NOVEL WEB [Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
Chapter 86: The Prince’s Legacy (1)
1.
The Prince’s Tomb.
When most adventurers heard stories about it, they thought:
“The place where the Ariant Prince died? There must be tons of unique items!”
They believed that the adventurer’s dream lay there.
Therefore, there were adventurers in the Nihal Desert who made it their life’s goal to find the Prince’s Tomb.
“Making the Prince’s Tomb their goal? They’re idiots.”
And experienced adventurers dismissed such adventurers as naive.
It was natural.
“It’s the place where a prince died. There’s no way ordinary people could conquer it, right?”
The place that the prince and his subordinates couldn’t conquer couldn’t be easy.
Moreover, experienced adventurers knew.
“And it’s none other than Prince Saleh.”
They knew who Saleh, the fourth prince of the Ariant royal family, was.
That’s how great Prince Saleh was.
First of all, he was born with the talent of an outstanding adventurer.
He opened his 1st circle at the age of five and his 2nd circle at the age of eight.
That’s why he set out to conquer the Mystic Gate.
The princes weren’t fools, and they wouldn’t enter the Mystic Gate with mediocre skills.
No, the Ariant royal family wouldn’t allow it in the first place.
The princes were candidates to become the next king.
How could they send the princes to such a dangerous place when they didn’t know what might happen?
But Prince Saleh was different.
No one opposed or tried to dissuade Prince Saleh from entering the Mystic Gate.
They believed in him.
“Prince Saleh has the potential to become the greatest fire mage in the history of the Ariant royal family!”
They believed in Prince Saleh’s abilities.
That’s why they said,
“In the tomb where such a Saleh died, there will probably be monsters beyond imagination.”
They said that there would be monsters from hell in the Prince’s Tomb.
Of course, no one knew that for sure.
Those who saw the reason were all dead.
And now, the El Pam party saw the reason.
2.
“Oh my god.”
As soon as they entered the 3rd floor, the El Pam party was greeted by a pitch-black forest.
It was a bizarre forest.
But there was nothing to be surprised about just because the forest was black.
Compared to a world full of snow, a desert, or a swamp, a black forest was nothing.
“Aren’t those Dark Nepenthes?”
The problem was the monster that existed in the black forest, the Dark Nepenthes.
As the name suggested, it was a black Nepenthes.
“This is crazy.”
But the strength of the Dark Nepenthes was at least three times greater than that of a normal Nepenthes.
The three times here referred to its durability and attack power.
It wasn’t just three times stronger, it was a monster of a different dimension.
“They have poison, right?”
But the most difficult thing was that the Dark Nepenthes contained poison.
Just one bite could be fatal.
Of course, everyone here knew.
“But I don’t think the prince would have died from this.”
This couldn’t be the end.
In other words, there was something more troublesome and terrifying than the Dark Nepenthes here.
“The real kicker is that unlike the 2nd floor, we can’t avoid it.”
Crucially, this time they couldn’t avoid it.
They could run away.
“We didn’t come here to run away, did we?”
“Right.”
But if that was their intention from the beginning, they wouldn’t have needed to make that resolution, that determination.
“We have to find the prince.”
They had made that resolution to find the prince’s remains.
“So we can get the golden elephant.”
“Are you talking about money again?”
“I’m fine if you’re not interested. The four of us can split Divo’s share.”
“Hey, why are you talking like that? Who said they didn’t want it?”
“Can you both shut up? Huh? We don’t even know what’s here?”
Anyway, the first priority for the El Pam party was to figure out the danger here.
However, there was an exception.
El Pam knew what was here and why the prince had met his death here.
Because he had returned.
Of course, he couldn’t explain it as “I know because I’m a returnee.”
And there was no need to.
“Huh?”
Because it appeared right in front of them.
“Wait a minute.”
Minerv, her golden eyes narrowed, said,
“Oh my god, it’s a Giant Nepenthes!”
“What?”
Giant Nepenthes.
The moment it was mentioned by Minerv, everyone except El Pam turned pale.
It was inevitable.
“Oh my god, that’s the Orbis Disaster!”
It was 50 years ago.
Orbis, the floating island above the El Nath Mountains.
Adventurers began to disappear from the Orbis region, a place that adventurers visited at least once.
At first, the number was only in the dozens, but it soon exceeded hundreds, then thousands, and eventually, the Adventurers’ Guild launched an investigation.
Then the world learned.
The reason was the Giant Nepenthes.
That’s how troublesome the Giant Nepenthes was. Once it appeared, the Adventurers’ Guild, not just adventurers, had to step in to deal with it.
“That thing grows bigger the more people it eats, right?”
The scariest thing about the Giant Nepenthes was that it grew stronger the more it ate.
That was why.
The reason people remembered the appearance of the Giant Nepenthes 50 years ago as the Orbis Disaster.
It was because the Giant Nepenthes had eaten well over 2,000 adventurers.
To catch that Giant Nepenthes, a party of 50 adventurers above the 5th circle was formed.
The Giant Nepenthes, which had eaten over a thousand people, was that strong of a monster.
“Wait a minute, the number of adventurers who entered here… how many are there?”
“The prince and his subordinates alone were over 200. They must have sent rescue teams repeatedly after that.”
“At least a thousand. And if you consider the random adventurers who noticed this place, oh my head.”
And the Giant Nepenthes that appeared before the El Pam party now was also a monster of that level of strength.
“It’s Green-rank.”
It was out of spec for the Yellow rank.
It was a daunting fact.
“This is why it became a tomb.”
On the other hand, it was understandable.
Abdulla VIII wouldn’t have sent random rescue teams to retrieve the prince’s remains.
Of course, there was one question here.
“But still, when the Fourth Prince caught it, it wouldn’t have grown that much, right?”
The fact that it grew stronger as it ate more adventurers meant that it wasn’t that strong when Prince Saleh faced it.
Of course, the Giant Nepenthes itself was strong, but Prince Saleh wasn’t an ordinary adventurer either.
“Giant Nepenthes are born with one of two abilities when they grow from seeds.”
“Abilities?”
“Either a strong resistance to magic or a strong resistance to physical force. In this case, it’s probably the former. Prince Saleh was a fire mage.”
At El Pam’s words, his companions understood.
“I see. The magic attribute is bad… What? No, boss. Are you saying magic won’t work?”
“It will work, but you can’t expect it to have its full power.”
“Wait, then the boss too…”
At this moment, the party’s strongest firepower, El Pam, wouldn’t work against the Giant Nepenthes.
The moment they understood this, the faces of the El Pam party hardened more than ever.
It was no different than the worst possible situation they could imagine.
Gulp!
Their throats were parched.
But the nightmare didn’t end there.
There was no way Prince Saleh and his subordinates didn’t know the despair they could imagine.
They must have thought the same thing.
It was better to find the exit safely and leave this place than to force themselves to hunt this monster.
There was no reason to gamble recklessly with the life of a prince.
But they failed to find the exit.
Why did they fail?
There was only one reason they could think of.
“It looks like the exit will only appear after we catch it.”
To get out, they had to catch the Giant Nepenthes no matter what.
“Alright.”
At that point, the El Pam party no longer fell into despair.
“Then let’s just catch the damn thing.”
There was no way out anyway.
In such a situation, the best they could do was not to be shaken by despair but to find a way.
That’s what adventurers did.
“If magic doesn’t work, we can just chop it up with this polearm.”
“I’ll end this with my sword. No problem.”
“Hey, there’s no need for both of you to step up. I’ll finish it. Just follow me this time.”
El Pam’s companions readily showed their confidence.
“Alright, Ralph. Say something too.”
“I’m a supporter, so I’ll just do my best to support from the back. What can I do physically?”
“…That’s true, but why does it sound a bit strange when Ralph says it?”
“What’s strange? All I have is this fist, what else can I do?”
Ralph clenched his fist as he spoke, and the veins in his arm wriggled like worms.
The remaining three laughed awkwardly at the terrifying sight.
Of course, everyone’s minds were complicated.
‘The Giant Nepenthes is a pain, but the Dark Nepenthes are also a problem.’
It was because there wasn’t just the Giant Nepenthes here.
There were also countless Dark Nepenthes, those terrifying monsters.
That’s why it was even more troublesome.
‘To deal with the Giant Nepenthes, we inevitably have to attract aggro and move, but with Dark Nepenthes all around, it’s like dancing in a minefield.’
Having to deal with the Giant Nepenthes in a place where it was difficult to even walk.
Honestly, it was hard to even imagine.
No matter what they imagined, the end was only bleak.
That was the moment.
“20 minutes.”
El Pam spoke, and the moment they heard it, the El Pam party’s expressions relaxed.
It was natural.
“20 minutes? Boss, did you just say 20 minutes?”
“Does that mean we just have to hold out for 20 minutes?”
“Hey, is it really just 20 minutes?”
El Pam saying 20 minutes surely meant there was a way if they could hold out for that long!
In other words, El Pam had a strategy.
Of course, it was daunting.
‘It seems difficult to hold out for even 2 minutes, let alone 20.’
Everyone had tried to imagine enduring it before, but they couldn’t properly picture it.
In the end, they had to risk their lives.
‘If I endure, and then Kiri endures, Minerv might have a hard time…’
And not just one person, but several.
Honestly, it wouldn’t be strange if everyone except El Pam died.
But no one refused.
It was natural.
‘Anyway, if we hold out for 20 minutes, there’s a chance of winning.’
If they continued like this, they would just die, but if they followed El Pam, there would surely be a way to survive.
‘I’ll go first.’
Just as everyone was making up their minds, they all spoke at the same time.
“Then I’ll go first.”
“I’ll go first.”
“At times like this, we need to stall for time from a distance. It’s my time to shine.”
“I don’t mind. Whoever goes first will need my support.”
They volunteered to start first.
Seeing his companions offering to sacrifice themselves, El Pam had a hardened expression, and Divo laughed at that expression and said,
“Boss, are you touched right now? Huh?”
At Divo’s words, El Pam shook his head in denial, and Divo laughed even more at the sight.
“Oh, come on, don’t be shy. You’re obviously touched.”
At Divo’s repeated words, El Pam said,
“It seems you’ve misunderstood something.”
“What? What do you mean? You said 20 minutes, right? You’re going to do something while we hold out for 20 minutes, aren’t you?”
“I only said 20 minutes, I never said for you to hold out for 20 minutes.”
At that point, the other four, except for El Pam, tilted their heads.
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
That was the moment.
“I’m the one holding out for 20 minutes.”
“What?”
At El Pam’s words, all expression disappeared from everyone’s faces.
Their thoughts stopped because they couldn’t understand.
“No, boss! What are you talking about?”
Divo, who was the first to regain his senses, asked in surprise, and El Pam tilted his head at the question.
“Is there anyone here who can last more than 3 minutes against the Giant Nepenthes among the Dark Nepenthes?”
“Well…”
There was no answer.
They all knew it was impossible.
Of course, that didn’t mean they understood.
“Wait, are you saying you can, boss? Endure for 20 minutes in that situation?”
El Pam nodded at the question, and everyone had an even more dumbfounded expression.
El Pam said to his companions,
“I’ll create a stage against the Giant Nepenthes for 20 minutes.”
“A stage?”
“A stage where everyone but me can fight without worrying about the Dark Nepenthes.”
Stop thinking now.
“Then let’s start the strategy.”
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]