Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Chapter 40. Chimera Hunt (4)
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8.
For El Pam, there was only one thing he cared about during this chimera subjugation.
‘Is this something our party can handle?’
The difficulty of the trap that Umar had prepared.
That was why.
El Pam had relentlessly questioned Umar without pause.
And why he had watched the situation while hiding his power to the very end.
El Pam knew especially well.
‘You have to hide your power until you see the chimera.’
If Umar learned of El Pam’s strength, he would surely hide the chimera away tight.
El Pam’s scheme hit the mark perfectly.
Umar was confident, and so he willingly brought out the chimera.
From there, El Pam thought once more.
‘Even if the chimera appears, I won’t know its strength.’
Depending on the chimera’s power, he prepared the appropriate countermeasures.
‘If things go south, we run.’
Among those was abandoning the subjugation altogether.
It was only natural.
El Pam wasn’t the type of adventurer to catch a monster beyond his grasp through grit and willpower alone.
He knew better than anyone that it was impossible—that no amount of grit, willpower, or conviction could slay a monster out of reach.
“My God.”
Then he heard it.
“It’s controlling the cube slimes!”
Umar, dousing the already waning morale of the Cygnus Knights with those words upon seeing the chimera.
The moment he heard it, El Pam was certain.
‘The chimera is weaker than I expected.’
The fact that Umar was going to such lengths—mobilizing every means and method—to shatter the Cygnus Knights’ fighting spirit proved that the chimera he had created wasn’t all that strong.
‘It’s not the individual’s power, but its ability to control the cube slimes that’s the special part.’
That was why.
“Dee, Kay. Clear the path from now on.”
“The path?”
“The one leading to the chimera.”
Without hesitation, El Pam pushed Dibo and Kiri to the front lines.
The moment they heard it, it was such an obvious statement, but Grendel and the Cygnus Knights were horrified.
“What are you saying right now?”
And Grendel pointed it out.
“You’re saying we face the chimera now?”
El Pam was certainly removing the cube slimes at an astonishing pace with his remarkable abilities.
But he hadn’t eliminated all of them yet.
Not to mention, the chimera’s strength was still unconfirmed.
“This is the time to retreat.”
Anyone could see it was time to fall back, yet he was saying to clear a path toward the chimera?
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
It went beyond incomprehensible to utterly unacceptable.
“Got it.”
“Good.”
“What?”
But Dibo and Kiri offered no rebuttal to El Pam’s words.
There was no reason to.
If El Pam said it, then it was the right answer.
“There’s one condition today.”
El Pam said to the two of them.
“Make it flashy.”
“Huh?”
“Flashier than ever. Carve out the path.”
To Dibo and Kiri, who tilted their heads at the demand, El Pam said.
“It’s our debut.”
The moment they heard it, all doubts vanished.
“Yes, we’ll make it flashy.”
9.
When Dibo and Kiri said they would clear the path, the Cygnus Knights all thought they were insane.
They knew why.
“They’re only 4th Circle!”
For 4th Circle warrior and soul master to carve a path that even 5th Circle soul masters couldn’t?
Impossible.
But their assumptions soon shattered.
Dibo and Kiri showed them.
“Brave Slash!”
“Solar Slash!”
The sight of them mercilessly slaughtering the swarming cube slimes using polearm and sword.
It looked easy to the eye.
But everyone there knew better.
‘How?’
Cube slimes had the properties of slimes. Meaning their bodies were incredibly potent acid.
Slicing a cube slime up close was tantamount to volunteering to be drenched in powerful acidic solution.
Yet Dibo and Kiri pulled it off.
Amid that ruthless massacre, they evaded the cube slimes’ acidic fluids.
‘How do they control the distance so perfectly?’
That was skill.
Not just unleashing powerful skills, but wielding weapons—and the skills themselves—to perfection.
Dibo and Kiri possessed that level of prowess.
Of course, that wasn’t all.
‘If we get hurt.’
‘Ralph will heal us.’
The faith that Ralph would mend any injury.
‘If it gets dicey.’
‘Miner will cover us.’
Taang!
The faith that Miner’s golden eyes wouldn’t miss their vulnerabilities.
‘Even in the worst case.’
‘El Pam’s got our backs.’
Above all, they had El Pam—the strongest leader in Maple World—watching their rear.
No reason to hesitate, no need to agonize.
Puhot!
Just carve the path.
And they did.
Kyaaah!
The chimera, repeatedly screeching grotesquely to summon more cube slimes.
Dududu!
Against the wall formed by tens of thousands of cube slimes drawn by its call, Dibo and Kiri, Miner and Ralph carved the path.
They reached the end.
Kyaaah!
Right before the chimera.
The first to strike was none other than Dibo.
He leaped high.
“Rift Attack!”
In that leap, he closed the distance to the chimera in an instant, and slammed his polearm down like lightning.
Dibo’s polearm struck the chimera’s head with a resounding crash.
Kwaang!
It was an intense sound.
Like steel clashing against steel with full force.
A sound proclaiming the chimera’s head was as hard as steel.
Not a good sign.
A hard head meant ordinary attacks couldn’t inflict proper fatal wounds.
‘Well, well?’
But rather than dismay, Dibo’s eyes changed at the impact. They began to sparkle.
He had no choice.
‘It can’t even dodge this?’
From Dibo’s perspective, the moment he saw the chimera fail to dodge or even properly block his attack, he was convinced.
‘This thing’s weaker than I thought.’
Subjugating this chimera would be far easier than anticipated.
Only then did it click.
‘That’s why the boss said...?’
Why El Pam had told them to carve the path.
Of course, he didn’t forget those words.
‘Okay, this is showtime.’
Flashy, it had said.
Whoosh, whoosh!
The moment he recalled it, Dibo began spinning his polearm in the air like a windmill.
It was pointless, really.
But it looked flashy, without a doubt.
Having spun the polearm like a windmill, Dibo soon gripped it properly again and swung it straight at the chimera.
The attack whipped across the chimera’s body.
Kaaang!
Still a hard clang.
‘Little bastard.’
From Dibo’s view, it meant the chimera’s close-quarters combat ability was sorely lacking.
‘You’re done for.’
Dibo, brimming with confidence at that fact.
That was the moment.
Puk!
‘Huh?’
A sword protruded from the chimera’s chest.
It was Kiri.
While Dibo drew the chimera’s attention, Kiri had slipped behind and thrust her sword in.
An assassin-like strike, far from flashy.
“Hey! Not the time for that! Don’t you know the boss’s orders? Flashy!”
Dibo scolded Kiri for it.
But the scolding didn’t last.
Their ears caught it.
“Both of you, fall back.”
El Pam’s voice.
The moment they heard it, Dibo and Kiri fled the spot like rabbits.
And they witnessed it.
“Explosion.”
El Pam’s Explosion magic detonating right by the chimera.
Kwaaagooogwang!
A blaze of explosion that refused comparison to any other 5th Circle mage—utterly dazzling.
Kyaaah!
A powerful blow, but the chimera didn’t die.
However, with its ragged cloak burned away, the revealed body was anything but normal.
A body stitched together from ragged bits of various monsters, covered in burns and wounds—it could collapse any second.
Now, just the finishing touch remained.
And El Pam provided it.
“Fire Arrow.”
10.
“Chimera corpse confirmed.”
Grendel had no real response to El Pam’s words.
Words wouldn’t come.
‘To think I dismissed someone with this level of skill.’
She was on the verge of shame exploding her face, having belittled a mage far superior to her—beyond comparison.
On the other hand, it made sense now.
‘That’s why Oz...’
Why Oz had added this unheard-of figure to his party for this mission.
‘So they’re a secret agent of the Cygnus Knights.’
Grendel took El Pam’s party as a secret force nurtured by the Cygnus Knights outside their main knights.
A force that actually existed.
The Cygnus Knights were mighty, but conversely, only those fitting could join.
Soul Master, Flame Wizard, Wind Breaker, Night Walker, Striker.
Only those five classes could become Cygnus Knights.
Adventurers without talent in those classes couldn’t join, no matter how much they wanted.
A considerable loss for the Cygnus Knights as well.
There were plenty of excellent talents lacking aptitude for those classes.
Thus, the Cygnus Knights—or rather, Empress Cygnus—operated a separate force of adventurers.
If El Pam’s party was that separate force, everything clicked.
‘She’ll think we’re secret agents.’
And that was exactly what El Pam aimed for.
That was why.
He had told them to fight as flashily as possible.
The more impressive the display, the more Grendel and the Cygnus Knights would see El Pam’s party as secret agents.
‘Oz won’t like it.’
Of course, this deviated from what Oz, the Fire Knight Commander, had anticipated.
From Oz’s perspective, it went beyond a fake identity to granting Cygnus Knights secret agent status.
If El Pam’s party caused trouble, the Cygnus Knights would bear greater responsibility.
That, too, was part of El Pam’s plan.
The bigger the risk to the Cygnus Knights, the greater their efforts to mitigate it.
Meaning he could keep Fire Knight Commander Oz as a solid backing.
‘With this, my deal with Oz is done.’
Moreover, with such a clear feat, there was no need for further missions to earn a fake identity.
His deal with Fire Knight Commander Oz was effectively complete.
‘All that’s left is heading to the Elnas Mountains.’
Now, only fulfilling his deal with Phantom the thief by going to the Elnas Mountains remained.
Of course, El Pam didn’t forget.
“Lord Umar.”
“Yes?”
Umar looked at him when El Pam spoke.
With a dazed expression.
It was warranted.
‘Th-this can’t be happening.’
From Umar’s standpoint, his perfect plan had collapsed in a way he couldn’t even imagine.
And not just collapsed—it was utterly, irrecoverably shattered, beyond any chance of retry.
No wonder he was stunned.
“Thanks to you.”
“Wh-what?”
“Thanks to you, Lord Umar, we succeeded in subjugating the chimera. We’re truly grateful for your resolve and sacrifice.”
In that situation, El Pam’s words went beyond scraping at Umar’s nerves—they dug them out.
‘That damned bastard!’
It was all because of no one but El Pam that his lifelong plan had crumbled.
Naturally, Umar ground his teeth.
‘Again, I’ll rebuild the chimera legion, and then you...’
Of course, Umar didn’t know.
“In that vein, I’d like to treat you to a meal. Once we’re out of here, how about we set up a private spot for dinner?”
“I’d be honored!”
“Glad to hear it.”
El Pam.
“I know a quiet, nice place.”
He was now exacting payment from Umar.