Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: 35. Junior Balrog (2)
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3.
Alsar and Mohad.
The two of them had met Prince Kasan eleven years ago.
A distant past.
At that time, they were nothing more than lowly guards protecting Prince Kasan.
They grew close to him after barely surviving while trying to shield him from a mysterious group that had ambushed the prince.
From then on, Prince Kasan trusted them more than anyone. He might have doubted their skills, but never their loyalty.
That was the extent of it.
‘Kill Prince Kasan.’
The followers of the Black Mage, the devotion they poured into assassinating Prince Kasan was that profound.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to call them the final card Queen Areida trusted, her trump card.
When deploying that trump card, they naturally considered every possible scenario.
“From now on, obey my words.”
That was why.
“If you want to keep Prince Kasan alive.”
When El Pam held a dagger to Prince Kasan’s throat in front of the gate to the third floor and issued his threat, Alsar, Mohad, and the 56 followers of the Black Mage who served him froze solid.
‘What the hell?’
No such scenario had ever crossed their minds in all their contingencies.
And rightly so—it was unimaginable.
“I’ll say it again. From now on, obey my words. If you don’t, Prince Kasan dies.”
From their position of needing to kill Prince Kasan, how could they have anticipated a situation where his life was threatened instead?
Of course, Alsar and Mohad quickly regained their composure.
Alsar and Mohad exchanged glances.
They couldn’t just stand there doing nothing.
“What do you want?”
‘For now, we play along here.’
For the moment, Alsar and Mohad aimed to remain loyal servants.
They would meet some of El Pam’s demands to buy time and reformulate their plan.
“Hand over all your items.”
But at those following words, Alsar and Mohad couldn’t help but hesitate.
‘Items?’
Anything else might have been negotiable, but surrendering legendary-grade items right now was absurd.
That was when it happened.
Stab!
The dagger in El Pam’s hand plunged straight into Prince Kasan’s neck.
The depth was about the width of a finger joint—a considerable pierce.
“Ugh, ugh!”
Terror filled the eyes of Prince Kasan himself, the victim.
Alsar and Mohad’s shock was even greater.
‘That’s dangerous.’
Unlike Prince Kasan, as seasoned fighters, they knew all too well.
‘Any deeper...’
‘And Prince Kasan dies.’
They recognized that the depth El Pam had stabbed to wasn’t mere intimidation—it was the perfect depth to kill Prince Kasan for real.
If they acted rashly now, the moment El Pam pushed a little further, it would all be over.
‘This isn’t a joke.’
Even if it was, they couldn’t treat it as one.
That was when it happened.
“W-What are you all doing?”
Prince Kasan, gripped by fear, spoke in a trembling voice.
“Obey him! Do as he says!”
At his desperate cry, El Pam added his own words.
“This is your final warning. Surrender all your weapons before I count to three.”
There was no more talk after that.
“One.”
El Pam began the countdown.
“Two.”
And the final number rang out.
“Three.”
The countdown ended.
Yet no one moved.
Alsar and Mohad simply watched El Pam and the captive Prince Kasan with cold eyes.
“Prince Kasan.”
In that moment, El Pam spoke.
“You see I’m right?”
And upon hearing those words, Prince Kasan’s eyes shifted from terror to icy coldness.
‘Ah.’
Only then did Alsar and Mohad finally realize.
What had happened.
‘They...!’
That Prince Kasan had figured out they were the traitors.
Naturally, at this moment, they had only one course of action.
Kill El Pam and Prince Kasan!
“Kill them right n...”
Before they could shout for the others to kill them, it happened.
“Huh?”
El Pam and Prince Kasan vanished.
“Huh!”
Through the gate to the third floor.
4.
It was a sudden situation.
Right in front of the gate to the third floor, El Pam had abruptly taken Prince Kasan hostage and made his threats.
Prince Kasan’s right-hand and left-hand men, Alsar and Mohad, hadn’t complied.
Then suddenly, El Pam and his party had fled to the third floor with Prince Kasan.
‘What the hell is going on?’
Everyone froze in bewilderment at the situation.
Amid that bewilderment, the first to regain their senses were, of course, Alsar and Mohad.
“Damn it!”
“Shit!”
As if on cue, the two spat out curses simultaneously.
“El Pam and Prince Kasan—they’ve escaped!”
Only at those words did the others, lost in confusion, snap back to reality.
The expressions of those who regained their senses hardened rigidly.
Everyone’s faces stiffened.
It was a chilling sight.
Proof that everyone here was a follower of the Black Mage, intent on killing Prince Kasan.
That was why.
Alsar and Mohad didn’t start a bloodbath right then.
They were all on the same side.
In other words, their enemies had been just those few from the start.
El Pam’s party and Prince Kasan—only six of them.
“El Pam’s whisked away Prince Kasan!”
And now they had all fled to the third floor.
The worst possible situation.
“We’ll chase them right now!”
“Stop!”
“Yes?”
“We can’t chase them now!”
“What trick he might’ve pulled, we don’t know.”
What if El Pam had scattered poison right in front of the third-floor gate?
They’d take serious casualties.
Even a pursuit battle posed problems.
“We don’t even know what monsters are there.”
Charging blindly into unknown territory without intel could lead to a massacre by monsters.
So in this situation, there was only one option.
“We prepare thoroughly.”
Get ready for the hunt.
Of course, not all the subordinates agreed.
One spoke up.
“Time is of the essence. I’ll form a scouting party and go ahead.”
Prepared to sacrifice themselves to move first.
Alsar shook his head at that.
“No need to rush.”
“Yes?”
“Time is on our side right now.”
The subordinates voiced their doubts at his words.
If they waited, Prince Kasan and El Pam would obviously escape—how was time on their side?
But Alsar thought differently. So did Mohad.
They knew.
“There’s only six of them. Including Prince Kasan, just six. And Prince Kasan’s nothing but baggage.”
“Baggage they absolutely have to protect more than their own lives.”
If it were just El Pam’s party slipping away, then yes, time would be critical.
But now El Pam’s party had to protect Prince Kasan.
Protect him and escape this place.
That was on a whole different level of difficulty.
“Of course, if they ditch Prince Kasan, that’s another story—but that changes nothing for us.”
If Prince Kasan died, it would actually be good news for Alsar and Mohad.
“Once they’re out, who’d believe them anyway.”
That was why they were certain.
“There’s no way they’re getting out.”
5.
It was a sudden situation.
In many ways.
But for El Pam’s party—who had just crossed the third-floor gate—and Prince Kasan, there was no bewilderment in their eyes.
“El Pam, you were right.”
Far from it—Prince Kasan’s eyes burned with sharper venom than ever.
It couldn’t be helped.
“So those two were my betrayers.”
He had realized the two he trusted most had turned on him.
In truth, it was a tremendous shock.
His trust in them had been profound enough to stake his life on.
So when El Pam first said it, Prince Kasan had been skeptical.
Even that much skepticism was only because it was El Pam saying it. Had it been anyone else, he would’ve decapitated them on the spot.
In any case, Prince Kasan had chosen to believe El Pam and follow his plan.
No harm in eliminating even the slightest doubt.
But who could’ve expected this outcome?
“They were after my life.”
Moreover, Prince Kasan’s life wasn’t just his own.
It was precious, tied to the people of Ariant Kingdom and its future.
At least, that’s how Prince Kasan saw it.
In other words, he felt their betrayal wasn’t against him personally, but against Ariant Kingdom itself.
That was why he didn’t shudder in betrayal or shock.
“El Pam, I have to get out alive.”
Right now, Prince Kasan had no time to waste on such things.
Of course, he knew.
“It won’t be easy.”
How difficult it would be for El Pam’s party to get him out together in this situation.
No, difficult didn’t cover it.
‘Impossible.’
Honestly, even as he said it, Prince Kasan knew how absurd his own words were.
So he was prepared for it.
‘It might be better if they just leave me behind.’
Better for El Pam’s party to survive and escape than to fail trying to save him.
Though that might be meaningless too.
‘Who knows if anyone would believe El Pam.’
With Prince Kasan dead, who would buy El Pam’s story of betrayal?
El Pam would likely be branded the killer.
A worst-case scenario in every way.
But it wasn’t the absolute worst yet.
‘If there’s an exit, maybe.’
Right now, they at least had a shot at survival.
‘But if they have to defeat the boss monster for the exit to appear...’
If there were conditions for the exit, it was basically game over.
El Pam’s party alone taking down a 300-man Mystic Gate’s boss monster was unimaginable.
Of course, El Pam’s party thought differently.
They knew.
‘This is turning out way better than expected.’
‘The leader can get us out of here, no problem.’
With El Pam’s abilities, finding and escaping through the exit would be effortless.
‘Even the boss monster.’
Even if they had to kill the boss to leave, no one was too worried.
That was El Pam’s caliber.
He could handle a 300-man Mystic Gate boss no sweat.
That was why.
“There’s no need to worry, Prince Kasan.”
Dibo spoke with more confidence than ever.
“Trust the boss’s skills. He’ll definitely get you out of here!”
That was when it happened.
El Pam, scanning the surroundings through Artemis’s Eye, froze in place for a moment.
Stock-still.
“Isn’t that right, boss?”
Dibo, oblivious to the change, addressed El Pam, and only then did El Pam move again.
He spoke.
“Change of plans.”
“Yes? Boss?”
“From now on, stay as quiet as possible.”
“Stay quiet? No searching for the exit?”
“Searching for the exit is pointless now.”
El Pam turned to his surprised comrades and continued.
“The boss monster here is beyond my expectations. Looks like we need a full plan overhaul.”
When El Pam put it that way, his comrades’ expressions inevitably hardened.
“Boss, what is it?”
“Hey, what’s going on?”
To them, El Pam revealed.
“It’s a Junior Balrog.”