LIGHTNOVELONLINE [Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
Chapter 71: Time Attack (1)
1.
The moment he received El Pam’s proposal, Salman felt bewildered for two reasons.
‘Is he insane?’
The first was the astonishment at the proposal itself.
‘What do I do?’
The second thing that bewildered Salman was that he didn’t have the authority to decide, and the person who did was standing right behind the El Pam party.
Because of that.
Salman looked up at Prince Kashan, who had a cold, sunken expression on his face.
‘Ah.’
It was a warning.
A warning directed at Salman for not acting properly.
The warning sent a chill down Salman’s spine, his whole body stiffening.
‘Get a grip.’
But he couldn’t show it.
‘If I make another mistake here, it’s over.’
If he made another mistake here, it would never end with just a warning.
Salman changed his expression and spoke.
“Interesting.”
He wore a relaxed expression, an intrigued expression.
“Alright, I accept. For every day you reduce the timeline from a week, I’ll give you 10 million mesos. Finish in one day, and you’ll get 60 million mesos.”
He accepted El Pam’s proposal.
In truth, it was something beyond Salman’s authority.
What if the El Pam party actually succeeds in conquering the Mystic Gate in one day after all this?
60 million mesos, a sum of money that Salman himself, and no one else, would have to take responsibility for.
Despite this, Salman wasn’t overly concerned.
There was no reason to be.
‘It’s impossible.’
There was no chance of it happening.
El Pam said to Salman,
“Where is the location?”
2.
Those who visited the port city of the Nihal Desert were surprised by its richness and vastness, which exceeded their imagination.
And the moment they entered the Nihal Desert, they realized.
“Damn it. How do people even live here?”
Why the port city had developed.
“No wonder people flock to the port city, no wonder.”
That the port city was the only livable place.
The environment of the Nihal Desert was more than enough to wither adventurers.
“I’m not even sweating, not even sweating.”
First of all, the heat generated by the scorching sun melted everything as imagined.
Of course, the desert’s danger wasn’t just the heat.
Rather, the heat was a laughable factor.
If prepared, there was almost no chance of dying from the heat.
The problem was twofold.
“If we meet a monster and sweat a little, we’ll just go straight to the afterlife.”
One was the existence of monsters.
“They say the monsters here are a challenge even for 3rd Circle adventurers.”
Moreover, the monsters appearing in the Nihal Desert were on a different level from those in Victoria Island.
The fact that they survived in a desert environment meant their survivability was extraordinary.
However, the most troublesome thing was the desert environment itself.
“They all hide in the sand.”
Unlike Victoria Island, it was extremely difficult to find traces of the monsters in the Nihal Desert.
Even renowned adventurers from Ariant couldn’t easily find them.
“If you get lost while fighting like that, it’s over, right?”
Another reason the desert environment was scary was that one could easily get lost in the desert.
That’s why there were adventurers who liked the Nihal Desert. There were plenty of ownerless Mystic Gates.
A harsh place in many ways.
Of course, it was an exception for El Pam.
‘The desert was advantageous for running away from monsters.’
For him, the Nihal Desert was not difficult but rather a place to be grateful for.
‘Thanks to the Nihal Desert, I lived two more years.’
If it weren’t for the Nihal Desert, it would have been impossible for him to earn the title of the Last Adventurer.
Of course, it was a story that El Pam’s companions could never know.
‘Even the boss won’t have desert experience. I need to keep my wits about me.’
That’s why everyone was worried.
“No, but Kiri. Will you be alright?”
Still, the most worrisome was Kiri, who was more heavily armed than anyone else, clad in armor.
Armor would get hotter if left exposed, so she wore a robe over her armor. 𝒻𝓻𝘦𝑒𝓌𝑒𝓫𝓷𝑜𝓋𝘦𝓵.𝓬𝘰𝓂
It was a sight that made one breathless just by looking at it.
“Why don’t you take off your armor and move?”
That suggestion, in truth, was a nonsensical one.
To take off one’s armor in a situation where monsters could jump out at any moment?
It meant not engaging in combat, becoming a meaningless existence in the party.
“I’m fine.”
Naturally, Kiri refused.
“Hey, I said I’m fine. Take a breath. I feel like I’m suffocating to death right now.”
“I’m really fine.”
“Fine, my foot!”
It was then.
“Kiri is fine.”
“Huh?”
El Pam stepped forward and spoke himself.
“No, boss! How can she be fine?”
“She is. Kiri’s armor has an item attached to it that cools down the internal temperature in situations like this.”
“What?”
It was then.
Swoosh!
A snail agate emerged from Kiri’s armor.
It appeared more refreshed than ever, not feeling the desert heat at all.
“Huh?”
At that moment, Divo suddenly approached Kiri and hugged her, armor and all.
“What, what are you doing?”
Kiri was surprised.
Divo was surprised too.
“Wow, it’s really cold? Crazy. How is this possible?”
Surprised, Divo hugged Kiri even tighter.
Kiri was even more startled by that fact.
“Let go! Divo! Let go!”
“Hey, can’t you just stay like this for a little longer? Huh?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“Huh? Aren’t you being too cold between us? I’ll just hold you a little longer.”
The others chuckled at the sight of them bickering.
“They’re having fun, they’re having fun.”
“What a sight to see for free, it’s lovely.”
They watched and enjoyed this scene.
It was because they knew.
That the chance to see and enjoy this would practically never come again.
So they had to enjoy this moment.
“Let’s move.”
And the moment El Pam uttered those words, everyone prepared.
For the fierce battles and desperate days of survival that were about to begin.
‘There won’t be any time to rest from now on. Ugh, how tough will the battles in the desert be?’
‘I can’t let my guard down.’
With that resolve, the El Pam party finally saw it.
“That’s our destination.”
They could see the Mystic Gate that Salman had designated.
“Hey boss.”
“What is it?”
“What’s happening to us? We came all the way here without a single monster fight. Does that make sense?”
Without a single fight.
Seeing the bewildered looks on their faces, El Pam calmly said,
“There’s no reason to hold back.”
The moment they heard that, everyone realized.
‘It’s thanks to the boss, then.’
That the five days they spent crossing the Nihal Desert from the port city of Jeddah without encountering any monsters wasn’t just luck.
‘The boss must have moved around the monsters.’
It’s thanks to El Pam’s ability.
The moment they realized that, everyone felt a sense of awe for El Pam.
El Pam had certainly shown remarkable abilities before.
Countless times.
He had also shown them how to move without encountering monsters several times.
They were amazed by that sight.
‘Is this even possible?’
But what he’s showing them now is on a different level.
It’s true that avoiding monsters is a skill that any excellent adventurer should have.
But the stage of the Nihal Desert is on a completely different level of difficulty compared to forests or wastelands.
Isn’t this El Pam’s first time in a desert?
In all sorts of ways, it was awe-inspiring.
‘If I just trust in the boss, there won’t be any difficulties.’
Of course, that awe turned into reassurance.
“Yes, thanks to the boss, I’m brimming with confidence,” Divo said more powerfully than ever at that reassurance.
“That’s a good thing.”
“A good thing?”
“Because we need to conquer the Mystic Gate as soon as possible.”
“Absolutely, there’s money involved! So how many days do you want, boss?”
El Pam smiled faintly at that question and said,
“12 hours.”
“12 hours? Haha, perfect. Huh? How many hours?”
At that moment, El Pam clearly said to his astonished colleagues,
“We’ll finish it within 12 hours.”
3.
The Ariant branch of the upper Kaifor.
“Salman.”
At the sound of his name being called inside the shabby building, Salman bowed his head and said,
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“What’s happening?”
Salman answered immediately.
“It’s the 10th day, so they must have reached their destination by now.”
The answer made Prince Kashan tilt his head.
“It should only take about 7 days to get there, right?”
“Yes, that’s why I estimated 10 days. The Nihal Desert is a harsh place for adventurers. Even more so for ignorant ones.”
“I know. That’s why I’m curious. Only 10 days? It seems you have a high opinion of them?”
Salman nodded at the question.
“I may have underestimated them in person, but the El Pam party’s title is quite impressive. Above all, in the 300-man Mystic Gate, the El Pam party hunted the variant boss monster that everyone else gave up on.”
At that praise, Prince Kashan spoke with a cold gaze.
Recently, the El Pam party’s reputation was indeed extraordinary.
Everyone was especially shocked about the Head Hector hunt.
That’s why…
“There’s a rumor that it’s fake, isn’t there?”
The rumor that the Head Hector’s head brought by the El Pam party was a well-crafted fake was spreading.
In fact, it was only natural in a way.
A monster that all adventurers gave up on hunting, caught by a mere party of five adventurers?
Would that be more realistic, or would it be more realistic that the El Pam party committed fraud?
The answer was obvious.
And if you think about it, the Head Hector monster never existed in the first place.
That means there’s no comparison or verifiable way to prove it even if they brought the head.
“Yes, that’s right. It must be fake.”
Salman also thought it was fake.
“Even so, it’s true that the El Pam party did a great job as bait. Above all, the fact that they could bring such a fake is impressive in itself. It’s something other adventurers can’t even imagine, isn’t it?”
Considering that, he evaluated the El Pam party’s abilities highly.
Prince Kashan didn’t show any particular reaction to that evaluation.
“It doesn’t matter.”
In truth, Prince Kashan wasn’t particularly interested.
It was strange for someone of Prince Kashan’s stature to be interested in adventurers conquering a mere Yellow-rank Mystic Gate.
Prince Kashan’s escort unit consisted of 5th Circle experts as a baseline, and even that was just the minimum, with many 6th Circle Awakeners among his closest aides.
Despite this, the reason he was so interested, even going so far as to act himself and visit again, was simple.
“What I need is a party of adventurers.”
He had a Mystic Gate that he absolutely had to conquer.
Of course, the conquest itself wasn’t a problem.
“A party that can conquer the Mystic Gate within a week, that week.”
However, this conquest had a time limit of one week.
“A week is the limit for hiding from Queen Areda’s eyes.”
Because he had to avoid Queen Areda, the de facto ruler of the Ariant Kingdom.
In other words, exceeding the one-week time limit meant making an enemy of Queen Areda herself.
“If we fail, everyone dies. Except for me.”
In the Ariant Kingdom, that meant hell, or worse.
On the other hand, there was something he had to retrieve from within, even at the risk of such a risk.
That was the reason for Prince Kashan’s interest in this matter.
“That’s why I need reliable members.”
“Yes, we just need to gather about 10 more adventurers.”
And in fact, the members were already somewhat in place.
They were stalling to gather even more reliable members.
That’s why Prince Kashan was even more impatient.
They were almost done, but they had to choose the last member.
“We don’t have much time.”
Above all, matters that required secrecy became more dangerous as time passed.
“Still, proceed with certainty. It’s better not to do it at all than to include someone incompetent.”
Nevertheless, Prince Kashan had no intention of being rushed by time.
He had to be that way.
“The throne is at stake.”
Because something absolute was at stake.
It was then.
Knock knock!
A knock was heard, and at the sound of the knock, Prince Kashan rose from his seat. He immediately returned to being Ceasar, handling miscellaneous tasks.
“Let them in.”
And at Salman’s following words, a subordinate employee entered and said,
“What is it?”
“Well, the El Pam party has returned.”
Salman frowned upon hearing those words.
Even experienced adventurers from Ariant took 7 days just to get there.
But they returned now, on the 10th day?
“It seems they gave up.”
Giving up midway, it was the only reasonable conclusion.
It was then.
“We haven’t given up.”
El Pam, who appeared with the subordinate employee, took out a sword.
“This is an item I brought from the Mystic Gate. It’s a relic of a previous adventurer, so please check it. It will serve as evidence.”
And then he threw it to Salman and said,
“Evidence that we succeeded in the conquest.”
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]