abcnovels
Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Chapter 24
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
Chapter 24: Unique Items (3)
5.
Adventurers have an important rule:
“You must have at least one trump card to play at the last minute. Only then can you call yourself a true adventurer.”
El Paume also understood the importance of this rule.
He understood it better than anyone else.
He had seen countless times, up close, the different outcomes for those who had this rule and those who didn’t.
So, before entering the 100-man Mystic Gate, he prepared a trump card.
‘Mana Stone.’
It was none other than a Mana Stone.
And not just any Mana Stone, but a considerable amount of it, and quite powerful as well.
So, he prepared the Mana Stone of a boss monster.
Of course, it was incredibly expensive. He had to use up all the money he had saved up, and even the money he had borrowed from the Gafford Upper Rank.
Even so, the reason he prepared it at such a high price was simple.
‘With this Mana Stone, I can make a 3-circle at any time.’
While others need enlightenment to level up, no matter how much Mana Stone they eat, El Paume is different.
In other words, El Paume deliberately did not open the 3rd circle.
The reason for this was also simple.
‘But the moment I become a 3-circle, I can no longer attack Red-grade Mystic Gates.’
There are restrictions on entering Mystic Gates.
There was no reason to rush to become a 3-circle adventurer when there might be better opportunities in Red-grade Mystic Gates.
But now, El Paume pulled out his trump card.
Of course, El Paume had the intention of getting the value of his trump card, the value of his expensive card.
That’s why El Paume appeared in front of Jer himself now.
“Nice to meet you.”
“My name is El Paume. I will ask you some questions from now on.”
El Paume intended to get information.
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
Jer, who had just been stabbed with a knife, was practically on the verge of death and full of pain, laughed at El Paume’s words.
He showed the confidence that he would not spit out a word no matter what torture he endured.
“You will never hear the words you want from my mouth.”
El Paume nodded at Jer’s words.
“Yes, I know.”
Those were sincere words.
“I know what kind of people the followers of the Black Mage are.”
He had faced and experienced countless followers of the Black Mage before returning to the past.
They could not be approached with the concept of a general adventurer.
“Better than you think.”
They were fanatics.
Fanatics obsessed with the Black Mage.
The information that came out of their mouths was not real information, but false information and disguised information.
It was information that was not helpful at all, but rather a hindrance.
So, El Paume had no expectations of anything coming out of his mouth.
“I also know that you don’t have any important information.”
“The mastermind is obvious anyway.”
El Paume knew more than anything else.
“It must be Ivok, the head of the Cania Guild, one of the top 10 guilds in the port city of Lis.”
Who was their backer?
Thump! Thump!
‘How, how did he know that?’
At these words of El Paume, Jer’s heart began to pound wildly.
“That’s right, that’s it.”
That was the sound El Paume had been hoping for.
“You don’t have to answer. Your heartbeat will answer for you.”
Lie detection, that was the ability El Paume had gained while dealing with the followers of the Black Mage.
“Are there ten of your comrades?”
Thump!
“Fifteen?”
Thump! Thump!
“Fifteen, then. Is Kiri alive?”
Thump! Thump!
“Are you chasing them in that direction now?”
And the moment he pointed to a spot with his finger, El Paume, who had heard the heartbeat, nodded.
At the same time, the fire arrow that El Paume had summoned pierced Jer’s remaining right eye.
That was enough.
“Boss!”
Dibo appeared.
“I’m sorry! I caused a ruckus and pulled aggro from the ribbon pigs nearby!”
Thump! Thump! Thump!
As soon as he finished speaking, the heavy footsteps of ribbon pigs could be heard.
There were about twenty of them.
A number that could be taken down if one wanted to, but not easily.
“Let’s run!”
So, when there was another objective like now, running away was clearly the best option.
However, El Paume did not make that choice.
He had no reason to.
“Dibo.”
He was now a 3-circle adventurer.
“Let’s start hunting.”
“Huh?”
To him, nothing in this Mystic Gate posed a threat anymore.
“Fire Arrow.”
6.
Whoosh!
A fire arrow flew in a parabolic arc. At the tip of the burning arrow, the arrowhead, was an armored knight.
Kiri.
‘Oh no.’
It was only after the fire arrow was within striking distance that she, a trainee of the Cygnus Knights, noticed its existence.
It was impossible to dodge, and the fire arrow ended up embedded in her right shoulder blade area.
Clang!
Fortunately, the sturdy armor she wore greatly reduced the power of the fire arrow.
The armor only pierced slightly.
Judging from the depth of the wound, it was only about as deep as a fingernail. In the midst of a fierce battlefield, it could not even be called a wound.
However, the problem was that it was a fire arrow.
Zzzzt!
The fire arrow began to burn around the wound.
What’s more, the fire arrow did not disappear right away, but repeatedly increased the wound and the pain of the burns.
Even the place where it was embedded was near her shoulder blade, a part that Kiri could not easily reach with her armored hand.
In the end, there was only one way: to endure.
Thwack!
And Kiri endured it.
In fact, it was not difficult to endure.
The paths one had to take to become a trainee of the Cygnus Knights were never easy.
So, she was just angry.
‘Damn you, traitor Fitin.’
Angry at the traitor who had poisoned her and her comrades’ food and then tried to kill them.
Of course, she was not consumed by anger alone.
‘I have to let them know. That there is a traitor inside the Order.’
On the contrary, she was now aware that the situation was not a simple one, but a very serious one.
That will made her move even though she wanted to pass out and scream in pain right now.
She ran away.
With all her might.
Clang!
fire arrows flew from a distance, following her, and struck her armor.
Pain surged through her, but her legs did not stop.
She kept running.
‘The exit.’
Relentlessly.
‘I have to find the exit.’
Endlessly.
But there is an end to everything.
That moment came for her as well.
When the fire arrows no longer struck her armor and she could no longer smell the pursuers, a wall appeared before her eyes.
Grunt!
A wall made up of hundreds of ribbon pigs.
‘Oh.’
The moment she saw it, she instinctively knew.
That this was the end.
Of course, she didn’t intend to face the end without a fight.
She drew her sword.
And shouted.
“Rising Sun!”
And then a sphere of light resembling the sun rose above her head and exploded.
Whoosh!
As the remnants of the explosion of light hit her, Kiri’s eyes began to be filled with sunlight.
The moment the Rising Sun skill, a skill of the Soul Master, one of the professions belonging to the Cygnus Knights, was activated.
The activated skill made her chilled body hot and her cooled blood hot.
Strength began to flow into her body.
Grunt!
However, the ribbon pigs were not at all affected by her transformation.
Rather, it stimulated them.
For the ribbon pigs, who react even to flies, light was a very strong stimulus.
Squeal!
The stimulated ribbon pigs charged at her, and Kiri, facing them, swung her sword.
“Solar Slash!”
As she swung it, her sword began to glow red.
And it wasn’t just the appearance.
Whoosh!
Her sword sliced through the body of the approaching ribbon pig, its tough body, as easily as slicing a steak.
Zzzzt!
And the smell of grilled meat rose from the cut wound.
It was a horrific sight that would have sent chills down any adventurer’s spine.
Solar Slash, the attack is powerful, but the moment it is attacked, it causes terrible burns on the wound.
And even proper treatment with potions or healing skills was impossible.
The pain was indescribable.
That’s why the Cygnus Knights is feared by the world.
They give a fear on a completely different level from adventurers or monsters.
It was the same for the ribbon pigs.
Squeal!
The ribbon pigs cut by Kiri’s sword screamed and writhed in pain.
The power was clear.
Squeal!
The problem was that there were too many of them.
Over 100 ribbon pigs were still charging at Kiri with all their might to crush her.
“Goddess Cygnus.”
Kiri, seeing this, thought.
‘May you be eternal.’
Her last words.
And the moment she made her last resolve, that moment,
“The Polearm Hero Dibo!”
A voice was heard.
“I’m here!”
Dibo appeared triumphantly from behind Kiri, wielding a Polearm.
And it wasn’t just the momentum.
Whoosh!
Squeal!
The ribbon pigs screamed in front of the Polearm, which wielded the powerful skill Slash Blast.
Dibo, who had appeared in this way, immediately stood back to back with Kiri and said.
“I’m here to help!”
Kiri did not smile in response to his words.
Instead, she met his gaze with a cold stare.
‘Is he crazy?’
Kiri received Dibo’s profile, so she knew.
That he wasn’t even an adventurer until recently, just a bait with specialized survival skills.
But now he’s here to help her, even in a situation that’s overwhelming even for her?
She was grateful for his help, but the situation was such that she felt more like cursing him than thanking him.
“Right now, mi…”
So Kiri tried to say something.
“My price is one million mesos. You’re a trainee of the Cygnus Knights, so that should be enough, right?”
But the moment she heard Dibo’s words that followed, Kiri’s mouth shut.
At the same time, Kiri didn’t have any doubts.
‘Crazy bastard.’
It was crazy to try to reason with a crazy person.
Grunt!
Meanwhile, the ribbon pigs had begun to form an encirclement around Kiri and Dibo.
Seeing this, Kiri changed her mind.
‘I’ll hold out as long as I can.’
After all, two is better than one, no matter what.
“Just trust me and follow me. I’ll save you somehow.”
The moment Kiri spat out her determined words, she could see it.
Whoosh!
The sight of a fire arrow moving like a swallow.
Squeal!
The sight of that swallow-like fire arrow piercing the head of the incredibly tough ribbon pig with such ease.
‘What, what is this?’
In the face of this sight, even Kiri, who had maintained a steel-like mentality, couldn’t help but lose her mind.
It was that unbelievable of a sight.
‘H, how?’
The fact that the fire arrow moved like a living swallow, pierced the ribbon pig in one breath, and turned over ten ribbon pigs into corpses in an instant.
Kiri, who had lost her mind in this way, fortunately, her confusion didn’t last long.
Whoosh!
The moment another fire arrow appeared, the moment two fire arrows flew, Kiri gave up thinking.
‘Oh.’
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]