Dungeon Breaker

Chapter 19

—–CROW—–

[Worldly Desires Lv1 acquired.]

[Unique Ability: Worldly Desires]

[Transcends, overcomes, and sublimates the surging desires originating from the five desires and seven emotions of humanity with an iron will, turning them into one’s own strength.]

[1. Concentration increased by 50%]

[2. Transforms surging desires into power.]

[There is a possibility of developing new abilities for Worldly Desires as the Lv increases.]

[The Labyrinth World remembers your unique ability.]

[The Labyrinth World remembers your tale of developing a new unique ability.]

Waking up, Cheon-ho stared blankly at the window of light that appeared before him.

His honest thought was this:

‘What the hell is this?’

Waking up had been fine.

His eyes had opened naturally.

It was the kind of waking up that was possible only after getting enough sleep, not forcing himself awake.

‘Hmm.’

Cheon-ho carefully reread the window of light.

Unlike level-ups, item acquisitions, or achievement completions, only he could see skill or detailed stat information like this.

He was thankful for that.

Honestly, it was an embarrassing ability to show others.

But apart from that, Cheon-ho thought,

‘Not bad.’

When used, it could drastically increase his concentration.

Moreover, it could transform desires into power. He would have to use it to find out what kind of ability it was specifically, but no matter how he thought about it, it couldn’t be bad.

‘Father.’

Cheon-ho briefly recalled his father’s face and thanked him inwardly.

This skill wouldn’t have appeared without his father’s training.

The power of an iron will that transcends even worldly desires.

It was somehow both ridiculous and awesome.

His imaginary father gave him a thumbs-up and grinned.

And then Mitra spoke,

“[Hmm, it seems both your desires and your will are extraordinary.]”

“[I don’t know the details, but for an ability to manifest separately like this…]”

Cheon-ho flinched.

Did that mean Mitra could see all the windows of light?

‘Could it be reading my mind?’

Fortunately, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

He tried cursing Mitra inwardly a few times, but it didn’t react.

“[By the way, you, shouldn’t you be getting up now?]”

“[Luciel is waiting for you.]”

Cheon-ho blinked again. He naturally turned his head and saw Luciel looking at him with her eyes open.

“Hmm.”

Fortunately, he was able to maintain his Poker Face.

Luciel, who seemed to have been awake for a while, smiled brightly and said,

“Good morning, Hero.”

“Good morning.”

As he replied, Luciel sat up.

It seemed she had woken up a while ago but had waited for him without getting up, keeping him covered with her wing.

‘She could have just woken me up.’

“You were sleeping so soundly, so I waited a bit. It seemed like you didn’t sleep well yesterday either.”

As if reading his mind, Luciel continued.

She seemed concerned that he had woken up with tired eyes yesterday morning.

“Hmm, thank you.”

He replied casually and checked his watch. It was 10:05 AM.

She hadn’t just waited a bit, she had waited for over an hour.

He felt refreshed thanks to sleeping in, but he also felt a little sorry.

“I’ll get some drinking water. Please wait a moment.”

Smiling brightly again, Luciel walked towards the spring.

Cheon-ho watched her for a moment and then muttered,

“Isn’t she like a real angel?”

How could she be so kind?

Mitra replied to Cheon-ho’s words in an exasperated tone,

“[You, she *is* a real angel.]”

“Hmm.”

Come to think of it, that’s right.

She really was an angel. She even had wings.

Nodding a few times, Cheon-ho watched Luciel drawing water from the spring and then looked around.

He was trying to recall the tasks he had to do this morning and the preparations for their departure to the second floor.

But just then…

“Ah!”

Luciel suddenly exclaimed.

Cheon-ho reflexively jumped to his feet and looked at her.  She was staring into the air, her hands moving rapidly.  It seemed like some kind of window of light had appeared.

“Luciel?”

“Hero!”

Luciel replied shortly and ran towards Cheon-ho.  A window of light with a yellow border floated above her head.

“It’s a distress call.  It must be from another angel.”

Luciel spoke quickly.

Instead of calming her down, Cheon-ho looked at the window of light.

Flashing yellow, it seemed like a truly urgent signal.

“What does it say?”

“Just a moment.”

As Luciel moved her hands again, the window of light expanded, revealing detailed information.

[Distress Call]

[Sender: 7th Grade Battle Angel Saschiel]

[Message: – ]

Luciel’s eyes widened.  The message was completely blank.

“[Perhaps they didn’t have time to write a message. Or they weren’t in a situation where they could.]”

Then it was serious.

But Luciel took a deep breath and spoke in a relatively calm voice,

“It’s flashing yellow, so it’s not the worst-case scenario. The flashing color changes depending on the sender’s situation and the level of urgency…”

It seemed like she was talking more to herself than to Cheon-ho.

Cheon-ho made eye contact with Luciel and calmly asked,

“Luciel, can you tell where it was sent from?”

It was the most important information.

Luciel moved her fingers a few times and answered immediately,

“The second floor. I can only tell the general direction right now, but it’s definitely not too far. Thanks to you liberating the tower… and the dissipation of the wicked energy in the vicinity, the distress call from the second floor seems to have reached us across floors.”

The second floor.

And judging by the circumstances, not too far away.

Just then…

A new window of light appeared before both Cheon-ho and Luciel.

[Hidden Quest: Distress Call]

[7th Grade Battle Angel Saschiel is dying somewhere on the 2nd floor of the Great Labyrinth.]

[7th Grade Battle Angel Saschiel is currently severely weakened.  You must find Saschiel before it’s too late.]

[Quest Duration: 48 hours]

Luciel gasped at the words “dying.”

But Cheon-ho was able to calm down.

48 hours.

If they were given that much time, it meant the situation wasn’t immediately life-threatening.

If the sender were far away, the distress call wouldn’t have reached them. Two days was a reasonable amount of time.

‘Always stay calm, no matter where or when. Maintain a cool head.  Momentary anger and excitement will certainly boost your strength, but uncontrolled power is nothing more than a blind blade. Maintain your reason. Don’t lose your composure.’

Recalling his father’s teachings, Cheon-ho asked calmly,

“Luciel, do you know this person?  Were they in the same branch as you?”

Luciel flinched at Cheon-ho’s question and blinked.

She swallowed hard and regained her composure.

“No, I’ve never seen that name before.”

Saschiel wasn’t from Luciel’s branch.

In other words, Saschiel wasn’t an angel who had escaped to the Great Labyrinth from the branch.

“Then it’s highly likely that this angel was already operating within the Great Labyrinth.”

“Ah… yes! That’s probably it.”

Then that was good.

Perhaps he could get information about the location of other angels from the angel who sent the distress call.

‘Or we might even encounter other angels who responded to the distress call.’

Luciel seemed to have the same thought as Cheon-ho.

“Anyway, let’s hurry. Even if it’s not the worst-case scenario, it’s still an emergency.”

“Yes, Hero.”

The possibility of joining other angels was a bonus.

The most important thing was rescuing the angel who sent the distress call.

“Luciel, one last question. How strong is a 7th Grade Battle Angel?”

Cheon-ho wouldn’t hesitate to help regardless of whether the other party was weak or strong, but the danger level of the situation could vary depending on the opponent’s strength.

Luciel pursed her lips and answered in an uncertain voice,

“I can’t say for sure… but I think they’re about as strong as you are now, or maybe weaker.”

Luciel wasn’t a battle angel.

She had seen Cheon-ho fight several times, but that wasn’t enough for her to judge relative strength.

“I understand. Thanks for the information. Let’s get ready to leave.”

“Yes, Hero.”

Cheon-ho and Luciel began gathering their scattered belongings.

After putting the bed and bathtub into their inventories, they quickly changed their clothes.

Finally, Cheon-ho, holding Mitra, looked at Luciel.

“You didn’t forget anything, right?”

“No, Hero.”

Luciel nodded with a serious expression and looked in the direction of the second floor.

Cheon-ho didn’t delay any longer and started descending the tower.

But just as they were about to leave the first floor…

“Ah.”

Luciel softly exclaimed, and Cheon-ho understood why.

Her gaze was fixed on the magic stones embedded in the wall.

He had said they should collect them on their way back.

It was good that Luciel had discovered the joy of working, but this wasn’t the time to be mining magic stones.

“Let’s hurry.”

When Cheon-ho said this, Luciel quickly nodded.

“Hmm, but let’s take at least one.”

They didn’t have time to mine them all, but since they had stopped, they might as well take one.

Cheon-ho skillfully extracted a magic stone from the wall, and Luciel quickly put the lowest-grade magic stone into her inventory.

They smiled at each other as the task proceeded smoothly, without any need for words.

“[You work well together.]”

Mitra commented, and Cheon-ho agreed.

“Now let’s really hurry.”

“Yes, Hero.”

They left the tower and started running towards the stairs to the second floor.

—–CROW—– 

Time flowed equally for everyone.

As Cheon-ho and Luciel headed towards the second floor, someone was also moving in the deeper levels.

The Plague God looked up at the ceiling.

With hatred in its yellow eyes, it glared into the distance and muttered curses with its contaminated mouth.

Go.

Move.

Apostles of Plague, rise on the wind and spread like wildfire.

From the middle levels to the lower levels.

From the lower levels to even lower levels.

The Apostles of Plague gathered.

—–CROW—– 

Raguel silently stared at the distress call that appeared before her.

It was clearly a distress call from a considerable distance.

What should they do?

Raguel looked at Auriel, and Auriel, as if it were obvious, looked in the direction the distress call came from.

There was no need for words.

Rescue a comrade in danger.

Even if the distance was so great that they might not arrive in time, they wouldn’t give up.

Auriel took the lead, and Raguel, carrying Azel on her back, followed.

—–CROW—– 

The second floor of the Great Labyrinth.

A place that could be called the true beginning of the Great Labyrinth.

Saschiel, the 7th Grade Battle Angel, exhaled a shallow breath.  In the pitch-black darkness, it looked into the distance, searching for a sliver of light.

What happened to the distress call?

Did anyone see it?

Saschiel prayed earnestly.

It hoped the distress call would reach powerful heroes and angels.

It wasn’t because it was afraid of death.

‘I have to stop it.’

What was happening on the second floor.

The tragedy that was about to begin on the outskirts of the Great Labyrinth.

Unable to hold on any longer, Saschiel closed its eyes.

In the darkness, it slowly lost consciousness, like sinking into the sea.

—–CROW—–