NOVEL WEB [Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
Chapter 83: Human Hunter (3)
5.
“I’ll stay on the first floor and hunt.”
El Pam’s words surprised everyone.
“Boss, what are you talking about?”
“Are you crazy?”
El Pam’s presence in the party was absolute.
But to exclude El Pam?
And it wasn’t just excluding him.
El Pam himself said he would stay on the first floor.
This was crazy even by adventurer standards.
In the common sense of adventurers, to stay behind meant either to sacrifice oneself or to be left behind.
It couldn’t be a reasonable choice.
“I’ll be fine.”
“No, boss, you’re not fine.”
Of course, El Pam’s companions weren’t worried about him being left alone at all.
They didn’t even consider it. “We’re the ones who are worried.”
The problem was not El Pam, but the rest of them.
“Can we really do it without you?”
As mentioned earlier, what if El Pam, who holds an absolute position, is excluded?
El Pam said about that.
“It’ll be fine.”
“Huh?”
“The four of you are enough to conquer the Yellow Rank Gate without me.”
Those words weren’t just empty words.
“The goal is not to hunt the boss monster, but to find the prince’s remains and the exit.”
‘The Prince’s Tomb is difficult. But if you know how to avoid the monsters instead of hunting them, you can conquer it.’
El Pam already knew that the Prince’s Tomb was not a place that could only be conquered by hunting monsters.
“The four of you are enough for that.”
And El Pam knew that his comrades had the ability to survive there.
To be precise, he had made them capable of it.
If they couldn’t, if they hadn’t achieved that ability, he wouldn’t have brought them here in the first place.
“I guarantee it.”
At those words, El Pam’s companions closed their mouths.
Their hearts swelled with pride at the trust El Pam had placed in them.
And they believed him. Because if El Pam said so, it must be true.
But the fundamental question remained.
“Boss, wouldn’t it be better to move together?”
Why was El Pam going this far?
To that question, El Pam replied.
“Because the assassins are coming.”
That answer.
“I don’t have the confidence to protect my comrades from the assassins and hunt them at the same time.”
Everyone shut their mouths at that concise answer.
They knew the reputation of the Assassins.
Of course, that was what really made them shut up.
‘Is he saying he can hunt the Assassins even without us?’
El Pam’s words were far beyond common sense.
‘If the Boss says so, then it must be true.’
And El Pam had never once uttered nonsense or made preposterous claims.
Therefore, at that moment, no one asked the question “Why?” anymore.
They just spat out the words.
“Let’s give it a shot.”
The El Pam party moved.
6.
Queen Areda, her goal was simple.
“Since Prince Kashan is aiming for the Prince’s Tomb, completely destroy it.”
To eliminate any possibility.
“Everything, without exception.”
“Understood.”
However, that goal changed the moment she saw the message from Will, the commander of the Black mage’s army.
“Ivok, remember. Stake everything on this.”
She delegated everything to Ivok.
Thus empowered, Ivok prepared.
“Do we really have to go this far?”
And when Ivok finished preparing, Queen Areda was surprised.
She couldn’t help it.
“A thousand adventurers?”
The number of adventurers Ivok had hired was one thousand.
Of course, they weren’t just any thousand adventurers.
They were a thousand skilled adventurers who had reached the 4th Circle, whose reputation and abilities were guaranteed.
Honestly, it was hard to understand.
The number of adventurers who could enter the Prince’s Tomb was 213.
One thousand was close to five times that number.
“And ten assassins on top of that.”
He had even prepared not just one, but ten of the best assassins, not adventurers.
The cost incurred was far beyond common sense.
Of course, Queen Areda didn’t mind the money.
Her wealth was the wealth of Abdullah VIII.
The only being who could gauge her wealth in the entire Maple World was probably Gold Rich.
It was just a question.
“In the end, 800 adventurers will be useless, won’t they?”
To that question, Ivok replied.
“It’s to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.”
Those words.
“Our adventurers will enter under any circumstances.”
At those words, which meant that he had considered all possibilities, Queen Areda no longer questioned him.
And the preparations began.
Of course, it was thorough preparation.
Ivok had already deployed over 300 adventurers in the Malgur Oasis.
In fact, they alone could have entered if they were willing to accept the casualties.
Nevertheless, Ivok did not move them.
“There are Sand Painting Group members in the Malgur Oasis. They will surely risk everything to interfere this time. So we have to wait for the adventurers to arrive, for those inexperienced adventurers to make their way to the Malgur Oasis.”
He waited for the right time.
“For the time to come when the eyes of the Sand Painting Group will be covered.”
To make it more perfect.
So he leaked some of the information of the thousand hired adventurers, namely that they were hired by Queen Areda, to the Sand Painting Group.
He even used them as bait.
The number of baits exceeded two hundred.
In many ways, he considered all possibilities.
“In all of this, we will choose the leader of the Red Scorpion as the best card.”
The most reliable among them was none other than Sting, the leader of the Red Scorpion.
He made a deal with him.
He explained the plan and promised that if he completed it, he would be protected by the Ariant Kingdom.
Naturally, Sting gathered the best adventurers for this strategy.
And he chose the Yellow Scorpion, Chio, as their leader.
Yellow Scorpion, the meaning was simple.
He was the adventurer who could best conquer the Yellow-rank Mystic Gate in the Red Scorpion.
The Yellow Scorpion, Chio, who had settled in the Malgur Oasis early on.
“Captain, this is going to be too easy, isn’t it? This is just a joke.”
“Shaka.”
“Yes.”
“Cut off one of the fingers of the guy who just said that.”
He didn’t let his guard down for a moment.
“Ugh!”
“If you let your guard down, you die. Either to the enemy or to me.”
Even as he watched his subordinate bleed, he tightened the tension they held to the limit.
He prepared for every situation.
“Captain.”
“What is it?”
Enough not to be surprised in any situation.
Surely it was.
“It’s been reported that adventurers have moved near the Prince’s Tomb.”
“How many?”
“Five.”
“If it’s five, they’ll wait.”
“Actually, it seems they’re going to enter.”
Even when Chio heard the following words, he wasn’t surprised.
He had considered this as well.
Sometimes adventurers would do crazy things like this.
“They’ll die on their own.”
Anyway, the chances of such adventurers surviving inside the Mystic Gate were virtually zero.
“Before they even get there.”
Above all, the members of the Sand Painting Group were lying in wait near the Mystic Gate, having set traps.
It was impossible for the mere five of them to break through that obstacle alive.
“Captain.”
That was common sense.
“The portal has been activated!”
But that common sense was shattered.
“What?”
At that moment, even Chio couldn’t help but be flustered.
The problem was that Chio and the adventurers waiting here, the adventurers hired by Queen Areda, didn’t have much time to think.
The moment the portal was activated, there was only one choice.
To wait and see, or to enter.
Usually, it was right to wait and see.
It was unlikely that a mere five could conquer the Mystic Gate that even the prince couldn’t.
“What about the Sand Painting group?”
“I don’t know.”
But as mentioned before, the Sand Painting group was hiding everywhere. In that situation, to enter the portal?
“There are so many traps they’ve set!”
Against so many traps, and without a sound?
It was one of two things.
“What could it be?”
“Either they’re members of the Sand Painting group, or they’re unbelievable monsters.”
And whichever it was, they couldn’t just sit and watch.
That’s why.
“We enter.”
“Yes?”
Chio made his decision.
It wasn’t just them who made the decision.
“We’re going in.”
The surrounding adventurers also made the same decision.
It wasn’t simply because of rational judgment.
“We can’t foil this plan. There’s too much at stake.”
They couldn’t just watch from afar the enormous reward promised by Queen Areda.
It was instantaneous.
Over two hundred adventurer parties began to move towards the Prince’s Tomb almost simultaneously.
Of course, it wasn’t smooth sailing.
“It’s the Sand Painting group!”
The traps of the Sand Painting group hidden everywhere were elaborate, and the Sand Painting group also moved at the same time.
“Kill them!”
A fierce struggle of killing each other ensued, and those who survived the struggle threw themselves into the Prince’s Tomb without hesitation.
And they could see.
7.
“Where is this?”
The sight that the Yellow Scorpion Chio and his subordinates saw after breaking through the fierce battle and crossing the portal of the Mystic Gate was none other than a forest.
“The Malgur Oasis?”
A forest no different from where they had been.
It was so similar that they wondered if they had crossed the Mystic Gate by mistake and were still in the Malgur Oasis.
Everything was the same.
Of course, Chio and his subordinates soon realized.
“It’s similar to the Malgur Oasis, but different.”
The trees they saw everywhere, the shape of the soil, these elements were different from the Malgur Oasis.
“But it doesn’t matter if it’s the same.”
Above all, there was no reason for Chio’s party to refuse.
They had thoroughly researched and trained to spend several days in the Malgur Oasis.
Therefore, they thought.
The first floor would be easy.
Of course, they weren’t careless.
Chio had already completely eliminated the feeling of carelessness from his subordinates.
“From this moment on, we focus on the plan. We move to the second floor as quickly as possible.”
Rather, they took this as an opportunity to pursue a faster, more certain conquest of the Mystic Gate.
No one thought this would be difficult either.
They had the Yellow Scorpion Chio, who was considered the best at the Yellow rank in the Red Scorpion, a group renowned in the Nihal Desert.
And they weren’t the only ones.
One by one, adventurers followed them through the Mystic Gate.
“Yellow Scorpion Chio?”
“It’s the Desert Fox Heshan.”
“Fancy meeting you here.”
And the moment they met, they joined hands.
“Looks like you made a deal with Queen Areda too?”
“That’s right.”
“Then let’s keep it simple. Let’s work together up to the third floor.”
“Competition starts from the third floor.”
Since they had the same employer, Queen Areda, there was no need to compete from the first floor.
Above all, they had.
“But first, let’s take care of those five. They clearly haven’t made a deal with Queen Areda.”
“We need to get rid of the rats.”
A common enemy.
Of course, they didn’t hesitate.
“As quickly as possible.”
They didn’t think there would be a problem getting rid of the rats.
And indeed, there wasn’t.
“They passed this way.”
They quickly found the tracks of the five and began to pursue them.
Very smoothly.
“It’s Bellamoa!”
“Let’s take care of it.”
The monsters that appeared didn’t hinder them at all.
But they soon felt something strange.
“We’ve been tracking them for a day, but we’ve only found tracks. No matter how I think about it…?”
“It seems they’re deliberately leaving a trail.”
At that moment.
Whoosh!
“It’s a Fire Arrow!”
Suddenly, a Fire Arrow flew towards them.
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]