Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: 47. Witch of the Snow Mountain (1)
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1.
Witch of the Snow Mountain.
“You’re asking what the Witch of the Snow Mountain looks like?”
Any halfway decent adventurer knew the monster’s physical features well enough. It was that famous.
“It looks just like a witch sealed inside a massive block of ice. And that ice is further sealed with iron chains.”
It was also unique enough that it could never be mistaken for any other monster.
“Whether it’s really a witch sealed away or just an extreme cold turned into a monster, no one knows.”
No one knew why it had taken on that form.
In any case, the Witch of the Snow Mountain had such a distinct presence that you knew what it was the moment you laid eyes on it.
That was why.
“It’s the Witch of the Snow Mountain!”
Even amid the raging blizzard and El Pam’s party’s onslaught, when they could barely keep their wits about them, the outlaws were able to recognize her.
“My God.”
And the moment they did, everyone was stunned.
They had known the Witch of the Snow Mountain was somewhere in this place, but no one had expected her to appear at this exact moment.
Above all, no adventurer or outlaw had ever seen the Witch of the Snow Mountain in person.
There was no way there could have been.
In the history of Maple World’s adventurers, those who had seen her and lived to tell the tale could be counted on one hand.
Most turned into frozen ice statues the instant they saw her.
“Crazy, she actually showed up?”
And among those who were shocked like that were Dibo and the rest of El Pam’s party.
They hadn’t expected her to appear either.
Of course, it wasn’t just her appearance itself that surprised them.
“Did anyone sense her presence?”
“I didn’t. What about you, Ralph?”
“I only noticed her after she appeared.”
No one had sensed the slightest hint of the Witch of the Snow Mountain’s arrival.
That was impossible.
For one thing, she was enormous. The block of ice she was made of was bigger than a bear.
If you exaggerated a bit, you could even call it elephant-sized!
Moreover, she wasn’t the kind of monster you could mistake for something else.
Even if she appeared from far away, you’d have no choice but to notice her.
Yet not only the outlaw party but El Pam’s party as well only realized her presence after she had appeared right next to the outlaws.
It was no wonder they were shocked.
“Just as I expected.”
“Huh?”
Of course, El Pam was the exception.
“Boss, you mean as expected?”
“The Witch of the Snow Mountain has no physical form. She only reveals herself when necessary.”
El Pam knew exactly what kind of monster she was.
That was why.
“That’s why we need bait.”
“Bait?”
“You can’t find the Witch of the Snow Mountain by searching for her. You have to lure her out with bait.”
That was why El Pam hadn’t killed the outlaws here—instead leaving them battered and bruised.
“Boss, so you planned to use the outlaws as bait?”
Dibo, stunned by El Pam’s words, asked a question. In response, El Pam narrowed his eyes and said,
“If not, what other reason would there be to let them live?”
“Well, I mean, uh...”
Dibo stammered in confusion.
“Wasn’t it just revenge?”
Dibo had thought El Pam’s actions against the outlaws—sparing their lives—were simply one method of revenge.
He wasn’t the only one.
“Yeah, revenge, right?”
“An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth?”
The others thought the same.
They figured El Pam was judging the outlaws—who had used people’s lives as bait for their own gain—by turning the tables on them in the exact same way.
They saw it as a form of revenge.
“There’s no reason for revenge.”
But El Pam had never even considered seeking revenge against the outlaws.
Beyond revenge, he harbored almost no personal feelings toward them at all.
He had never felt betrayed by outlaws.
There was no way he could have.
“There was never any reason to feel betrayed by outlaws in the first place.”
Betrayal only happens when you trust someone.
El Pam had never once trusted outlaws or held even the slightest expectation toward them.
What was more, these weren’t just any outlaws.
They were the ones El Pam had chosen.
Ones who deserved to die.
“We were just using each other.”
That was why El Pam didn’t attach any great significance to the current situation.
“This time, it just worked out in my favor.”
In any case, things were proceeding exactly as El Pam wanted.
He had used the outlaws as bait, and the Witch of the Snow Mountain had taken it.
Now, there was only one thing left.
“We eliminate the Witch of the Snow Mountain.”
That was the moment his words ended.
Bang!
Miner’s gun spat fire, and the bullet it fired struck the Witch of the Snow Mountain dead on.
Ting!
“Damn it.”
The bullet barely embedded itself in the witch’s incredibly hard block of ice.
“Not even a scratch.”
If it were human skin, it wouldn’t even be a graze.
But Miner didn’t gasp in surprise at the fact—she just clicked her tongue.
“Just like the stories said.”
One of the terrifying things about the Witch of the Snow Mountain was her defense.
The ice that made her up wasn’t ordinary ice—it was as hard as steel.
“They said magic doesn’t work on her either.”
That hardness held up even against magic.
That was why she was a being of terror.
If all she did was turn adventurers she encountered into frozen statues, she never would have reigned in fear over the Elnas Mountains, teeming with outlaws.
Of course, it wasn’t that there was absolutely no way to catch her.
It was as hard as steel, but not unbreakable.
Miner’s bullet had already lodged in her, after all.
Repeated attacks would eventually shatter her.
“It’ll take forever to take her down, though.”
It would just take an eternity.
“No problem.”
El Pam wasn’t worried about it at all.
“We’ll finish her before the bait runs out.”
2.
Ispa.
“It’s the Witch of the Snow Mountain!”
The moment she heard those words, she shouted.
“Everyone, listen up!”
Her voice rang out loud and clear.
Piercing through the blizzard, loud enough for every outlaw to hear.
“Buy time against the Witch of the Snow Mountain!”
And at those following words, the outlaws’ faces hardened.
Some spat curses.
“Crazy bitch!”
It was understandable.
“She’s trying to save her own skin!”
In this situation, Ispa’s words could only be heard as her using her comrades and underlings as bait to survive alone.
Nothing but nonsense.
But Ispa, who had given the order, was smiling.
Of course, it wasn’t a smile of joy. It couldn’t be.
Not a single one of her comrades had a single intact limb left.
Not one of the outlaws who had joined hands with her was unscathed.
Ispa herself had lost her left arm.
In this state, victory against the Witch of the Snow Mountain was out of the question—let alone even attempting battle.
Yet the reason she smiled was simple.
“While buying time from the Witch of the Snow Mountain, pursue El Pam’s party!”
And the moment she gave that order, some of the outlaws smiled too.
“You don’t have to kill them. Just drag it out so they can’t escape properly—that’s enough!”
They understood.
“We all die here.”
Ispa’s order now wasn’t to survive alone—it was to die together.
That was why Ispa was smiling.
El Pam’s party wouldn’t escape death from the Witch of the Snow Mountain either.
It wasn’t some empty curse.
The reason the Witch of the Snow Mountain was so fearsome was that she differed from ordinary monsters in so many ways.
Especially since once she targeted someone, she never let them go.
That was one reason the outlaws of the Elnas Mountains feared the frozen plains.
The Witch of the Snow Mountain was a disaster you couldn’t escape once you faced her.
Of course, nothing in the world was absolute.
With good luck, escape might be possible.
That was why.
“I’ll hold off the Witch of the Snow Mountain first!”
She willingly sacrificed herself.
To make even that tiny possibility of El Pam’s party escaping even tinier.
To her resolve, more outlaws than expected responded.
“I’ll help you.”
Chidi immediately sided with Ispa’s will.
It was hard to understand by adventurers’ common sense.
Rather than trying something else to survive right now, that was adventurers’ common sense.
In other words, that was why they were outlaws.
Outlaws were the kind who could trample others’ lives and sorrows for their own gain without hesitation.
Thus, they exacted the most desperate revenge on those who threatened their own interests—their own lives.
This was the latter.
The outlaws thought.
“El Pam, let’s get revenge on that bastard!”
Let’s make El Pam’s party taste the same hell they had plunged them into.
That malice and hostility from the outlaws spread faster than expected.
Not everyone, though.
“Crazy bastards!”
“Run! Nothing good comes from getting tangled with them!”
A few outlaws chose to flee while these madmen were busy with their madness.
But only a few.
Most gladly joined Ispa’s plan.
Clang!
Ispa swung her remaining right arm with both hands, repeatedly attacking the Witch of the Snow Mountain.
Clang!
Of course, she knew the attacks weren’t landing properly.
She knew all she could do was leave a scratch at best.
But it didn’t matter.
‘I’ll buy time.’
All she wanted was to stall the Witch of the Snow Mountain, to give the other outlaws time to exact revenge on El Pam’s party.
‘El Pam.’
In other words, she was certain.
‘You didn’t expect the Witch of the Snow Mountain to show up.’
Even El Pam couldn’t have predicted this situation.
‘Your ridiculous revenge drama will be the noose around your neck.’
Because of it, even though he could have killed Ispa and the other outlaws who had been used as bait in revenge, he hadn’t—and now he’d pay the price.
And that thought was reasonable.
‘No matter how amazing your magic is, you won’t be able to deal proper damage to the Witch of the Snow Mountain.’
There was no way El Pam’s party could take her down alone.
No, it wasn’t just El Pam’s party.
Even if you brought the world’s greatest 5th Circle adventurer, taking down the Witch of the Snow Mountain would be impossible.
As befitting a 400-man Mystic Gate, it was something that required most entrants to sacrifice themselves.
Smirk.
At that fact, Ispa smiled.
Proof that she was enjoying this moment.
And that fact awakened her.
Clang!
Against the Witch of the Snow Mountain, she displayed astonishing movements.
Beyond the skill she had shown before—skill greater than ever.
The moment she resolved to die, the ability blocked by her walls began to bloom once more.
Whoosh!
‘She’s coming.’
She even dodged the pure white smoke the Witch of the Snow Mountain exhaled from her mouth—the magic that turned anything it touched into an ice statue.
It was impossible.
It was smoke, literally.
Smoke without form, that shouldn’t exist.
Yet she dodged it—not from afar, but up close in the thick of battle?
It was clear.
The now-awakened Ispa, if she fought Dibo again—the one who had once filled her with despair—would show comparable prowess.
“Raaah!”
At her exploits, the outlaws let out cheers.
It would be weirder not to cheer when their leader displayed such unbelievable ability.
And one more person was impressed.
‘Interesting.’
El Pam marveled at Ispa’s ability, which surpassed even his expectations.
At the same time, he was pleased.
‘This will be easier than I thought.’
For El Pam, he just needed time.
“Twinkle Flash.”
The time for the arrow of light to destroy the Witch of the Snow Mountain’s magic stone.