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Chapter 87: The Prince’s Legacy (2)
There are various factors in evaluating an adventurer.
But no one disputed that the ability to hunt monsters was the most important.
In the era of the Mystic Gate, the ability to hunt monsters was even more crucial.
That’s why…
“There are two walls for adventurers. One is the wall of circles. The other is the wall of large monsters.”
Many adventurers gave up on their adventures despite having enough circles because they couldn’t handle large monsters.
That’s how tricky large monsters were for adventurers.
“Even if you do well a hundred times, one mistake can cause irreparable damage. That’s what large monsters are like.”
Therefore, the Adventurers’ Guild announced tips for hunting large monsters.
“So the first thing you need to do when catching a large monster is to create a favorable environment.”
The first was to create a favorable environment.
“Well, it’s the same when hunting other monsters.”
This didn’t just apply to large monsters. It was good to create a favorable environment even when dealing with ordinary monsters.
“The size is different. Cleaning a 10-pyeong house and cleaning a 10,000-pyeong land are bound to be different, right?”
The problem was that it took a tremendous amount of effort to create a favorable environment against large monsters.
“And there are things that are particularly difficult to clean. For example, those that contain poison.”
Also, when cleaning, there were things that were particularly troublesome to clean.
“Things like Dark Nepenthes are like oil spilled on a carpet. Clean it up? No way.”
A prime example was the Dark Nepenthes.
It was not only difficult to even figure out where they were, but they were also the worst cleaning target, as touching them incorrectly could put your life at risk.
That was the reason.
The reason why Prince Saleh’s party, with their powerful force, ended up in a tomb instead of glory.
“Boss, this is insane!”
The reason why El Pam’s companions, including Divo, reacted strongly was also because of that.
“I know the boss is amazing, but moving alone in a field of Dark Nepenthes!”
What El Pam was trying to do was insane.
“Those Dark Nepenthes can survive even if you set them on fire!”
Especially the Dark Nepenthes, which had a resistance to fire beyond imagination, as well as magic.
If it weren’t for that, there would be no reason to fear the Dark Nepenthes.
You could just set them on fire.
Anyway, it meant that even with El Pam’s powerful firepower, it wouldn’t be easy to cleanly eliminate the Dark Nepenthes.
Rather, if he set fire carelessly, El Pam would be in danger.
The blazing flames didn’t discriminate between friend and foe.
Especially the smoke from burning trees was more dangerous to adventurers than one might think.
El Pam knew that too.
“There’s no need to set a fire.”
“What?”
“The Giant Nepenthes will take care of the Dark Nepenthes anyway.”
“No, boss, what are you talking about?”
At that point, El Pam didn’t explain any further.
Instead, El Pam showed them.
4.
The Giant Nepenthes was, as the name suggested, a giant flower.
A giant orange flower, large enough to fit three or four elephants at once, was situated in the middle of the black forest.
In fact, at first glance, it was just a giant flower.
There was no threat to be found.
Rather than fear or terror, it evoked a sense of mystery and beauty.
In fact, half of the victims of the Giant Nepenthes were those who approached it, enchanted by its mystery and beauty.
And to those who approached it, the Giant Nepenthes showed them.
Swish!
The long, whip-like stems hidden within the flower, the ruthlessness with which it instantly wrapped its prey with those stems and threw them into its body.
The aftermath was horrific.
Inside the Giant Nepenthes was a powerful acid that could easily melt steel.
Moreover, the acid was sticky, making it difficult to escape once it touched you.
Now El Pam stood before the Giant Nepenthes.
“Fire Arrow.”
And as soon as he stood there, El Pam summoned a Fire Arrow without hesitation and shot it towards the Giant Nepenthes.
Bang!
The Fire Arrow shattered like an egg hitting a rock.
It was pathetic.
But it was enough to provoke the Giant Nepenthes, and the Giant Nepenthes readily responded.
Swish!
Green stems emerged from all over the Giant Nepenthes’ body and flew towards El Pam like whips.
In fact, their power was like that of whips.
Crack!
As the Giant Nepenthes’ stems moved like whips, the black trees nearby were torn apart like toys.
It was a chilling power.
Even warrior adventurers of 4th circle or higher, armed with Epic rank or higher items, would feel dizzy at the sight.
Moreover, the one facing that power was the mage El Pam.
It could be guaranteed.
“Boss, one hit from that and you’ll be in the afterlife.”
El Pam had no next move.
“Hey, haven’t you seen this once or twice?”
Of course, the El Pam party wasn’t worried about that part.
“He’s probably already gauged the distance.”
Everyone knew what kind of adventurer El Pam was.
It was as they expected.
Crack!
The stem whips wielded by the Giant Nepenthes were powerful, but El Pam instantly gauged the distance from the whips and retreated accordingly.
Far enough that the Giant Nepenthes couldn’t reach him no matter what it did.
He had essentially entered a safe zone.
In fact, that’s why the El Pam party was puzzled.
“What is he going to do from there?”
There was nothing they could do in this standoff.
They could only waste time.
And in that case, the Giant Nepenthes had the advantage.
The Giant Nepenthes was a plant monster, and as long as it had enough nutrients, it could survive for days or even years.
Also, the Giant Nepenthes had already devoured well over a thousand adventurers.
It was not a good situation.
Rumble!
“Huh?”
The situation changed.
“Wh-what?”
“The Giant Nepenthes is moving!”
The Giant Nepenthes pulled its roots out of the ground and started moving, using them as legs.
“Crazy!”
El Pam’s companions were terrified at the sight.
The Giant Nepenthes was moving?
It was something they had never heard of or imagined.
That was why.
The El Pam party’s thoughts momentarily stopped.
“Boss!”
Divo was the first to regain his senses.
“It’s dangerous!”
Divo tried to run towards El Pam.
If someone had to sacrifice themselves in this absurd situation, it was right for him to do it first.
That was the moment.
“Don’t come!”
El Pam shouted a warning, and Divo stopped in his tracks.
“Boss! Are you crazy?”
It was hard to understand.
But Divo’s complaints didn’t last long.
He saw it.
Swish!
The sight of El Pam moving while dodging the Giant Nepenthes’ attack.
It was literally.
Swish!
El Pam retreated as much as the Giant Nepenthes approached.
In words, it was an easy task.
The Giant Nepenthes wasn’t moving at an incredibly fast speed.
It was about the speed of a light jog for a human.
“Oh my god!”
“Are you crazy?”
But this wasn’t just an ordinary forest.
It was hell, with the terrifying Dark Nepenthes hidden like landmines!
Jogging in such a place?
Moreover, El Pam couldn’t turn his back on the Giant Nepenthes.
It was impossible to dodge the Giant Nepenthes’ stem whips, which could fly at him at any moment, without seeing them.
“Boss!”
In the end, the result was only ruin.
“Bo…”
That was certainly the case.
“…ss?”
But surprisingly, El Pam pulled it off.
Crack!
In the forest full of Dark Nepenthes, he dodged all the attacks of the approaching Giant Nepenthes while backpedaling.
“Is this real? Hey, Golden Eyes. Is this for real?”
“Hold on, let me rub my eyes.”
Even El Pam’s companions had dumbfounded expressions, as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
It was the same afterward.
“How in the world?”
No one could understand what El Pam was doing.
On the other hand, it wasn’t difficult for El Pam.
First, El Pam had clairvoyance magic. This meant he could identify the location of the Dark Nepenthes.
‘Dark Nepenthes can’t move.’
After identifying them, all he had to do was plan his route.
Of course, this was only possible for El Pam.
Only a few could instantly memorize what they saw once.
El Pam didn’t have that ability from the beginning.
He had simply lived in a world where he would die if he didn’t have that ability.
And one more thing, El Pam had…
“Hermes’ Blessing.”
The item he had newly acquired.
Lastly, El Pam had…
‘How many times have I dealt with the Giant Nepenthes… I don’t remember exactly.’
The experience of dealing with the Giant Nepenthes hundreds of times.
In many ways, there was no longer any element of crisis for El Pam.
As El Pam began to lure the Giant Nepenthes and walk through the forest, the forest began to become a mess due to their game of tag.
Screech!
Naturally, even the terrifying Dark Nepenthes couldn’t escape the Giant Nepenthes’ rampage.
The Dark Nepenthes were torn and crushed along with the forest.
After 20 minutes, a huge pandemonium had formed in the black forest.
It was literally pandemonium.
A pandemonium where it was hard to even find a place to step, with the ground torn up and trees ripped and cut down.
But now, that pandemonium was the safest place here.
“There are no more Dark Nepenthes.”
Therefore, El Pam said,
“So let’s finish this.”
5.
Prince Kashan.
His expression was not good as he sat in another oasis located near the Malgur Oasis.
It couldn’t be good.
“So, any news?”
“Nothing yet.”
“This is the worst.”
He had expected this Prince’s Tomb incident to be difficult from the moment Queen Areda intervened.
But the situation was flowing in a much more troublesome direction than he had thought.
“What in the world is going on?”
To be precise, it was flowing too complexly.
“The El Pam party has thrown too big of a stone.”
The reason was none other than the El Pam party.
They had entered the Mystic Gate too suddenly, and the whole situation had become a mess.
It had become a situation where no one could weigh the options in their heads.
That was the problem.
“Queen Areda’s side must be having a headache right now.”
At this point, even Queen Areda’s side couldn’t easily assess the situation.
Needless to say, Queen Areda’s side would be even more anxious about this situation.
They had made tremendous preparations, and naturally, things should be going their way.
If there was a problem, she would have to take the biggest risk.
Of course, even so, Queen Areda’s side wouldn’t be at a disadvantage.
The word had already spread.
The story that the adventurers hired and placed by Queen Areda had entered the Prince’s Tomb.
The story that Queen Areda had deceived the world’s adventurers.
“We’ll have to be content with Queen Areda’s reputation being tarnished.”
In fact, it was a good thing for Prince Kashan.
As Queen Areda’s image crumbled, the princes would benefit.
In other words, Prince Kashan had given up.
“It’s a shame about what we gave to the El Pam party, but we’ll have to be content with this.”
He had given up on the El Pam party returning.
And that was a reasonable conclusion.
With most of the adventurers hired by Queen Areda having entered the Mystic Gate, how could he expect the El Pam party to survive?
It was something he shouldn’t even expect.
Nevertheless, the reason Prince Kashan had settled near the Malgur Oasis was simple.
“Whoever comes out, we have to secure them.”
They had to get their hands on the adventurer who came out with Prince Saleh’s remains.
Of course, that wasn’t easy either.
Everyone had the same thought.
“Prince Kashan!”
That was the moment.
“The Sand Painting Group has moved.”
At his subordinate’s words, Prince Kashan’s eyes narrowed.
If they had just moved, he wouldn’t have been so surprised.
“Adin, Adin the Mace, has appeared!”
And at the name mentioned next, Prince Kashan said in surprise,
“…The Malgur Oasis will be stained with blood.”
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]