[For the dwarves to do their part, they require a workplace of their own. Even without your orders, they will do their best to create something useful in order to gain your recognition.]

As Kim Jin-Woo allocated space for Malaxus and his clan, the chaos on the 9th Floor came to an end. Ten subordinates were luckily able to escape the catastrophe. They would never be able to leave the Grand Labyrinth in the future, and would spend their lives dedicated to Kim Jin-Woo and the Grand Labyrinth.

Having wrapped things up, Kim Jin-Woo turned his attention to the remaining problems. He began, “Ariane.”

Ariane, completely overwhelmed by the absurd power of the Grand Labyrinth, couldn\\\'t even answer as she trembled on the spot.

“What is the reason for Denarion sending you here?” Kim Jin-Woo asked. He couldn’t imagine that a Deep Floor Count would do something like this just out of concern for his own daughter.

“It was for the power of the Ancient Lord, the key,” Ariane replied. As expected, the reason Denarion had sent Ariane as a spy wasn’t so simple. Ariane stuttered and desperately began to confide what she knew. “The great power that can’t be granted to the present Underworld’s beings… The clue lay with the king.”

As Ariane’s story continued to unfold, Kim Jin-Woo’s expression changed. When her story finally concluded, all he did was burst out laughing. “Looks like every single one of you had something up your sleeves.” But when he finally stopped laughing, there wasn’t a hint of a smile on his face.

Per Ariane’s story, the power of the Ancient Lord was an open secret among the Deep Floor Counts. That power, according to her, was the only hope the Counts had of fulfilling their desire to head deeper into the Underworld.

That increased the possibility that even the conditions proposed by Iron-Blooded Anatolius had been false. It occurred to Kim Jin-Woo that Parthenon might have been an excuse to force him to release Morrigan. Perhaps they had all approached him with the same, unified purpose.

Realizing this fact, Kim Jin-Woo wanted to applaud the acting skills of the Deep Floor Counts. In fact, he even felt a small sense of admiration. However, that didn’t last long. His anger was greater than his admiration towards the Deep Floor Counts.

He lived each day as if he was traversing a thin rope across a cliff. Despite the fact that one false step would lead to his doom, he had done well despite all the adversaries and hardships he had faced in the past.

No, he thought he had been doing well. But now, it turned out that the ones holding both ends of that rope as they shook it in the hopes of him falling off were none other than the Deep Floor Counts. He laughed at their arrogance.

As he thought of the possibility that the Deep Floor Counts might currently be celebrating his ascension to Highlord, Kim Jin-Woo ground his teeth hard and growled, “But things won’t go your way, assholes.” Suddenly, however, his cold, rational persona returned.

Ariane looked at him anxiously. “So what happens to me…?” She hesitated for a long time before finally asking the question.

Kim Jin-Woo immediately turned and glared at her, saying, “I’ll let you live, as I promised.”

“T-thank you! I will never forget your mer—” Ariane began.

“But!” Kim Jin-Woo interrupted her. Ariane, who had collapsed onto the floor from losing all the strength in her body, quickly shut her mouth again. Kim Jin-Woo continued, “There’s something you have to do for me.”

“What…?” Ariane couldn’t even bear to smile one bit.

“You should do at least that much to forget about ever betraying me again,” Kim Jin-Woo said coldly as he looked at Ariane, who was lowering her head in despair.

***

Ariane was imprisoned in the heart of the Grand Labyrinth. Surveillance, as always, was taken care of by Hoya.

Hoya was a carnivore who usually slept ceaselessly under the throne in the master room, but when given a mission, she became a persistent watcher who would even forgo sleep to carry it out. For Ariane, who dazzled her enemies with futile dreams, this sleepless cat would be her nemesis.

“The moment you notice anything strange, deal with it immediately without reporting it to me,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

If needed, Hoya would be more than enough to assassinate Ariane, whose weakness lay in her close combat abilities.

“Purrr.” Hoya pounded on Kim Jin-Woo’s chest as if to say, ‘Leave it to me.’

“I’ll leave it to you then, Hoya.” Leaving Hoya to watch over Ariane, Kim Jin-Woo returned to the master room and sat on his throne.

“Master!” Dominique brightly called out at the sight of her master and ran toward him. Behind her were the Hero-Grade Nagas and the Ancient War Heroes, including Morrigan.

Kim Jin-Woo said, “I’ve taken care of it all.”

“That’s great, Master. That’s great,” Dominique repeated as she entered her master’s embrace. She seemed to have been greatly concerned about her master recklessly facing thousands of angry rioters alone.

After all, Dominique would normally have prevented him from facing thousands of enemies alone. But this time, she’d had no choice, as the Grand Labyrinth, which had devoured thousands of rioters, wasn’t yet fully under Kim Jin-Woo’s control. The uncontrollable Grand Labyrinth was a dangerous entity.

In fact, the Grand Labyrinth still wasn’t full, despite consuming thousands of angry rioters.

[Grand Labyrinth (Level 1)]

[Satiety: 72%. It is not completely full, but it is moderately satiated.]

[Hunger: 00%.]

[A hungry Grand Labyrinth is a dangerous entity.]

[When satiety reaches 0%, the hunger level starts to rise. Once it rises above a certain level, the Grand Labyrinth will randomly swallow its inhabitants.]

[If it is not consistently fed, the Grand Labyrinth will try to fill its stomach on its own. If you do not wish for your people to be sacrificed, please continue to energize the Grand Labyrinth.]

Unlike before, when all the statuses of the Grand Labyrinth had failed to be displayed, a simple display of its degree of satiety and hunger was now appearing.

Kim Jin-Woo had opened the status window hundreds of times over the last few days as he tried to come up with some ideas, but he was still unable to figure out exactly what a Grand Labyrinth was. If not for Morrigan and Heimdall, who had once lived in an ancient Grand Labyrinth, he would have failed to control even a single part of his Grand Labyrinth.

He had concluded that the power of the Grand Labyrinth, which had finally been put under his control after much effort, was ‘Gluttony’. With that one power alone, it was able to deal with thousands of rioters in the blink of an eye.

However, considering the Deep Floor Counts who might bare their fangs at him at any given point in time, it was foolish to rely solely on the power of the Grand Labyrinth’s gluttony. As they had a history of driving out the powerful Ancient Lords, they were sure to know about the loopholes of the Grand Labyrinth. In order to deal with them, Kim Jin-Woo had to increase his strength.

“The mob has been driven out, but there are still too many people whose eyes are on the Grand Labyrinth,” Kim Jin-Woo said as he looked at the other Hero-Grade summons after finally shaking off the reluctant Dominique. He continued, “And we’ve lost the majority of our elite troops. There are some newly accepted ones, but none of them can fight properly. So, for the time being, we’ll completely cease our external activities and focus on the maintenance of the labyrinth.”

The defense line that they had worked so hard to protect for a year would have to fold, and the Moai would naturally be able to start wreaking havoc once more, but there was nothing else Kim Jin-Woo could do. He and the Grand Labyrinth wouldn’t be able to survive unless they retreated and locked themselves in.

Fortunately, the Grand Labyrinth had the ability to arbitrarily close and reopen passageways, which would buy him enough time to build up enough strength to resume his activities outside of the labyrinth. And in that time, Kim Jin-Woo needed to bring the Grand Labyrinth to its knees and under his complete control.

“Damn time limits. It’s not even surprising anymore.” He cursed under his breath before quickly calling on the summons and entrusting them with a mission. He commanded, “Dominique, find a way to recover our lost forces.”

“Yes, Master!” Dominique replied.

“Morrigan, Heimdall. Watch over those that have been newly incorporated into the labyrinth,” Kim Jin-Woo continued.

“As the King wills!” Morrigan and Heimdall replied.

“Rikshasha, survey the boundaries of the labyrinth and map them out in detail before reporting back to me!” Kim Jin-Woo concluded.

“As you will,” Rikshasha replied.

Commands were issued in an instant, and the stagnant Grand Labyrinth came to life once more.

***

“Have all your backlogs been cleared?” asked a voice. Kim Jin-Woo, who was sitting alone in the master room after everyone had left, turned to look in the direction of the familiar voice.

“You’re not surprised.” The woman leaned against the wall as she breathed deeply, as if even walking were difficult for her. She was looking at him with a disappointed expression.

“Because I already knew,” Kim Jin-Woo replied. The Grand Labyrinth was something he couldn’t fully understand, but that didn’t apply to this woman. Thus, he was more worried than surprised.

“Don’t put on such a face; I’m really okay now,” the woman said, looking him straight in the eye.

As the labyrinth evolved into a Grand Labyrinth, some had been devoured by it, while some had benefited from it. For instance, the woman no longer looked as dazed as she once had.

“What happens to me now?” Lee Jun-Young asked as she looked blankly at Kim Jin-Woo.