Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: 32. Pharaoh (4)
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7.
“Poison!”
Rick shouted, and the first thing his subordinates did was pop the round pills they had in their pouches into their mouths.
Antidotes.
Pills effective against multiple types of poison, boosting resistance to them.
Every adventurer carried a few.
Of course, they weren’t all that effective.
A few minutes at best, or mere seconds depending on the poison’s strength.
But that was enough for a seasoned adventurer.
“Scatter!”
A few blinks of the eye were all it took to put distance between themselves and the spot where the poison had appeared.
Once they’d distanced themselves from their poisoned comrade’s corpse, Rick and his men exchanged glances.
There was no time for discussion.
The moment a comrade fell to poison, an adventurer’s top priority was to get out of there.
That was the rule.
The problem was their location.
‘Move carelessly, and the monsters get us.’
In a place teeming with monsters, in a place where they still didn’t even know what monsters lurked—moving around was asking for trouble.
And everyone harbored the same question.
‘More importantly, how the hell did he get poisoned?’
Poison usually came with warning signs.
A poison-bearing monster appearing, or poison arrows flying in.
But their comrade had been poisoned with no warning at all.
‘Magic?’
Poison-attribute magic was a bit different, but it always came with clear signs when cast.
Poison like this, silent and traceless?
That’s when it hit some of them.
‘No way—a Hassan?’
The possibility of a shadow-cloaked Hassan slipping in poison and vanishing.
A complicated mess in their heads, that’s what it was.
“Cough!”
A coughing fit echoed.
“Urk!”
Followed by the sound of vomiting blood.
Now it was certain.
“An adventurer!”
Their enemy wasn’t a monster.
A bewildering situation.
But the moment they knew it was another adventurer, Rick and his men’s eyes sharpened.
They weren’t immune to the shock.
But the fact of an adventurer attacking them didn’t shock them in itself.
‘Our cover’s blown.’
They were followers of the Black Mage. Getting attacked the moment their identity was exposed was par for the course.
The shock was in how it happened.
‘We don’t know how they found out.’
Why their cover was blown.
Of course, they were always prepared for this.
‘Time to go kamikaze.’
The instant their allegiance to the Black Mage was revealed, they were ready to self-destruct.
Literally.
Even if they survived here, if another adventurer lived to expose the truth?
Might as well be dead.
They had to turn this place into everyone’s grave.
That’s why.
“Everyone, scatter.”
Rick’s party broke apart in all directions.
The moment they shifted from adventurers conquering the Mystic Gate to saboteurs—bombs disrupting it.
It was an extremely effective tactic.
Split up to chase scattered members?
You’d get counterattacked.
Or run into monsters.
Tracking wasn’t easy.
And hunting monsters while letting them slip away was like leaving a dagger at your own throat.
But the biggest reason it worked was this.
‘They won’t see it coming.’
From the perspective of those charging in to catch them, it was utterly unforeseen.
It should have been.
Everyone except one.
8.
‘As expected.’
El Pam didn’t panic at the sight of Rick’s party scattering.
‘Right on cue.’
He’d seen followers of the Black Mage pull this exact play countless times.
And it was more effective than he’d thought.
A real headache from the opposing side.
Hiding adventurers were harder to find than you’d expect, once they set their minds to it.
Black Mage followers were masters at that game.
‘Let them go, and it’s trouble.’
The real issue was their intent.
If they were just desperately hiding and fleeing to survive, it might’ve been manageable.
Survival instincts were simple.
Negotiable, even.
‘These guys blow themselves up willingly.’
But Black Mage followers were beyond ready to die for him—they saw it as an honor.
Letting them roam free was like ignoring smart bombs with legs.
El Pam was no different.
He could’ve caught the fleeing Rick party members on his own.
But it would take time—not insignificant time—and he wasn’t alone here.
There was Pyr and the adventurers he’d hired.
Before El Pam could mop up Rick’s crew, they could get hit.
‘Alone, it’d be risky.’
If El Pam were solo, he wouldn’t have provoked them like this.
‘Not now.’
In other words, El Pam wasn’t alone.
He had companions.
Ones perfect for a pursuit hunt.
‘My team can handle Rick’s party no problem.’
He trusted them.
So in this moment, El Pam had only one target.
‘Rick. Just him.’
9.
The instant Rick’s party scattered, Rick himself stayed put.
Hiding near his original spot, holding his breath.
Simple reason.
‘They’ll come here—the ones hunting us.’
Hunters always passed through the prey’s last known spot.
The moment they did, Rick would take them out.
Not a vague plan.
‘Once the fight starts, I’ve got the edge.’
A lightning mage’s greatest strength was attack speed.
Lightning outpaced other elements by miles.
Skilled adventurers could dodge Fire Arrows or Cold Beams, but lightning magic? No chance.
And that wasn’t all.
If multiples came?
Thunderbolt would handle it.
Sure, lightning magic was tricky to wield, but that weakness didn’t apply to Rick right now.
Not blind confidence—well-founded.
That’s when it happened.
Swish!
A sound pinged Rick’s senses. He cautiously turned toward it.
There.
‘El Pam.’
Seeing him, Rick pieced together everything.
‘Sold us out before we could strike.’
Explaining the attacks on him and his men.
Rick felt no surprise or rage.
It was inevitable, really.
Just as he’d planned to kill El Pam, El Pam had surely planned the same.
Black Mage followers didn’t balk at any means to achieve their goals.
So there was only one thing to do now.
‘Take him out.’
Remove the obstacle to his mission.
Rick perked his ears.
For footsteps.
‘He’s alone.’
Only one set of footsteps reached him—El Pam’s.
A mage moving solo was odd.
But Rick didn’t dwell on it.
Didn’t matter if others were nearby.
‘Kill him fast.’
El Pam was the highest-value target among the adventurers here.
And Rick had faith in his skills.
‘Thunder Spear.’
The instant he unleashed lightning magic, Thunder Spear would hit before El Pam could react.
Whoever else was around didn’t matter.
One second—even that was too long for Rick to take El Pam down.
One problem.
‘The moment he shows.’
Unlike fire or ice, lightning magic was heavily affected by obstacles.
To cast properly, he needed a clear line of sight on El Pam—no barriers.
But as said, one second was plenty.
That’s why.
The moment his casting finished, Rick held his breath and stepped out from behind the tree he’d been facing away from.
He locked eyes on El Pam.
“Thunder Sp…….”
The instant he began the spell.
Crackle!
Rick’s body jolted like he’d been electrocuted.
He had been.
El Pam’s Thunder Spear had struck him.
‘H-how?’
Stunned and paralyzed, Rick crumpled to the ground.
From El Pam’s view, it was obvious.
He’d already seen every move through his clairvoyance magic.
He knew Rick’s plan inside out.
So he waited.
For the moment Rick emerged.
The instant it happened, El Pam fired the pre-cast Thunder Spear.
One timing faster.
Of course, El Pam knew.
‘Won’t kill him.’
This attack alone wouldn’t finish Rick.
Lightning mages had far higher resistance to lightning than others.
‘Like me.’
El Pam had learned that lesson well from the Thunder Emperor.
So he prepared.
“Urgh…….”
Rick groaned, body numb.
“Fire Arrow.”
El Pam’s Fire Arrow streaked toward him.
No more groans after that.
The Thunder Emperor Rick—who’d brought disaster to adventurers before El Pam’s return—met his end.
A fleeting death, in a way.
The Thunder Emperor Rick, a nightmare to adventurers, gone without fanfare, without achieving anything notable.
To El Pam, though, it was the most valuable death imaginable.
He’d eliminated a massive foe, a rival.
Thunder Emperor Rick was 4th Circle like El Pam, with similar growth speed.
Left alive, he’d have caused El Pam endless headaches.
‘Plan worked.’
That’s why El Pam had given him Zeus’s Ring.
‘He got too hooked on it.’
Rick was a machine of an adventurer.
Orders above all.
But at root, he was still an adventurer.
And adventurers couldn’t resist new items—especially powerful ones.
Even if not, he’d have to hunt monsters aggressively to test it.
‘Let me hide my strength.’
Thanks to that, El Pam didn’t need to show his full hand against Rick.
Meanwhile, he’d observed Rick’s abilities up close, in detail, thoroughly.
But the most effective part?
‘Made him careless.’
Rick, drunk on that overwhelming power, had let his guard down.
His actions now proved it.
Without Zeus’s Ring, Rick never would’ve gone after El Pam.
He’d have stayed hidden till the end.
That was the ring’s worth.
Anyway, El Pam wanted Rick gone that badly.
‘It’s done.’
Yet even with the prize in hand, El Pam’s expression showed no real emotion.
The man had tried to kill him, but those days of torment had numbed such feelings long ago.
Plus, El Pam knew.
‘The pressure ramps up from here.’
The Black Mage followers would hit harder now.
‘For now, the Pharaoh Snake.’
Above all, he had to hunt the Pharaoh Snake—a brutally tough boss monster.
No time for celebration.
El Pam approached Rick’s corpse and reclaimed Zeus’s Ring from his finger.
He didn’t stop there.
‘Thunder Spear, and this… Thunderbolt.’
Lightning Master Rick lived up to his fame—his inventory brimmed with lightning magic items.
El Pam wasn’t overly impressed, though.
Valuable, sure, but with his current power, he could acquire them if he wanted.
That’s when it happened.
Kyuu!
The snail Mana in El Pam’s pocket emerged and zipped straight to Rick’s body.
It headed for his back.
El Pam sliced Rick’s clothes with the dagger at his waist, revealing a spider tattoo.
Inside the skin marked by the tattoo gleamed something metallic, like a shard.
El Pam’s face registered emotion then.
‘No way?’
Surprise.
It couldn’t be helped.
‘A fragment of Astrafe?’
The moment a piece of Astrafe—Zeus’s lightning spear—appeared.