Chapter 32: Edgar 3

A sweet scent brushed past my nose.

It was so sweet that it almost made me nauseous.

I remembered the scent I had smelled at the funeral of a southern nobleman in the past.

It was this sweet scent back then, too.

A poisonous scent to mask the smell of death.

My grip tightened.

The knuckles of my fingers that held the sword turned white.

It felt like every cell in my body was screaming.

I had to go back.

But I couldn’t stop walking.

The scent was calling us.

In the darkness, the passage ended and a huge cave appeared.

For a moment, my breath stopped.

“This is…”

The entire floor was covered with small red flowers.

Like a blood-soaked carpet.

And above it…

Something sparkled in the darkness.

At first, I thought it was an ice crystal.

But it moved.

A butterfly with transparent wings glowed faintly as if it were reflected in a mirror.

And one by one, more bugs appeared.

Spiders, moths, centipedes, beetles, ants…

There seemed to be ten different types.

‘Any army… Hundreds of insect monsters.

But they didn’t attack us.

They just looked down coldly, like trained archers waiting for orders with their bows drawn.

And in the center of the room—I saw it.

My heart was about to burst.

I couldn’t breathe.

It looked exactly like the small flowers on the ground, but it was big enough to reach my chest.

The red petals sparkled like rubies, and the pitch-black stems gave off a soft sheen.

The long purple stamens moved like threads in the air, and the black roots wriggled as if they were alive.

The flower in the rumors.

But this… was too strong.

The presence emanating from the flower overwhelmed us all.

Like mice facing a dragon, we felt infinitely small.

At that moment, Rowan’s breathing became ragged.

“Found it…”

There was madness in his voice.

He had forgotten the pride of a noble, the honor of a knight.

His eyes were filled with nothing but greed.

The flower lifted one root and shook it gently.

It seemed like a greeting to us, but the movement sent shivers down my spine.

“Capture the flower! Kill the bugs!”

Rowan’s shout echoed through the hall.

It sounded like the ravings of a madman.

Capturing such an overwhelming being?

The same thought crossed the faces of the other knights.

But then.

A red aura burst out from Rowan’s body.

In an instant, the aura enveloped us all.

This is…!

My whole body became hot.

It was as if lava was flowing through my veins.

My vision turned red.

My fear disappeared.

My terror also blurred.

Instead, only mad murderous intent filled me.

I heard someone screaming, but even that was faint.

My reason melted away, and only murderous intent remained.

As if possessed by an evil spirit, my body heated up against my will.

The flower began to carve something into its roots.

“Hello!”

I saw the words.

But my mind was already dyed in blood.

There was only murderous intent.

I must kill that flower.

No, the flowers must be captured.

Those bugs must be killed.

Yes, all the bugs must be killed.

Rowan raised his sword.

Red energy wrapped around the sword and transformed into a flaming sword energy.

“Charge!”

My body moved without me knowing.

I rushed.

However, the flaming sword energy that Rowan sent was completely absorbed by a single red butterfly on the flower petal.

Like a small spark in a storm, his attack was so helpless.

Strange.

Something was wrong.

Those thoughts crossed my mind, but my body didn’t stop.

My head was too hot.

That was when an enormous pressure emanated from the flower.

I couldn’t breathe.

It felt like my bones were going to crumble.

My head suddenly cleared.

Rowan’s red energy dispersed, and I came to my senses.

This was… black magic.

Rowan was a follower of the evil spirit.

“Bam!”

That was the moment.

A black root pierced Rowan’s nape.

It was an instant.

Blood gushed out like a fountain.

No, more like a fountain—the blood stopped in midair.

It turned into a red fog and enveloped us.

And then the insects began to attack.

The first signal was the flapping of the moths’ wings.

As hundreds of wings moved at once, ice powder swept in like a storm.

The bodies of the knights who touched the powder froze in an instant.

Someone’s arm shattered like a piece of ice.

“Kwaaak!”

“Help me!”

“Run!”

The screams of his comrades were heard.

The shadows of insects were visible through the bloody fog.

Spiders were next.

Ice cells shot out, glowing.

They pierced through armor and cut flesh.

In an instant, the knights caught in the net were covered in blood.

They looked like trapped animals, struggling in the net.

The stings of the wasps were even more lethal.

The knights, injected with blue-light venom, instantly turned into pieces of ice.

First, they froze from the tips of their feet, and then gradually upwards, their entire bodies.

They turned into ice statues with expressions of terror.

“That’s why… That’s why you, hyung.”

I remembered my hyung’s words.

“It’s not best to just go straight ahead.”

I didn’t understand it then.

But now, in front of this overwhelming difference in strength…

The beetles dug into the ground and attacked the knights’ ankles.

Their jaws, made of crystal shells, tore through the armor like paper.

The fallen knights immediately became prey to other insects.

Their legs trembled.

When their senses returned, fear surged.

They forgot all about their noble pride and their knightly honor.

All that remained was their instinct to live.

That was when the flower spurted out colorful powder.

Their limbs hardened as the yellow powder enveloped their entire bodies.

The armor that touched the purple powder creaked and began to melt.

The most terrifying thing was the black powder.

They felt their flesh rotting away.

This wasn’t just poison.

It was as if time was being compressed and eroding their bodies.

Pus flowed from the rotting flesh.

I have to run away…

They raised their swords and created a sword energy of wind.

However, it was useless in the face of the insects’ perfect attack patterns.

The sword energy was directed at the swarm of insects, but they evaded them gracefully like waves.

“Haat!”

They swung their swords desperately, but the insects’ movements were too precise.

Just like the royal guards forming a tight formation, their attacks and defenses were perfectly interlocked.

I tried to dodge, but it was too late.

The mantis’s scythe grazed my shoulder.

In an instant, ice began to grow from there.

I quickly took off my armor and threw it away.

The armor I took off and threw away was soon entangled in the spiders’ threads and shattered into pieces.

This can’t be happening…

Everything was overwhelming.

It wasn’t the power of each individual insect.

The perfect harmony they created, that was the true power.

We came to the wrong place.

We tried to fight an opponent we couldn’t win against.

But the bigger mistake was…

Even though I knew it was wrong, I didn’t stop.

One by one, the knights fell.

Some were torn apart by bugs, some were frozen by poison, and some were rotting away in the agony of corruption.

I had to live.

I had to run.

That was all I could think about now.

I used my last bit of strength to create a sword of wind.

The moment I cut through the bloody fog, I ran without looking back.

At the same time, all the pain surged in at once.

But I couldn’t stop.

I could hear a buzzing sound behind me.

Blue eyes flashing in the darkness.

I ran without knowing if it was real or a hallucination.

Only towards the exit…

The sound of someone’s footsteps followed me.

One knight was following me.

We ran with all our might.

We were out of breath, but we couldn’t stop.

Sometimes, I could see something shining in the darkness.

Was it the eyes of an ice leopard?

The wings of a grasshopper?

My heart stopped every time, but I didn’t have the courage to look back.

The passage seemed to go on forever.

My palms were cold against the ice wall.

My knees were shaking, and my lungs felt like they were burning.

But I couldn’t stop…

It was when I finally reached the middle level.

We supported each other and leaned against the wall.

We held our knees and gasped for breath.

Our whole bodies trembled.

It felt like a miracle that we were alive.

“Has… haa…”

I heard heavy breathing next to me.

The knight who had escaped with me was gasping for breath, holding his knees like I was.

The knight who had survived was Klaus.

I looked around with a pale face.

After gasping for breath for a long time, he spoke with a trembling voice.

“Just now… just now… that was… the King of Bugs.”

I nodded at his words.

Yes, the King of Bugs.

That expression was appropriate.

A being that could freely control hundreds of bugs and possess such overwhelming power.

My body still trembled.

What had just happened felt like a dream.

The fog of blood, the rotting pain, the endless screams…

It was a miracle that I had survived.

“But the bigger problem is…”

Klaus’s voice lowered even further.

“The captain… the captain was a follower of the evil spirit…”

He continued, looking around.

“That red aura… the feeling when his mind was controlled… it was definitely the power of the evil spirit.”

I clenched my fists.

Given Rowan’s status and position, there was no way he could have done this alone.

“There must be more nobles who are connected to him.

This information must be passed on carefully, only to those you trust.”

Klaus nodded and frowned.

His armor was melting.

“I think we should take it off…”

They helped each other remove the corroded armor.

His paralyzed limbs still didn’t move properly.

Klaus had a deep wound on his shoulder.

“It’ll bleed too much if this continues…”

“It’s okay.

Fortunately, we missed the vital spot.”

He smiled bitterly.

“Sir Edgar.

Is it okay for us to run away like this?

The other knights…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence, but I understood the meaning.

I thought the same.

The guilt of abandoning his comrades and running away squeezed his chest.

Suddenly, his brother’s face came to mind.

Was this the expression he had on that day?

What must have been in his mind the day he turned his back on his family?

Now, I think I can understand a little bit.

Avoiding a fight you can’t win.

Sometimes, that requires even greater courage.

And true chivalry…

That it might not be blind loyalty, but a determination to do what was right.

“It is our duty to live and tell the truth.”

At that moment, we heard the sound of something breaking in the distance.

We both jumped up at the same time.

Our hearts felt like they were going to burst.

“Hey, we have to get out of here.”

We supported each other and moved forward.

Every step was painful.

We walked, feeling along the wall, forgetting our noble pride and our knightly pride.

All we wanted was to get out of this hell.

Fortunately, there was no pursuit.

It seemed that the King of Bugs had decided to let us go…

Finally, the entrance to the labyrinth came into view.

A cold wind brushed our faces.

“L. survived,” Klaus said in a trembling voice.

However, the sigh of relief was short-lived.

Whoosh!

A huge shadow covered the sky with a cold gust of wind.

It was slowly descending from the mountain range outside the labyrinth.

I instinctively raised my sword.

But soon, a freezing feeling of intimidation enveloped my entire body.

‘Wasp…?’

At that moment, I remembered the countless bugs I had seen in the depths.

From tiny ones to palm-sized ones, those buzzing beings I had seen throughout the labyrinth.

But this one… was completely different.

Its size, the size of my upper body, was overwhelmingly large for an insect.

If the wasps in the labyrinth were grains of sand, this one was a mountain.

It was larger and more intimidating than any insect I had ever seen before.

It felt more like a disaster than a living organism.

The cold air flowing out of its huge body froze the surrounding air.

Every time it flapped its transparent wings, a white blizzard blew in.

The rocks around the entrance slowly began to freeze due to the wind.

‘This… is not something we can handle.’

I knew it instinctively.

The cold air rippled from its huge stinger.

A strong predatory aura enveloped its entire body.

At that moment, the wasp’s red eyes caught our attention.

Its gaze was gleaming with hunger.

I immediately turned to Klaus.

“Klaus, listen.”

His voice was low and firm.

At this rate, we would both die.

“Go find Duke Crosby. He is still trustworthy.”

“But…”

“We must hurry. About this expedition…”

I breathed the last of my magic into my sword.

The swordsmanship of the Hind family, the sword that controls the wind.

I hoped that this swordsmanship I had learned my whole life could buy me some time.

My brother’s image came to mind.

I finally understood his last words on the day I left as an adventurer.

For a moment, my brother’s last image flashed before my eyes.

Just like that time, was I wrong this time too?

But this time… I hoped my choice was right.

“Run away. I will buy you time.”

The wind swept around my sword.

I poured all my remaining magic into it, as if burning the last spark.