Chapter 87
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Pursuit to the Volcano
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Kang Seol asked after hearing Jamad's confident reply.
"Using Purga? You mean the Primal God?"
"You know about the Primal God? What the hell is in that head of yours to know all this?"
Kang Seol furrowed his brow and changed the subject.
"So that's why they kidnapped the people from Nobira..."
"Wigltun getting swept through was probably part of it too. They shoved all the abducted villagers into Purga's maw and took his power for themselves."
"...If we do nothing, the people kidnapped from Nobira will end up the same way?"
"Of course. And then they'll use that power to launch another raid, or maybe target Gulia Fortress."
"There's no way trolls alone could pull that off... Damn, is Setena involved in this too?"
The Setena Kingdom lay in the northeast of Nevenia, locked in endless border disputes over its barren, resource-poor lands.
If Setena was in league with the trolls, the situation was graver than imagined.
Jamad added, as if agreeing with his thoughts.
"No matter how much power Setena builds, piercing Nevenia's knightly forces would be tough. But if the Sulfur Skulls stir up trouble elsewhere or shake Gulia, gaps will open. That's what that little Sulfur Skull brat proposed."
"Why was it shot down back then?"
"The chieftains from my tribe and others opposed it. Relations with Setena weren't great at the time, and there were other reasons."
If everything Jamad said was true, Kang Seol had gained information worth more than gold.
"Time? How much time do we have left?"
"Time? Oh, you mean until they're offered up to Purga?"
"Yeah."
"Hard to say... I don't know what tricks they pulled, but if they slipped out overland, about a week—they'd have reached the volcano right around today."
That meant it would take Kang Seol a week to ten days just to reach the volcano.
"Tighter than I thought."
"No, it isn't."
"What?"
"Purga isn't some lackey of theirs who'll play along on schedule. The bastard loves pranks, so they're probably struggling already. From soothing rituals to keep him from raging to finally offering the sacrifice—it'll take them a good while."
"How long?"
"About a month."
"That long?"
"Yeah. It takes so much time that if Nevenia really committed to stopping them, it'd be easy. But the royals don't know the trolls' plan, so they're just hunkering down in their fortresses, waiting."
Kang Seol stroked his chin.
"Too much, right?"
"What?"
"Convincing Gulia to move their forces."
"Hmph. You show up at Gulia, persuade the command, then they persuade Nevenia's military to deploy—that your plan?"
"You get it without me saying. Fine, we'll head to Gulia first."
Karen let out a hollow laugh.
"Same as before?"
"Different. I'm dropping the persuasion bit. All they care about is stopping invasions anyway—it has nothing to do with me. I just need to rescue Hawmun."
"Whatever. So we move the second we hit Gulia?"
"Yeah, right away."
Kang Seol's gaze turned northwest, toward something far beyond sight.
"To Yog'natun Volcano."
A group of barely more than twenty.
Most were panting heavily, on the verge of collapse.
They had long since buried their fallen horses and pressed on, forward, forward.
"Huff... huff..."
"Those bastards... coming and going through here."
"Tunnel's not wide. Only small units could pass."
"Just about the size that hit Nobira."
"Mira, what now? Shouldn't we tell Gulia?"
Yumira looked at her comrades with bloodshot eyes.
They all had the same—deprived of proper sleep, grimy and exhausted, yet not a single complaint.
"By the time we detour to Gulia, it'll be too late. And if they've moved, they already have, those bastards..."
"They don't even know about this rat hole and they're guarding who-knows-where, the brain-dead idiots."
Yumira's group had a tragic tale leading them here.
The Kibo Alliance, having absorbed all relic hunters lately and grown massive, was getting organized.
Kibo no longer joined every dig personally; instead, they formed independent relic-hunting squads under their banner.
Yumira's was one of them, naturally.
They'd cleared their first relic successfully and returned to Nobira—only to face the incomprehensible.
[Base has been destroyed.]
[Nobira is released from base status.]
[Must set new base.]
No Kibo, no Nobira residents welcomed them.
Just the charred ruins of the city.
They wandered Nobira in a daze, searching for any clue to make sense of it.
Amid the dying and fleeing, someone called to Yumira.
- Huff... huff... Mira?
- Uncle!
Yumira found a comrade pinned under rubble, barely clinging to life. But not for long.
- What... what the hell happened?!
- Nobira... got... trampled... by them.
- Them?
- Trolls... trolls.
Yumira gripped her fraying sanity against boiling rage.
- Just hold on a bit. We'll get you out...
- No... I messed up. Let me die.
- Uncle!
- Go... forget Nobira and live, Mira. No home for you here anymore.
Words like the sky crashing down.
- ...Kibo?
- Dead.
- Liar!
- Truth... so reckless... captured by them.
- Where.
- Don't know. They dragged our wagon, so tracks left...
- ...
- You gotta go, Mira. Survive.
- No, I can't.
The man spoke his last with fading eyes.
- Then... what're you doing here.
Slump.
- Hurry... don't chase...
Thud.
He was gone.
- Find them.
Yumira and the relic hunters scoured Nobira's surroundings. Soon, they found traces of trolls moving.
- North.
- What now?
The last warrior left in the village approached.
- Don't go, you'll all die. No one's chasing trolls.
- ...What?
- Revenge adventure popped for Nobira warriors. They all fled to Kongori. You'd be alone.
Yumira nodded at his words.
- Back off.
- This is insane! You'll die!
- What do we do, Mira.
Yumira pulled her hood low.
- We chase.
- Let's go!
A message appeared for the warriors with Yumira.
[Belated Revenge Adventure Scheduled]
⏰ [This adventure is extremely dangerous.]
⏰ [Skipping rest.]
🎁 [Starting next adventure.]
[13th Adventure Begins.]
[Adventure 13. Belated Revenge]
And so Yumira's group had tracked the trolls here.
No real rest, no proper meals—their condition was the worst.
Passing the deep, dark tunnel under the border, they emerged into the world beyond.
"This isn't Nevenia anymore, right?"
"Collapsed the tunnel some, but no time to finish. They might reopen it."
"Yeah, bigger priorities."
Yumira gazed at something distant in her sight.
"They're heading there."
"What's their game?"
A massive mountain loomed where their eyes turned.
"...Yog'natun."
Yog'natun, the colossal volcano of the Primal God, Fire Monkey Purga.
Kang Seol's group pushed north relentlessly, just like Yumira's.
The path grew rougher, but no real issues.
The north was harsh wilderness from the start. Merchant caravans avoided it except those contracted to supply Gulia regularly.
Plus, troll raids had everyone on edge.
Any bandits camping here had surely fled south.
"How far to Gulia?"
"Four days?"
"Time crawls! Oh, isn't today when we were supposed to meet that Chao girl?"
Moot point.
"Nobira burned— no way Chao's waiting there."
"Hmm... Busted my ass getting those goods. Wasted effort?"
"Handle this first, then track him down."
"Back to square one. Damn it..."
Jamad asked Kang Seol.
"Even going through Gulia to Yog'natun... how do you plan to handle the Sulfur Skulls?"
"Figure it out when we get there. Thinking too much slows us down."
"Fair, but..."
Karen pouted and thumped her chest.
"Just trust me and Karuna. Together, we're invincible, Master."
"That's exactly what I'm worried about."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Karen and Karuna had a special ability that synergized when summoned together. Karen alone was worth a hundred, but both? Rescuing Hawmun would be straightforward.
'Problem is... I can't summon them both at once.'
Jamad sneered at Karen.
"Hey, fairy. You popped in and out of Shadow Space so quick, you didn't notice the issue."
"What?"
"It's cramped here now."
Exactly.
Shadow Space shortage.
Karen was summonable, but Karuna—with his adjusted stats? No way.
'Wisdom deficiency.'
His summons outpaced his summoner core stat: wisdom.
He could handle them now, but not perfectly.
"Let's think of ways to boost wisdom short-term."
"Impossible."
"Or Karen solos the Sulfur Skulls."
"I'll brainstorm. Two heads better than one."
Stance switch lololol
Can't take down Sulfur Skulls solo?
Read too many wuxia novels huh lol
Night fell again. Kang Seol set Jamad—who'd slept by day—as watch and turned in.
Whoooosh...
Nights grew colder heading north.
Chilled to the bone, Kang Seol edged closer to the campfire.
Closer...
Come closer...
Kang Seol's eyes snapped open.
'What was that?'
A voice like hallucination.
He shook his head, scanned around.
Jamad approached the woken Kang Seol.
"Up already? Was just about to wake you."
"...Something wrong?"
"Look over there."
Kang Seol sensed something approaching across the dark field, far off.
"Beast?"
"No, the aura's... odd."
Flash-!
A sudden flare from the crossing figure woke Karen too.
"What, beast?"
"...You heard."
"Hehe, kidding. What now, Master?"
Karen moved toward her unsheathed sword, asking.
"Kill it before it gets close?"
Closer...
Closer...
'...Again.'
Realizing the voice linked to that thing, Kang Seol stopped her.
"Watch first."
Time passed. Now close enough to make out shapes.
The figure sharpened in their eyes.
"...Troll?"
"Sulfur Skull?"
It was a troll approaching Kang Seol.
The only trolls near Nevenia's border. As they braced for fight, the troll waved familiarly.
"Snowman sir! It's me!"
"Who... that voice... no way!"
The troll swirled a finger; a bright orb lit his face.
A troll with dorky glasses stood there.
"It's Mael! Me!"
[Conditions met.]
[Ally 'Star Child Mael' joins this adventure.]
[Ally 'Star Child Mael' joins this adventure as your ally.]
"Why is Mael here?"
In northern Nevenia, Kang Seol met an unexpected ally.