Chapter 147
Chapter 147
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 147
Chapter Title: Frigid Plains (3)
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4.
“Aran’s item has appeared!”
The crowd was shocked by the declaration.
But that was it.
“Who doesn’t know that?”
“Exactly! That’s why we came to the Elnas Mountains in the first place!”
The countless adventurers and outlaws gathered in the Elnas Mountains were already well aware of that fact.
“It’s appeared in the Frigid Plains!”
The follow-up only drew the same reaction.
“The Frigid Plains? It’s not like it’s some neighborhood hill—who even knows how many mountains are crammed in there?”
“That place is so dangerous, you think they dug a trap just for us?”
They shot suspicious glances.
“It’s inside the Mystic Gate!”
Doubts only grew at the next revelation.
“The Bevor party went in to get it!”
“What? Who?”
“Bevor party?”
But everything changed the moment that name was mentioned.
“Bevor, the abandoned mine adventurer?”
Abandoned mine adventurer.
It referred to those who had survived adventuring in the most dangerous abandoned mines of the Elnas Mountains.
To the adventurers of the Elnas Mountains, it was an overwhelmingly prestigious title.
That was why they were stunned by Bevor’s name.
“He survived and came back three times?”
He wasn’t someone who had simply gotten lucky and escaped the mines.
And that implied one more thing.
“That lunatic who thrives on danger?”
To Bevor, danger wasn’t something to avoid—it was something to seek out in adventure.
That was why.
The moment the Bevor party was mentioned, the story about Aran’s item gained credibility.
He was exactly the type who would go after it.
“But if he had Aran’s item, why did he enter the Mystic Gate?”
Of course, that didn’t secure full trust.
Doubts lingered.
“How should I know!”
He answered the question directly.
“Skardur said it!”
“Skardur?”
“The legendary hunter of Elnas?”
Skardur.
The legendary figure among the hunters active in the Elnas Mountains had said it.
He had personally guided the Bevor party into that Mystic Gate.
And heard from them as well.
“When the Mystic Gate closes, spread everything that happened here to the world.”
Those were their dying words.
“Skardur, we’re counting on you.”
And Skardur had fulfilled that final request by spreading the word.
By then, no one harbored any doubts.
Not that it mattered if any did.
“Whatever—off to the Frigid Plains!”
The destination for all the adventurers gathered in the Elnas Mountains was now set.
And so the adventurers went wild.
Of course, they were the exception.
“Boss, what do we do?”
To the El Pam party, this was a bolt from the blue.
They had paid a steep price to learn the location of Aran’s item, only for that information to spread across the entire Maple World?
It rendered their payment meaningless.
And that wasn’t all.
“This is a commission, right?”
They had received a request from the Cygnus Knights—no one less than the Lightning Knight Captain himself.
To retrieve Aran’s item on their behalf.
In this situation, fulfilling that commission was impossible, wasn’t it?
It would mean breaking their promise.
“Can our luck really be this rotten?”
A worst-case scenario in every way.
Of course, El Pam knew.
‘It’s a trap.’
This wasn’t bad luck—it was a trap set by the Black Mage’s followers.
‘They want adventurer blood.’
Furthermore, El Pam had figured out the plan the Black Mage’s followers had devised this time.
‘Enough blood spilled over Aran’s item to fill a lake—so much blood that the hero has no choice but to move.’
To drag the hidden Aran out into the open.
‘They’ll be fully prepared.’
Which meant the preparations made by the Black Mage’s followers for this event were anything but ordinary.
Most adventurers would face certain death.
‘No problem.’
Of course, that wasn’t El Pam’s concern.
El Pam thought.
‘Anything but Zakum.’
At this point, among the green-grade Mystic Gates, the only one that could trouble El Pam was the one featuring Zakum.
There was no need to worry about conquering the rest.
Only one issue mattered.
‘If I recover Aran’s item here and now with this identity, the point of my fake identity vanishes.’
The fact that the Black Mage’s followers were watching this event closely.
At that thought, El Pam turned his head.
And there it was.
‘That won’t be a problem either.’
The wanted poster board.
5.
Lion King’s Castle.
The residence of the Elnas Mountains’ ruler had never once allowed intruders—except for that single time.
The secret was simple.
It was located at the northernmost tip of the Elnas Mountains, the coldest place, where the snow piled deepest and the terrain was most treacherous.
Reaching Lion King’s Castle alone was enough to earn an adventurer a title—it was that grueling.
Naturally, the Lion King’s Castle wasn’t prosperous.
Veteran adventurers struggled to get there; merchants had no chance.
The harsh land made proper crops impossible.
Livestock was out of the question.
A decent meal was a rarity.
“How do they even survive eating this stuff?”
To Queen Areda, who had lived a life of luxury, it was utterly incomprehensible.
“You’re eating it pretty well for someone complaining.”
“I don’t want to die throwing a fit over side dishes.”
Of course, she didn’t voice her complaints.
It wasn’t because she’d suddenly turned kind or mellowed out.
“The Lion King wouldn’t take it lightly.”
The master of this place was none other than the Lion King himself.
The Lion King Von Leon was such a being.
Even Queen Areda, the wicked queen who had indulged in endless extravagance, debauchery, and atrocities, had to watch her step around him.
And rightly so.
“He’s the one who unleashes bloodbaths with a single move.”
Until now, the Lion King had crushed every enemy he deemed a threat more brutally and thoroughly than anyone.
He had committed massacres.
“I wonder how much blood will spill this time.”
And now, the Lion King Von Leon was on the move.
“Because of you, Ebob.”
The one who had set the Lion King in motion was none other than Ebob.
The moment he heard Ebob’s plan, Von Leon’s shadow, Hote, pledged full support.
“The Elnas Mountains are being dyed red.”
As a result, an indescribable bloodbath was raging across the Elnas Mountains right now.
A bloodbath far greater than what had reached the ears of the Maple World.
The number of adventurers already dead required counting in the thousands.
“This is just the prelude.”
And it was merely the beginning.
“The prelude to the real bloodbath.”
The bloodbath the Lion King Von Leon craved was vast enough to engulf the entire Maple World.
“So, how many are you planning to kill?”
“At least 100,000.”
“100,000?”
“The minimum. I believe it needs to be around 500,000 for it to mean anything.”
A staggering scale.
And a bloodbath of that magnitude was necessary.
“Only then will the polearm hero show her face.”
To turn this chaotic era into one truly fit for heroes—a sea of blood that size was required.
“And that bloodbath will be the signal for the Lion King to move.”
Above all, the Lion King had no intention of stopping at just sparking a bloodbath and capturing the polearm hero.
Ebob knew.
“For revenge.”
What the Lion King wanted to drown in blood wasn’t the Elnas Mountains, but the entire Maple World.
“That’s our chance.”
What Ebob and Queen Areda awaited was precisely that moment.
“The first place the Lion King steps after leaving the Elnas Mountains will be the sands of Nihal Desert.”
Queen Areda planned to use the Lion King’s power to reclaim her throne in Ariant Kingdom.
“Next will be Victoria Island.”
Ebob, too, intended to leverage that power to reclaim what he had built—and more.
That was why the two were holding their breath in the Lion King’s Castle, biding their time for the future.
And there was one more reason they waited.
“After that, we’ll track down El Pam and kill him.”
“Of course. Him above all—we have to kill that one.”
El Pam.
Toward that adventurer, their rage burned hotter than ever.
He was the one who had shattered everything they had built.
“If we don’t deal with him, we’re as good as dead anyway.”
But most crucially, Ebob and Queen Areda were barely clinging to life as it was.
“It’s the last chance Lord Will gave us.”
Fail to eliminate El Pam, and Will—one of the Black Mage’s commanders they served—would judge them personally.
It was then.
Knock knock!
As Queen Areda and Ebob discussed El Pam, a knock sounded, and the door opened.
The one who appeared.
“Lord Hote.”
Hote, the shadow knight of Lion King Von Leon.
He was also the one managing everything concerning Ebob and Queen Areda at present.
“Has something gone wrong with the plan?”
“The plan is proceeding exactly as you laid it out, Ebob.”
“Then?”
“El Pam.”
The moment that name left his lips, Ebob’s eyes narrowed.
“He’s shown up.”
“Indeed. He appeared in the Elnas market. He hid his identity, but he couldn’t evade the eyes we planted.”
Ebob wasn’t surprised.
There was no reason to be.
“His goal is Aran’s item.”
Given El Pam’s actions so far, there was no way he’d pass it by.
‘Just as expected—he took the bait.’
And Ebob had desperately hoped El Pam wouldn’t pass it by.
The opportunity had arrived.
“We need to eliminate him.”
That was why Ebob pressed Hote here and now.
“Use every means at our disposal. We absolutely cannot let him live.”
Frankly, to ordinary ears, it was an overstep.
Lion King Von Leon had granted his shadow, Hote, full authority over the operation to assassinate the polearm hero Aran.
Hote was executing the plan with that authority, having set a perfect trap.
A flawless trap that could not fail!
One that would doom any adventurer!
So Ebob’s words could be heard as:
“I’m not doubting you, Lord Hote, or Lion King Von Leon—nor his abilities.”
As if saying he didn’t trust their competence.
Pointing out incompetence to one poised to burn the Maple World.
Especially since Hote held the authority to take Ebob and Queen Areda’s lives at any moment.
It was a dangerous statement.
“Hey, Ebob, what are you—”
Queen Areda’s face went pale as she listened.
“...saying...?”
“I understand.”
But Hote nodded at Ebob’s words.
“I share your view, Lord Ebob. I investigated El Pam. He possesses something far beyond his visible fame and titles.”
Hote did not underestimate the El Pam party.
“Given the gravity of this operation, we can’t afford to overlook even the smallest risk.”
At Hote’s words, Queen Areda and Ebob felt a chill run down their spines.
They knew Lion King Von Leon was terrifying.
Terrifying enough to burn the world for revenge.
‘To this extent.’
But they hadn’t anticipated just how coldly calculating and meticulous he was.
That sent shivers down their spines.
The most terrifying being in the world wasn’t one blazing with the flames of rage, but one who harbored those flames and executed revenge with icy precision.
Right now, Lion King Von Leon and his followers were just that—the most terrifying in the world.
Of course, that didn’t end the conversation.
The El Pam party had appeared, and they agreed to eliminate them.
“So, how?”
What remained was the method of elimination.
“There’s only one surefire way to eliminate an adventurer in the Elnas Mountains.”
Hote stated without hesitation.
“Hang a bounty on his head in the black market.”
“A bounty?”
“El Pam—1 billion mesos on his head.”