I was planning to bring out all the cores. After all, I was now the new Labyrinth Master.
Then, with the thought of taking the cores, the woman's informative system voice rang out again.
Noticed: Do you want to activate the labyrinth?
Activating the labyrinth to the cores will officially make you the owner of the cores. Once this skill is activated, the destroyed labyrinth—the Labyrinth of Black Abyss—will be reconstructed, officially opening the labyrinth. All the cores will also activate and spawn monsters on all the labyrinth floors.
No. Wait. If I take ownership of the core, the labyrinth on top will be reconstructed, right? And the core will have to remain in this place?
"Yes. Upon activation, the labyrinth will be reconstructed along with the Core Palace. The core cannot be taken away from this location, or else the labyrinth will be truly destroyed, and everything will collapse."
Even though the destroyed labyrinth was closed, it was still operating as a labyrinth. There were still quite a lot of monsters dwelling in those places.
Okay, it doesn't matter if it collapses. I don't want to run this old labyrinth. Maybe I could restart somewhere else.
Hmm… maybe I could use Domain.
Extraction.
"Wait. Wait!" the dark green system called out in panic, her voice like a young girl.
What the hell? I feared there was a parasite inside me. This system must be another being—but it was inside me? No way.
I closed my eyes and put my hands on my head, thinking of that system. Extraction.
"Hey! What are you doing? NO!"
"What the hell is this?" In front of me, I saw the extracted system—like another dungeon core. This one was yellow-green, and inside it was a miniature fairy: a beautiful elf with green butterfly wings, dressed in a green and gold fairy gown.
"What are you?" I asked.
Noticed: Spirit Lord—a species of Lord that governs the dungeon like an administrative hive mind, operating for the benefit of the labyrinth. (Dark green panel)
Hmm… I still had the dark green system panel with me, but there was no more voice. Wait… maybe that's a different one.
"What have you done?" she was infuriated.
I was also confused at how she could speak my language.
"Who are you, parasite? Why are you inside my head?" I asked, anger rising.
"I'm the operational system of the labyrinth. Without me, the labyrinth will not function normally as it should. I am bound to the skill Labyrinth. Why did you separate me from the skill? I will disappear!" she panicked.
I appraised her, but the appraisal using the black-and-white panel didn't work. Then suddenly, the blue and purple panel began calibrating like a system, and a new black-and-white panel appeared. Then the dark green panel returned as well—four overlapping panels now displayed the same fixed information.
Status
Race: Spirit Lord
MP: 0/1,000,000
EV: 200,000
Skills: Labyrinth System, Labyrinth Administration, Labyrinth Archive of Wisdom, Labyrinth Authority
Noticed: Spirit Lord's lifeforce is dissipating. Within an hour, she will disappear and cease to exist.
"I see… so you're really a parasite. And you have all these skills related to the labyrinth yourself. These skills are far more powerful than mine. If a labyrinth is established, I'd just become one of your puppets," I said.
"How were you still able to use appraisal on me?" she asked, surprised.
Noticed: Great Wizard and Overmind are skills on par with Labyrinth Spirit Lords. Both skills operate similarly, with different concepts of authority. (Blue panel)
Hmm… I see. I was satisfied with that notification. Then I placed my hands on the core. Extraction.
"NOOO!" she screamed in pain. "Argh!"
Noticed: Syphoning and Plunder have also been activated along with the Domain ability Extraction. This voice notification informed me that this was different from the extracted being. In comparison, the one talking in my head felt like a part of myself, but this extracted being was like a parasite. The moment I heard her voice, I instinctively wanted this parasite out of my head.
Then a blue notification panel appeared.
Noticed: Labyrinth System has been plundered.
Noticed: Labyrinth Administration has been plundered.
Noticed: Labyrinth Archive of Wisdom has been plundered.
Noticed: Labyrinth Authority has been plundered.
Noticed: Labyrinth System, Labyrinth Administration, Labyrinth Archive of Wisdom, and Labyrinth Authority have successfully merged back into the skill Labyrinth.
All notifications were now through the authoritative woman's voice, accompanied by tangible information in blue panels.
"No. This is a grave mistake. If you did this, they'll escape. No…" Her body slowly turned to dust. The core dimmed, turned black, and became dust.
Noticed: Spirit Lord was eradicated.
Served you right. After killing the Spirit Lord, I didn't feel even a shred of empathy.
When I obtained the skill Labyrinth Archive of Wisdom, I discovered the truth: the Demon Lord of the Abyss and the Lord of Golden Radiance had died because they discovered something beneath this castle—a place called Kargaren, the Prison of Eldritch Horrors, which imprisoned hundreds of terrifying existences. The labyrinth—and specifically the core—kept this prison sealed.
Now this has become dangerous. Kargaren could be considered the true labyrinth—not simply a labyrinth, but a prison.
I postponed taking the core and instead descended a hidden staircase leading to a chamber—a control room. Levitating on a circular platform was the actual status and blueprint of Kargaren. It was enclosed with a spherical barrier of rainbow-colored chains. Inside the barrier, millions of slithering chains extended into the labyrinth.
The labyrinth contained colossal chambers imprisoning a hundred gigantic monsters of Eldritch and grotesque nature.
Warning: These beings far surpass an existence value of billions, even trillions.
The woman's voice once again informed me, calmly but seriously, supported by four overlapping warning panels of different colors.
Noticed: These monsters are incarnations of humanity's horrors—conceptual entities that have spawned in these lands, creating endless horror and destruction. They were imprisoned by the True Dragon, the Eternal Frost Dragon Hysurus. Using the primordial source of the continent, Hysurus created this prison, Kargaren. Over time, labyrinth cores formed within it, birthing several other cores and creating Demon Lords. Every hundred years, the labyrinth is destroyed by Hysurus himself or his confidants.
The dark green panel further explained the origin of the place, the monsters inside, and the formation of the labyrinth core.
But for 200 years, the labyrinth had been dormant. It was because of the death of the Demon Lord of the Abyss. For over 2,000 years, the Demon Lord of the Abyss had been cautious, manipulating other lords as puppets. But when he discovered Kargaren, he was bewitched by the beings inside, who wished to escape.
He attempted to destroy it, but his efforts were futile—the barrier was indestructible. There, the Spirit Lord, created by Hysurus, merged with his skill Labyrinth and killed him from the inside. The Spirit Lord controlled the Demon Lord and attempted to kill the Lord of Golden Radiance, succeeding in wounding her severely. He then attempted to kill the Demon Lord and destroyed his foundation, taking critical damage from within.
The Demon Lord relinquished control of the monsters inside Kargaren and retreated to the castle, carrying the Lord of Golden Radiance, heavily wounded by his own hands.
The Spirit Lord remained inside, destroying him from within. They arrived at the core room. Using his essence, he transferred all his authority to the Dungeon Core of the Abyss, along with all his abilities. Freed from the Spirit Lord's control, the Lord of Brilliance extracted the Spirit Lord and killed her. Both were heavily wounded through their cores and eventually died.
Unbeknownst to them, the Spirit Lord remained alive, trapped inside the core.
For over 200 years, Kargaren remained locked down in silence. The Labyrinth of Black Abyss had never reopened.
But a year ago, a transformation occurred in the Dungeon Core of the Abyss. The dark red and crimson-black core had transformed into a white egg, and life was born inside it. A foreign soul inhabited the infant body of a lord. The Spirit Lord did nothing but observe, reading all memories of the foreign soul with great interest.
It pretended to be a system from those Isekai manga and novels—but it did not expect to be defeated so easily.
The system informed me of this information from the archives of knowledge within the Spirit Lord's skills. That narration, long and detailed, came through the dark green system panel.
"What a cunning parasite. But with the Spirit Lord gone, Kargaren is in complete lockdown. And another thing—the core isn't really related to this place. That parasite was just trying to confuse me to save herself from death. Heh."
He had killed her because, whatever happened here, he didn't care. After all, he had just been born; he had no attachment to this place.
Kargaren lay inside a spatial prison within a black cube, beneath another staircase that led downward. There, he saw a ten-meter black cube, radiating an unimaginable presence.
Suddenly, voices rang in his mind. He couldn't understand anything—they seemed to be beings trying to communicate, but he had no grasp of the language of this world.
He wanted to leave, to escape the constant rambling in his head.
Then a thought struck him. Hmm. This thing might become useful someday. If it was the very reason the labyrinth core formed, it must be an extremely efficient, powerful energy source.
Extraction.
A black hole emerged, devouring the giant cube into the void of emptiness. The rambling noises ceased along with the closure of the black hole.
Noticed: Kargaren had been successfully extracted.
Noticed: A very powerful violet energy is constantly emanating from it.
Noticed: Syphoning has been passively activated to consume all this energy.
The woman's voice rang in his mind again, followed by blue panels.
Suddenly, he felt an overwhelming power surging through him, growing stronger by the second.
"I'm filled with power." Even with the explosive boost, he felt fine—except that his power and aura were now terrifying. He had become the center of that fearsome aura in exchange for the black cube.
Noticed: Aura Burst has been learned. (Purple Panel)
Aura Burst: An ability that can overpower foes with a mere outburst of aura.
Noticed: Creation has been activated. (Woman's voice, followed by blue panel)
Noticed: Learning Aura Burst through the power emanating from the Lord's body. Through Creation, Aura Control has been created. (Blue panel)
Noticed: Aura Control has been learned. (Purple panel)
Noticed: Creation has generated related abilities: Gravity Manipulation, Fear Domination, Menace, Energy Cycle. (Blue panel)
A series of purple panels followed:
Noticed: Gravity Manipulation has been learned.
Noticed: Fear Domination has been learned.
Noticed: Menace has been learned.
Noticed: Energy Cycle has been learned.
Noticed: Energy Cycle has been activated.
Noticed: Aura Control has been activated.
Noticed: Energy Cycle has resonated with the aura in the Lord's body. Aura Control and Energy Cycle have successfully stabilized the aura. (Voice, then blue panel)
Two more purple panels appeared:
Noticed: Aura Manipulation has been learned.
Noticed: Aura Domination has been learned.
Noticed: Aura Manipulation has been learned.
The terrifying aura that had emanated from him gradually receded—but the mana still overflowed within his body.
Another series of purple notifications appeared:
Noticed: Mana Burst has been learned.
Noticed: Mana Control has been learned.
Noticed: Mana Manipulation has been learned.
Noticed: Energy Cycle can also control overflowing, uncontrollable mana. Initiating… Successful.
After a while, the violent aura and surging mana slowly subsided, returning him to his normal state. Yet he could still feel the immense power within.
"Status." He commanded. A black-and-white screen appeared:
Race: Lord
MP: 4,987,651,852 / 1,000,000
EV: 2,987,564,342
He was stunned. His Mana had already reached almost five billion—and it was still increasing. His Existence Value had surpassed two billion and continued to climb.
He returned to the core room. Extraction. The black hole swallowed all the cores in the room.
The authoritative female voice rang out again, accompanied by blue panels:
Noticed: Labyrinth Core was successfully extracted.
Noticed: Dungeon Core of the Earthen Maze was successfully extracted.
Noticed: Dungeon Core of Raging Tempest was successfully extracted.
Noticed: Dungeon Core of Abyssal Inferno was successfully extracted.
Noticed: Dungeon Core of Evergreen Nature was successfully extracted.
Noticed: Dungeon Core of Cascading Waves was successfully extracted.
Noticed: Dungeon Core of Thunderous Lightning Bolts was successfully extracted.
Noticed: Dungeon Core of Undying Hollows was successfully extracted.
Noticed: Dungeon Core of Tyrant Aberrations was successfully extracted.
Noticed: Dungeon Core of Golden Radiance was successfully extracted.
Noticed: Dungeon Core of Abyssal Darkness was successfully extracted.
Noticed: Remains of the Demon Lord of the Abyss have been extracted.
Noticed: Remains of the Lord of Golden Radiance have been extracted.
Dark green panel notifications followed:
Noticed: Labyrinth has been activated. Ownership of all cores has been acquired.
Noticed: Dungeon Core of Golden Radiance and Dungeon Core of Abyssal Darkness are damaged.
Noticed: Labyrinth Authority has been activated. Initiating activation of the labyrinth core and dungeon cores.
Noticed: The labyrinth core has been successfully activated. The dungeon cores have been successfully activated.
Noticed: Skill Labyrinth now has full authority over all cores. Initiating repair for the two damaged cores… Processing… Failed… Retrying… Failed.
Noticed: Repair failed. Domain has blocked and restricted all extracted items.
The woman's voice rang out again, followed by blue panels:
Noticed: Domain has initiated full binding of all cores. Processing… Integrating 0%… 0%… 0%… 100%… 100%… 100%…
Noticed: All cores have been successfully bound and integrated into the Domain.
Noticed: Domain has requested the binding and integration of the skill Labyrinth.
'What the hell are all these skills doing? They're operating on their own… Nevermind.'
"Go on."
Noticed: Initiating… Processing… Decomposing Skill Labyrinth… Skill Syphoning Labyrinth… Processing… Creation activated… Reconstructing skill… Recreating skill… Integrating… Successful.
Noticed: Labyrinth has been successfully integrated into the Domain.
Noticed: Due to decomposition, reconstruction, and recreation, the skill Labyrinth has evolved into an ability suited to the nature of the labyrinth. Labyrinth is now fully integrated and evolved into a much more advanced version.
Ding: Labyrinth System initializing. (Back to dark green panel)
Noticed: Labyrinth System is now fully operational. Labyrinth and the new labyrinth system are fully soul-bound, never to be invaded by unknown entities. Do you want to name the system?
Hmm… that's interesting. Naouar. Let's name it NAOUAR.
Noticed: Naming successful.
A massive amount of energy instantly drained from him.
Then, a husky male voice rang inside his head:
Naouar: Initializing all operating authority and systems… Successful. Petitioning the Domain to grant full access to all cores.
Then the authoritative female voice spoke in his mind:
Noticed: Domain has granted all permissions to Naouar to operate freely.
Naouar: Initiating repair for the Dungeon Cores of Golden Radiance and Abyssal Darkness. Processing… Decomposing… Reconstructing… Recreating… Successful.
Naouar: Dungeon Cores of Golden Radiance and Abyssal Darkness have been successfully repaired and renewed.
Noticed: Labyrinth creation has been initiated by Naouar.
A series of blue panel notifications followed:
Noticed: Domain has been activated.
Noticed: Creation has been activated.
Noticed: Core room has been successfully reconstructed inside the Domain. Labyrinth creation was degraded to making only the core room. The absence of threats and living things in the void inside the Domain prevented full reconstruction of the labyrinth.
Gate. He arrived at the new core room. It mimicked the original core room but was entirely new.
He levitated in the core room. Hmm.
Noticed: Domain has granted gravity to the core room.
He could now walk freely as if outside.
All his thoughts were always addressed by the system for his benefit. Naouar had a dark green panel. Domain had its own system, which spoke directly like the authoritative woman in his head. There was a black-and-white panel tied to appraisal. And a blue panel, always activated, giving notices. The purple panel, originally tied to learning, appeared when he first learned appraisal and again when he extracted the Spirit Lord. Now, all panels related to the labyrinth had turned green.
Noticed: The overall system is governed by the authority of the Domain. Domain operates to safeguard the identity and existence of the master. Its essence is protection, digestion, absorption, conversion, and creation. Domain is closely tied to Syphoning, Plunder, and Creation, directly transferring volatile knowledge to the mind. (Green panel) Naouar operates with governance over the newly obtained skill and authority of the labyrinth. Everything related to the cores and labyrinth is controlled by Naouar's authority.
(Purple panel) The learning system is governed by the skill Great Wizard; all learning processes and abilities are handled through this skill.
(Black-and-white panel) Appraisal taps directly into information outside the body, accessing the archives of world knowledge.
(Blue panel) Overmind, controlled by the Lord's mind and wisdom, converges all relevant data into understandable information.