The 31st Piece Overturns the Game Board

No matter how fierce a beast was, it would become helpless if you bite the back of its neck. That was Beldre's current predicament.

Oof…

"See you… next time." Beldre said while supporting Belian.

"Okay! See you next time!"

"…"

As Agony waved its hand and brightly greeted, Beldre shook her head and left.

- Agony is very social.

- It makes friends really quickly, hahaha.

- Agony is the only one who considers each other a friend, hahaha.

Seol dusted off his hands while staring at the spot where they had just been.

'Fine control still isn't easy.'

Controlling night beasts brought a different level of fatigue compared to his crows. However, it allowed him to make more diverse and deeper movements.

He could have discovered more about his night beasts if Beldre had continued attacking them.

'It's a pity, but that will have to wait.'

He would have to try it on someone other than Beldre.

"You did well."

"What…?"

"I expected you would have changed, but…"

Whish—!

As Shin Hyun said that, Shin Rip also appeared.

'I did well?'

As Seol made a puzzled expression, Shin Hyun said.

"We were watching."

"Since when…"

"From the beginning. Hihi… We also saw how your arm was severed and reattached! What an interesting body."

He must have also seen how he handled the night beasts.

Step…

Step…

Shin Rip walked toward him and said.

"Do you know how dangerous the power you're trying to wield is?"

"I do…"

"That power is… the Pitch Black Labyrinth itself. It's the power that took everything from us… our bonds, our future, and our lives."

"But this power…"

"Listen to the end."

Shin Rip spoke with a gentle tone. He wasn't trying to scold Seol.

"Everything has a degree of danger, whether it's directed at one's enemies or oneself. Even a sword can wound its wielder."

"Hihi… That's right. Not just swords, the same goes for fists."

Shin Rip placed his hand on Seol's shoulder.

"That danger disappears with refinement."

"…"

"Strive diligently and approach the essence of the danger you've chosen. If you do…"

This is what he was trying to say.

"…your danger will become a threat."

With that, Shin Rip even mentioned their plans.

"I will change our routine. Hyun and I will no longer hunt night beasts."

"What…?"

"Hihihi… That means you'll have to work diligently to fill our role! You might not know, but if the number of night beasts here starts to increase, there's a chance things will get out of control."

Shin Rip and Shin Hyun hunted night beasts every day. How many of them had they defeated so far? They probably had enough corpses to make a hill.

Regardless, the labyrinth remained active. Night beasts still roamed the forest.

"There are this many because hyung-nim and I have been thinning their numbers every day…"

Shin Hyun chuckled.

"Now, I'll entrust this annoying… No, I mean, glorious duty to you."

"…"

"It means we trust you. Although for a while, they might number more than the trees."

* * *

Seol accepted Shin Rip and Shin Hyun's offer.

In reality, it was like a special lesson.

Even after surveying the forest, they didn’t find anything dangerous; they even told him which area to take care of.

'From my perspective, it's an offer I can't refuse.'

Seol wasn't sure how strong his night beasts could become, but this place was still full of challenges for him.

A misstep could lead him straight down a cliff. He hadn't encountered any yet, but there were probably night beasts bigger than the medium-sized ones he had encountered so far. If such a creature appeared, even he would have to flee.

Shin Rip and Shin Hyun seemed to have eliminated such threats for him.

Seol accepted their offer.

Tatap… Tap…

As he sat near the firepit, their vague forms revealed themselves.

At times like this, he once again realized.

They were spirits from a world without light. They had to wander around this darkness forever.

'Ah, now that I think about it…'

Seol thought it was about time he brought up this topic.

"Excuse me…"

"The hand…?"

"Yes."

Shin Hyun was scratching his chin as if he had thought about the answer before Seol even asked the question.

"Hihihi… Those guys seem very interested in other people's affairs. Those guys from Artifact Association or however they're called…"

"It isn't the hand of a god."

Shin Rip denied that existence.

"It's Shin Yu, our brother."

"Shin Yu…?"

Seol already knew about him but didn't know the whole story. He needed them to tell him the whole thing if he wanted to hear the details.

"Yes… That child was our family's treasure. Me, Shin Hyun, and Shin Kang, we were all told we were born with a talent for the sword, but…"

Ship Rip's expression became heavy.

You could tell his expression just by looking at his unkempt beard, eyebrows, and hair.

"We couldn't be compared to Shin Yu."

"…"

"Shin Yu was a sword from birth. Any swordsmanship that came into that child's hands was learned in less than three days."

"Hihihi… I still can't forget it. That monstrous talent."

"Many called him Ten Thousand Swords or Demon Sword. No swordsmanship was out of reach for him. That child had a talent humans couldn't understand."

As Seol listened, he realized that Shin Yu resembled Yaksha in some ways.

That demon had the power to understand and use any sword style.

Whether it was a sword or a person, it was a power worthy of being called demonic.

"However, the world is a place of harmony. That child was born with a weak body."

"He didn't live long. He had a congenital illness that triggered seizures."

"Our family lost that child before he even turned ten. And that's all we thought about that."

"Yes, that's what we thought. I cried so much that I thought my eyes wouldn't open anymore. But back then… we didn't know it."

Shin Hyun chuckled.

"That he would come back alive…"

"One day, Shin Yu suddenly appeared. One of Shin Kang’s hands had turned black…"

Shin Kang, the One-Armed Sword Saint… It was why he could achieve such a stage and a special power.

'It was a power like Yeo-myeong's.'

There were quite a few cases where hands turned black, but in this case…

"It was the hand of a ghost."

It was when the intense desire of a killer appeared on someone alive.

Just as Yeo-myeong's sister appeared in his hand, Shin Yu appeared in Shin Kang's hand.

Han Yeo-myeong, who was a normal person, ended up becoming incredibly strong through that power.

The ghost's hands were powerful on their own. But the scary thing about the case of Yeo-myeong was that his sister had no particular power.

However, the hand Shin Kang obtained was of Shin Yu, who was born with a talent more outstanding than anyone else.

The reason Shin Kang could progress ahead of his brothers and survive the Pitch Black Labyrinth was thanks to Shin Yu.

'I know everything up to this point, but…'

He was curious about what happened when Shin Yu fell from Shin Kang.

The reason why Shin Rip and Shin Hyun had awakened was probably related to that.

"So, just like they said… Is it true that the hand with Shin Yu is still inside the labyrinth?"

Shin Rip closed his eyes.

"It's true."

Seol recalled his memories while listening to Shin Rip’s story.

* * *

Ha…

Haaa…

The world before him was soaked in blood.

If one were to seek light in a pitch-black world, it would probably be this moment.

Shin Kang gasped for breath while his sword plunged into the labyrinth's master's shoulder.

The sword had been completed here—No, he had become the sword.

Shin Kang exerted strength in his right hand, holding the sword.

"Cough… Even… if you kill me… nothing will change… I'm the Pitch Black's master… The labyrinth will eventually recover its original form."

"…"

"And your brothers… They're still alive, aren't they? If you kill me…"

"My brothers are already dead."

"Haha… They're alive… Their minds, at least… Ugh… Only their bodies… had died. Spirits are such beings."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The labyrinth's master, with a face similar to Shin Kang's, said.

"If you kill me, their existence will be purified. And once they are, those purified spirits will no longer be your brothers…"

"…"

The worst opponent he had faced in the dreadful labyrinth was the one at its end.

Although he was incredibly strong, Shin Kang's unparalleled swordsmanship and Shin Yu's genius combined would have cut down any foe before them.

They would have cut anyone. That's why the foe before them needed to be cut.

"Shin Yu…"

Shin Kang's right hand didn't move.

His right hand had been infused with the ghost of Shin Yu.

Shin Kang and Shin Yu had been together for many years. That's why it wasn't hard for Shin Kang to guess Shin Yu's thoughts.

Shin Yu loved his brothers.

So, he must have been swayed by the demon's words.

"Do you wish for me not to cut down that monster?"

Although he didn't answer, it seemed like Shin Yu's will was being conveyed. His right arm still didn't move.

It was at that moment when Shin Kang and Shin Yu's wills diverged for the first time.

Would he remain a swordsman or a brother?

Shin Kang said.

"Shin Yu, I will respect your will. However, a swordsman doesn't need a hand that cannot wield a sword."

Slash—!

His arm was severed near the shoulder.

As expected from someone with Shin Kang's personality, he had severed more of the arm than just the blackened part.

Shin Yu wriggled as if he couldn’t believe he was severed from Shin Kang’s shoulder.

The hand wriggled on its own.

"Shin Yu, leave me. I don't need you."

It felt as if the hand was crying.

The hand bounced deeper into the labyrinth.

As Shin Yu left, Shin Kang said.

"Let's meet again at the end of this path."

This was Seol's last memory of Shin Yu.

Shin Rip and Shin Hyun told him what happened after that.

"Shin Yu returned. I knew it. He even abandoned his hyung. The one I'm worried about is."

"Shin Kang is a strong child. Even without Shin Yu, he probably managed to escape."

They knew nothing about what happened to Shin Kang.

'Didn't Shin Yu tell them?'

Seol tried to uncover more from their backstory.

"But… how did you wake up? Did something really…"

"Hihihi… Shin Yu is stubborn. He infused himself into us."

"What…?"

What did that mean?

"It's just as you heard. He infused himself into the arm of a night beast and trained us. Our souls that had lost self-consciousness were weaker than that child. He moved our bodies on his own."

"For how long…"

"I'm not sure. We were already undergoing tedious training when I regained consciousness. I was swinging a log. Hihihi! Isn't that fun? A night beast training while swinging a log?"

"Same with me. He must have been continuously moving between us while trying to wake us up."

"To think the painful memories of training would eventually pull our spirits back."

Seol couldn't help but laugh.

Shin Yu's childlike thoughts had ultimately saved his brothers.

'But…'

Shin Rip kept speaking.

"The years of hardships we endured eventually awakened Shin Hyun and me."

"If it were me, I would have given up. Only that guy could have done something like that. What a foolish guy. I wish he left with Kang."

"Then, why isn't he here?"

Shin Hyun said in a bitter tone.

"You know why, right…?"

"We aren't alive. We are spirits doomed to forever live inside this labyrinth."

"…"

"We're dead. And Shin Yu realized that too."

He tried to save them but couldn't—his brothers were already dead.

The Labyrinth's master had lied.

"It seems Shin Yu couldn't accept that fact."

"Although he still lingers around us, he doesn't interact. After all, for him, if he acknowledges our deaths… the chances of returning us to life disappear."

"That idiot! We're already dead. We… that idiot."

The moment when everything he had bet on turned into a struggle, a monster called despair opened its mouth.

Shin Yu was clearly in agony.

"Seol, you have talent."

"…"

"You're intelligent and alert. Since you don't know when to stop, you're always pushing forward. That's also a talent. I saw potential in you and felt like you're someone capable of clearing the labyrinth. But… that alone isn't enough."

Shin Hyun nodded.

"The Pitch Black Labyrinth can't be cleared with just that. Even if you could, no one knows how long it would take you."

"Listen. We plan to teach you everything we know."

"Yes…?"

"That something isn't the sword. You don't need to master the sword. That's not because of the power you wield or because you don't suit the sword. You will understand the reason later."

"Then, what will I learn?"

"Your power. We're going to teach you how to amplify your power. And also how to dispel that filthy Darkness."

They were giving a lot to Seol.

However, such deals always came with a price.

"I'm sure it isn't only out of goodwill…"

"Yes, this isn't a deal. It's a request."

Shin Rip spoke with a heavy voice.

Even in death, they still cared for each other. One chose to remain in the labyrinth for his dead brothers, and the others were struggling to help their dead brother find his way out.

"Take my younger brother, Shin Yu, out of this hellish place."