Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: 32. Pharaoh (3)
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5.
Pharaoh Snake.
The moment that term left Pyr's mouth, most adventurers reacted the same way.
'What the hell is that?'
Question marks appeared on their faces.
A few, however, were different.
Adventurers from the Nihal Desert—some among them wore expressions of terror and shock beyond measure.
'What? No way...'
And those expressions quickly spread to those around them.
"Hey, what's a Pharaoh Snake?"
"It's a giant cobra that once existed in the Nihal Desert."
"A cobra?"
"Its head looks like a pharaoh wearing a crown, so that's what they call it."
"Wait, something like that existed? Then why didn't I know about it?"
"Its existence is only confirmed in pyramid wall paintings. In the Nihal Desert, it's passed down only as a legend—no adventurer has ever seen the real thing."
It was an explanation impossible to grasp just from hearing it.
That was why.
'Oh my god.'
Everyone's faces hardened upon hearing it.
Because they knew.
"So, there's no known strategy for it?"
Adventurers understood all too well that nothing was as terrifying as encountering something completely unheard of.
"I don't know any strategies. But there's one thing I do know."
Pyr spoke to those adventurers.
"The Pharaoh Snake possesses a powerful poison."
Chilling words.
"What kind of poison?"
"If you're poisoned by it, you turn into a mummy."
No one could even feel chills anymore in the face of the explanation that followed.
"A mummy?"
"What does that mean?"
In a situation that defied common sense, feeling or expressing any emotion was practically impossible.
Pyr gladly explained to them.
"You become a mummy under the Pharaoh Snake's control."
Whatever they imagined, the reality would be far more gruesome.
"Control?"
"Think of it as becoming its slave. It means turning into a mummy that devotes its entire body to protecting the Pharaoh Snake. An undead mummy that doesn't die."
Everyone who understood those words felt a chill run down their spines.
It meant the moment a comrade next to you was poisoned, they became the enemy.
And not just any enemy.
A mummy was no different from a zombie—in fact, far more troublesome than one.
It meant their precious, trustworthy comrades would become enemies that couldn't be easily killed.
At that fact, El Pam's companions' eyes wavered.
"Boss, this situation is insane."
The stronger their trust in their comrades, the greater the shock of imagining them turning into enemies.
To them, El Pam said,
"Worrying about comrades becoming enemies isn't such a big deal."
Don't worry about that sort of thing.
At those words, Dibo and the others' eyes lit up.
"Boss, do you know a strategy for it?"
If there was nothing to worry about, didn't that mean there was a countermeasure?
In response to that expectation, El Pam answered,
"There's something even more worrying than that."
"Yes?"
"Literally. The case of one of us getting poisoned right now isn't worth worrying about yet. What's far more important are the monsters in this place."
"Ah!"
Only then did everyone finally realize.
"Most of the monsters here can be considered the Pharaoh Snake's mummies."
What they really needed to worry about.
It was then.
"El Pam is right."
Pyr stepped forward.
"The monsters here are all the Pharaoh Snake's mummies. So, the most reliable strategy we can attempt against the Pharaoh Snake is one thing."
He proposed a strategy.
"We have to eliminate every monster here."
A daunting strategy.
Yet no one complained, got annoyed, or angry at that daunting strategy.
Any adventurer who had made it this far in Yellow rank knew.
No matter how much they raged or vented frustration, their current reality wouldn't change one bit.
"After eliminating all the monsters and leaving the Pharaoh Snake alone, we target it then. Right now, that's the strategy with the highest chance of success."
Above all, Pyr's words made perfect sense.
When hunting a boss monster, removing all interfering elements was basic common sense.
"So, we're splitting into squads."
"Splitting squads?"
"If we encounter the Pharaoh Snake while gathered together, we'll be wiped out. So, divide into at least five parties and eliminate as many monsters in this jungle as possible."
"What if we encounter the Pharaoh Snake?"
"Run. With everything you've got."
Of course, executing that basic plan wasn't easy.
Far from it—dividing their forces would naturally lower their survival chances.
But there were no other options.
As Pyr said, moving as a group was dangerous in every way in this situation.
So, no one objected to the plan.
In fact, at moments like this, adventurers typically harbored positive scenarios in their hearts—hope, in other words.
That was the nature of adventurers.
'Still, we've got Rick.'
Moreover, there was someone here more than worthy of being their hope.
"Everyone, I know it's tough."
And that person spoke.
"I'll hunt the monsters with everything I've got. So, believe in me and hold on."
At those words, every adventurer's eyes changed.
They were filled with conviction.
'It’s possible. If it’s Rick.'
Conviction that they could survive this place.
El Pam's party was no different.
"If Rick's party hunts monsters with us, it might be more manageable than I thought."
No—El Pam's party held more conviction than any other.
"Yeah, no problem. We've got El Pam."
"Of course, we've got an even bigger monster on our side."
Because they knew El Pam's abilities well.
So, there was no sense of crisis.
'Boss and Rick alone could handle that Pharaoh Snake or whatever it is, no problem!'
No matter how hard they racked their brains, they couldn't imagine those two monsters losing to any monster.
And it wasn't just those two.
Thanks to Rick's party, this third floor had every single member present—no stragglers, full strength intact.
Plus, the adventurers overshadowed by Rick's party weren't mediocre by any means.
They were Cross Hunters—the ones handpicked for their skills.
Of course, there were exceptions.
"Why is everyone so optimistic?"
Ralph's expression was hardened.
At that look, Dibo, Kiri, and Miner quickly realized.
"Yeah, you're right. Too optimistic."
"Sorry. It's life-or-death, and I was too reckless."
"I feel like I've lost my mind lately too. Thinking like this in a place like this. Pirate life is never knowing when you'll die."
Even with Rick and El Pam, this was undoubtedly a highly dangerous stage.
Decisively, as Ralph pointed out, this was a place personally commissioned by the Phantom Thief Phantom himself—not just anyone else.
"This is the place targeted by the Phantom Thief Phantom."
Thinking it was easy would be arrogant.
"If we don't shine here, we might miss our chance at the Phantom Thief's treasure!"
"Huh?"
"What do you mean, huh?"
Of course, what Ralph was pointing out differed from what everyone else thought.
"The Phantom Thief won't give treasure to everyone, right? Even if he does, it'll be just one or two. Who do you think will claim it if we go on like this?"
It meant they had to go all out, if only for the treasure.
"Heh."
At that, Dibo and the others let out hollow laughs.
But they didn't rebuke Ralph.
"Yeah, Ralph's right. Just playing dead here isn't what adventurers do."
In situations like this, the most proactive ones could call themselves true adventurers.
"Right, Boss?"
To Dibo's question, El Pam gave a short reply.
"We can't trust Rick's party."
"Yes?"
"From now on, Rick will try to kill us."
6.
"We'll start the hunt now."
The moment they split into parties to wipe out the jungle monsters, Rick spoke.
"All adventurers except us."
"Yes?"
His subordinates were shocked by those words.
"Why are you surprised?"
Instead, Rick posed the question.
"We're just executing our original plan. Slaughter everyone here for the great one's sake—that was our plan, wasn't it? So why the surprise?"
One of his subordinates, Marcel, spoke up at that question.
"Didn't you make a deal with El Pam's party?"
He'd heard the rough details.
El Pam was also a follower of the Black Mage and had to complete this mission no matter what.
In exchange for accommodating that, he'd received an incredible item called Zeus's Ring.
But now, slaughter everyone here?
That would break the promise.
"There's only one thing we must keep in mind and obey."
But Rick placed no value whatsoever on that fact.
There was no reason to.
"Following orders. I received the order from Will-nim to slaughter everyone."
He'd never intended to make a deal with El Pam in the first place.
At Rick's words, his subordinates no longer harbored doubts.
The Rick they knew was that kind of man.
"Slaughter. The death of everyone except us."
A man like a machine, indifferent to anything as long as he completed the given orders.
However, they didn't give up on questioning entirely.
"Rick-nim, even so, the Pharaoh Snake here is dangerous. Wouldn't it be better to let the other adventurers thin out the monsters first, then take them out?"
Hunting monsters was about to begin, but hunting down adventurers now?
That would naturally increase the difficulty of hunting the absurd monster called Pharaoh Snake.
It was risky.
"No problem."
But Rick had no worries about it.
"I can handle it alone."
"Yes?"
"Literally. No matter what kind of monster the Pharaoh Snake is, our party is more than enough."
Because of his overflowing confidence.
"Right now, I can solo a Green-rank Mystic Gate."
And none of his subordinates could dare contradict that confidence.
Given the abilities Rick had shown so far, discussing crises in front of him would be the ridiculous thing.
Around then, the subordinates changed their plan.
"Understood."
They decided to follow Rick's words unconditionally.
Without a word of protest.
"So, who first?"
"El Pam's party."
"Yes?"
But at Rick's next words, the subordinates couldn't help but protest again.
"Um, Rick-nim. This..."
Slaughtering other adventurers was fine, but El Pam's party belonged to another legion commander.
Not just any subordinate—they were carrying out a highly important mission.
Killing them too?
That was on a whole different level from interfering with a mission.
"It could cause problems."
Honestly, "could cause problems" was putting it mildly—the moment El Pam died, the legion commander under whom he served wouldn't stay quiet.
And that legion commander not staying quiet meant severe retribution against Rick's party.
"To repeat, Will-nim said,"
But at his subordinates' reactions, Rick smiled faintly and said,
"Kill everyone except us."
His orders contained not a single word about sparing El Pam's party.
That was why Rick prepared to hunt El Pam's party.
"El Pam's party is the strongest. And they're quick on the uptake. If we start hunting, there's a high chance they'll notice and respond."
Thoroughly.
"But the first one is different. It's impossible for them to guess our intentions..."
It was at that moment.
"Cough!"
Just as Rick was about to finish speaking, a cough rang out, cutting him off.
Everyone looked toward the comrade who had coughed.
In this crucial moment, anger filled their faces at the one who had interrupted Rick.
To the gathered fury of his comrades, the one who coughed replied.
"Ugh!"
He vomited bright red blood.
At that instant, Rick shouted.
"It's poison!"