Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: 44장. 크림슨 발록 (4)
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10.
There were many adventurers in the Maple World, and they had left behind countless adventure tales.
Of course, the most beloved among those tales was the story of the Six Heroes who sealed away the Black Mage.
A heroic saga that surpassed mere adventure tales!
Among them, a few stories stood out in particular, especially those about Luminous, the mage of light and darkness.
“The Black Mage created 10,000 golems and sent them to stop the Six Heroes.”
It was a dizzying tale just to hear.
“The sight of 10,000 massive golems lined up made it feel like a moving city wall.”
10,000 golems!
More than enough in number to bring down the Maple World.
A force that could shake the earth and the world just by moving.
Even the Six Heroes would find it impossible to stop them easily, or so one would think.
“And those 10,000 golems marched toward Henesys. To trample it underfoot.”
Moreover, the golem legion wasn’t targeting the Six Heroes, but ordinary adventurers and citizens.
It was a trial the heroes could not ignore.
So everyone thought.
That the heroes would engage in a fierce battle against the legion of 10,000 golems.
But that assumption didn’t last long.
“Then arrows of light rained down from Luminous’s hand. The 10,000 golems began to crumble.”
One person stopped the golem legion in its tracks.
“It took less than 10 minutes for silence to fall.”
In an instant.
That was the power of light magic.
A magic that casually defied not only the common sense of mages but all adventurers.
Now, that light magic unfolded from El Pam’s hand.
“Twinkle Flash.”
In truth, light magic itself wasn’t all that remarkable.
Swoosh!
The moment El Pam cast the spell, an arrow of light flew forth.
The arrow was fast as it streaked through the air, but not truly as fast as light itself.
On the level of Thunderbolt’s speed.
Impressively quick, but nothing groundbreaking.
Its flight held no particular flair.
Compared to other attack spells like Fire Arrow or Cold Beam, it was downright modest.
The same went for when it struck its target.
Boom!
It hit the chest of a golem—hard as could be, where its core was located—and the light arrow simply vanished.
No explosive impact or dramatic effect whatsoever.
But the aftermath was different.
The light arrow disappeared right in front of the golem’s chest, and shortly after.
Boom!
The 5-meter-tall stone golem, which had been leaving massive footprints on the ground and exuding unmatched dignity, suddenly froze in place.
Rumble!
Then it collapsed on the spot like a marionette with its strings cut.
Crash!
It shattered into pieces upon falling.
Proof that the light arrow had pierced the golem’s stone body and precisely shattered the magic stone inside.
“My goodness!”
Everyone let out exclamations of awe at the sight.
“Boss! That’s incredible!”
“It’s just like Luminous!”
“Hey, this is insane!”
“Worth paying to see. Oh, not that I’d actually pay, mind you.”
Praise poured from every mouth.
And what El Pam showed next was even more astonishing than their acclaim.
“Light magic! It’s truly amazing! I thought the heroic tales of Luminous were exaggerated when I heard them, but they weren’t at all!”
And rightly so—this wasn’t just possible because it was light magic.
It was because El Pam had wielded light magic perfectly, and that was no easy feat.
Maintaining a light arrow was already difficult, yet El Pam had launched it to penetrate the golem’s body and detonated it exactly at the magic stone’s position to deal damage.
It was astonishing.
Especially since El Pam had only recently begun using light magic.
At this point, it went beyond mere innate talent.
And in reality, that’s how it was.
‘It’s almost like using Telekinesis.’
The reason El Pam could wield light arrows so flawlessly was their similarity to his Telekinesis.
Both demanded extreme focus and control.
And in that regard, El Pam surpassed any adventurer.
That’s why he could produce such a spectacle now.
“To take down a real golem this easily—now there’s no monster the boss can’t handle!”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“This magic has limits.”
Of course, this light magic—Twinkle Flash—was far from the strongest spell.
“It can’t deal proper damage to monsters with even a bit of magic defense.”
Light magic was still magic, after all. Against monsters resistant to magic, its power would halve inevitably.
“Its raw power is weaker than Fire Arrow.”
Meanwhile, Twinkle Flash’s attack strength was the weakest among El Pam’s spells.
“It worked on stone golems, but against Hectors, I’d need at least two shots.”
Hectors and up would require multiple casts.
“It’s useless against boss monsters.”
Obviously, expecting meaningful damage from Twinkle Flash against boss monsters, who were leagues above regular ones in every way, was folly.
Still, it was a fine skill.
“Isn’t that enough? It kills golems!”
A skill that could take down golems—that alone made it remarkable.
And it wasn’t powerless, just not overwhelmingly strong.
‘An impressive skill.’
In fact, El Pam valued Twinkle Flash higher than any skill he currently possessed.
‘It changes tactics.’
It could alter the tactics El Pam had built up.
That was no small thing.
El Pam’s tactics weren’t just a handful of basic adventurer fighting styles.
As the Last Adventurer, he had experienced every tactic an adventurer could encounter.
To surpass that was monumental!
‘In Green rank now, there’s only one monster I can’t take.’
Thus, El Pam was certain.
‘Zakum.’
In this Green-rank Mystic Gate, only one being could kill him now.
In other words, El Pam no longer feared death in this Mystic Gate.
Nor was he the only one.
“Now all that’s left is finding the necklace.”
Dibo spoke, scanning the surroundings before letting out a deep sigh.
“Of all places, a jungle.”
To search for a necklace in this vast jungle, where even a ring dropped at your feet would be hard to find.
Worse, El Pam’s party didn’t even know exactly what necklace to look for.
Meaning they had to find every necklace there was.
The one silver lining?
“We’d have lost our minds without these guys.”
Kyuu!
Thanks to the snail pet Mano.
Of course, it was still a silver lining in a very difficult task.
El Pam knew that.
Kyuu!
“Huh? Boss? What are you feeding it?”
That’s why.
“Eliza’s Horn.”
El Pam feeding Mano the absurdly valuable Eliza’s Horn, which could break through the 5th Circle wall.
“Why feed that to it?”
From the perspective of El Pam’s companions, unaware of its value, it was baffling.
One exception.
“Ugh!”
“Huh? What’s wrong? Ralph, why the sudden reaction?”
“My chest suddenly hurts.”
“Your chest hurts?”
“I don’t know. Feels like I just lost a fortune.”
Ralph sensing something intuitively.
But no one truly knew, and naturally, no one stopped El Pam.
Kyuu!
Unhindered, Mano gleefully devoured Eliza’s Horn.
That was the moment.
Tremble!
“Huh? What’s this?”
The snail Mano shuddered, then began emitting intense light from its entire body.
The light grew steadily brighter.
As everyone tensed at the sight, the light vanished, revealing.
Kyuu!
“……No change?”
Mano looked exactly the same as before.
“Only the horn’s gone?”
Dibo chuckled in disbelief, but then he saw it.
Kyuu!
Kyuu!
“Huh?”
Mano suddenly splitting apart.
11.
Adventurers say:
“If an adventure takes ten days, one day is spent fighting monsters, and nine finding items.”
Finding items is far harder than killing monsters.
That’s why El Pam’s party had grown so remarkably fast until now.
Kyuu!
Mano found items on its own and even retrieved them, slashing their adventure time dramatically.
Kyuu!
But now Mano had split.
“My goodness, five of them.”
Not two—five!
No one had anticipated it, not even El Pam.
‘Who’d have thought.’
He’d expected something special from Phantom Thief’s advice, but this?
“Jackpot!”
Not something to complain about, though.
“With five, finding items will be a breeze!”
One Mano was a huge help for item hunting; five made it effortless!
Naturally, everyone thought:
“We’ll find it in no time!”
“This might end anticlimactically.”
The mission would wrap up far easier and faster.
“Anticlimactic my foot!”
Ralph thought differently.
“Five times the item recovery! Heaven-sent opportunity!”
He was more excited than anyone, dreaming of riches from items.
But that optimism faded fast.
“No luck on the first floor.”
El Pam moved to the second floor from the golem-infested first without notable gains.
There, a herd of Hectors awaited!
No issue, of course.
El Pam’s party massacred the Hectors, then searched for items.
“No harvest.”
But no necklace on the second floor either.
Not just the necklace.
“Nothing valuable here.”
No money-makers at all.
The third floor was the same.
Screech!
In the place teeming with vicious Pepes, those evil penguins, El Pam’s party found nothing.
Literally.
“No items at all? How is that possible?”
Not a single item recovered.
Adventurers had surely been here, surely died here—yet no items?
Items often broke from monsters, but this was incomprehensible.
El Pam saw it differently.
“Property of the Lion King.”
He’d known from the start.
“No sane adventurer would enter here.”
Few adventurers had died here.
“But one thing’s certain.”
“One thing?”
“There’ll be relics on the fourth floor.”
Since this Mystic Gate remained unconquered, failed challengers’ remnants must be on the fourth.
“Right.”
The answer lay on the fourth.
So El Pam’s party rushed to the fourth floor entrance without hesitation.
“Let’s smash the boss monster quick and wrap this up!”
Spirits were sky-high.
Unbroken after minimal real fights—odd if they weren’t.
“I’ll pulverize whatever comes with my polearm!”
“Hey, Dibo.”
“Yeah?”
“Not the time for that.”
“What isn’t?”
“Look at this!”
But their confidence didn’t last.
“What? Huh?”
Everyone, Dibo included, saw what Miner had found.
“These footprints—Junior Balrog?”
Junior Balrog footprints.
Everyone’s faces hardened.
A Junior Balrog, that fearsome beast, here of all places?
No worries, though.
“Junior Balrog? Guess we’ll have to work for it.”
El Pam’s party, having slain one before, had zero reason to fret.
“Don’t let your guard down.”
El Pam warned them.
“It could be a Crimson Balrog.”
“Huh?”
His companions blinked in shock, then laughed it off.
“Come on, Boss! That’s a harsh curse! Crimson Balrog? As if…….”
That was the moment.
Rooooar!
A monstrous roar engulfed El Pam’s party.