Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: 47장. 설산의 마녀 (2)
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3.
The adventurers said it.
"Even if you're captured by Zakum, you can survive as long as you keep your wits about you."
That in moments of crisis, you had to stay sharp.
"Well, we all know it's easier said than done."
Of course, actually keeping your head in a crisis was rare enough to count on one hand.
"That's why we need exceptional talent."
But the moment those rare few stepped up, the situation turned around in an instant.
"Once the heroics begin, the energy spreads. Like a contagion. And if you survive that, you become a legend."
That was how most of the legendary adventure tales that set Maple World adventurers' hearts ablaze were born.
And right now, Ispa was putting on just such a show.
Whoooosh!
A howling blizzard.
Boom!
The Witch of the Snowy Mountains appeared amid it.
In that utterly absurd situation, Ispa was delivering heroics no one could have dared imagine.
Hooo!
She dodged the witch's icy breath with perfect precision.
It was a breathtaking sight.
"Uwooo!"
Even the outlaws—former adventurers themselves—felt their long-dead adventurer hearts pounding.
Naturally, at that moment, the outlaws thought:
"Find El Pam!"
They would use the precious time Ispa had bought them to hunt down and kill El Pam's party.
"Isn't Ispa giving us all the time we need?"
And they believed they had endless time on their side.
It was a situation that had them more excited than ever.
Of course, the most exhilarated was her.
'It’s working.'
Ispa was buzzing more than at any point since she'd picked up a sword and stepped into the world.
No, it went beyond buzzed.
Her spirits were soaring higher than the heavens.
'Everything is going my way.'
Her awakened state right now was more perfect, more astonishing in battle, than ever before.
She could see everything.
As if time itself had frozen.
That was why.
Hooo!
She could perfectly evade the witch's attacks.
'I can take her down.'
At this point, she believed hunting the Witch of the Snowy Mountains wasn't impossible.
It wasn't just wishful thinking.
She couldn't do it alone.
But things were different if she could buy time against the witch.
There were hundreds of outlaws at her back, after all.
Of course, there was one prerequisite.
'Just take out El Pam's party.'
Eliminate the biggest threat.
In other words, it was entirely possible if that happened.
And she believed it was.
"She's heading that way!"
"El Pam's party is over here!"
The outlaws were using the time Ispa had earned to pursue El Pam's party relentlessly.
Good news would come soon.
'Right now, I could do it.'
Ispa brimmed with more confidence than ever.
That was the moment.
Flash!
'What’s that?'
Even in her all-seeing vision, she spotted a twinkling light.
'A magic stone?'
The black stone at the center of the ice-formed Witch of the Snowy Mountains was glimmering.
She didn't think much of it.
No need to.
It was just a flicker.
No other changes.
She simply smiled.
'I can see everything, everything.'
Even that split-second glimmer proved her senses had reached their absolute peak.
But then Ispa sensed something off.
Flash!
The twinkling repeated.
'What the?'
Yet even as she registered the anomaly, there was nothing she could do.
She was already riding the tiger's back.
Stopping now would be no different from handing her life to the witch.
And moments later, she saw it.
Crack!
'A crack in the magic stone?'
Fine lines were spiderwebbing across the witch's once-impenetrable magic stone.
Flash!
The light flared again.
Crackle!
With the flash, the cracks spread like a web, and soon the stone began to shatter.
Crunch!
At the same time, the Witch of the Snowy Mountains exploded into fragments.
Ispa stared, dumbfounded.
And that sight was her last.
Swoosh!
A single Fire Arrow flew straight toward Ispa.
4.
Thud!
One outlaw collapsed.
Whoooosh!
The sound of blizzard winds howled over his fallen body.
That was it.
No more sounds of battle anywhere.
"It's over."
Dibo spoke into the silence, his voice devoid of energy.
Not from exhaustion.
Far from it—quite the opposite.
"Too easily."
It was no situation for talk of "too easy."
They'd faced over two hundred outlaws. With just five of them.
Far from easy.
And then the Witch of the Snowy Mountains had appeared.
At that point, it was a do-or-die crisis, not "easy."
That it had unraveled so simply was, as always, thanks to El Pam.
"Unexpected, I'll admit."
Even for El Pam, it hadn't been something he could have foreseen unfolding this smoothly.
For starters, he hadn't known the Witch of the Snowy Mountains would appear.
Frankly, it was a first for him too.
El Pam hadn't known the Mystic Gate could produce one either.
But he wasn't surprised.
If anything, it made perfect sense.
'They've crafted a proper hell.'
This Mystic Gate they were in had been made by the Black Mage's followers as a hell for outlaws and adventurers alike.
A hell designed to inflict at least a hundred wounds!
In that sense, the Witch of the Snowy Mountains was an excellent boss monster.
No one could predict her appearance, and without preparation, she was incredibly tough to hunt.
'The greedier you are, the more dangerous it gets.'
What made her particularly fearsome was her ability to turn foes into ice statues.
Meaning, items froze intact.
For adventurers or outlaws, that was huge.
Many challenged the Mystic Gate for the loot, but honestly, recovery chances were slim.
Items were likely destroyed.
But with the witch, it was different.
'Hard to resist that greed for items.'
Naturally, adventurers and outlaws would be blinded by it.
'Especially those who enter here.'
Crucially, this Mystic Gate drew only those fixated on Aran's items.
The greediest of the greedy, ready to risk their lives for it—could they really hold back in a treasure-filled world like this?
It had everything needed to become a hell.
'Hurrying was the right call.'
That was one reason El Pam had pushed to clear it faster than ever.
If they'd dawdled, letting the wounds from adventurers and outlaws pile up, it would have grown even more dangerous.
The blood winds the Black Mage's followers wanted would have blown, and eventually, she would have appeared.
'Aran won't need to show herself.'
The polearm hero.
In other words, El Pam had fully anticipated this place wouldn't be easy.
The one surprise:
"But that Ispa. Her awakening mid-fight was no joke, right?"
Ispa's awakening.
Even El Pam hadn't expected her to put on such a show against the Witch of the Snowy Mountains.
"If she'd awakened while fighting me, it would've been dangerous."
Even Dibo couldn't have handled her like that.
Of course, El Pam felt no particular thrill.
"A true adventurer would've awakened sooner."
Her performance was unexpected, but the outcome was just as he'd predicted.
Above all, now wasn't the time to dwell on her.
"Dibo."
"Yes?"
El Pam pulled a bracelet from Ispa's corpse and tossed it to Dibo.
"Take it."
"This is?"
"Scaling Sword."
An item containing the Scaling Sword skill.
Extremely rare.
Hard to buy even with money.
"For me to use?"
And one Dibo didn't have.
A huge boon.
"You're the only one here who can use it."
No one begrudged Dibo taking such a valuable item.
"And it's as good as you who took her down."
Above all, it was Dibo—not anyone else—who'd faced Ispa and dealt the fatal blow.
"Yes!"
Dibo beamed at that.
But it didn't end there.
"Now we collect the items."
Plenty left to recover.
Plus, thanks to the Witch of the Snowy Mountains, most were intact.
"That's what I've been waiting for!"
Ralph, who'd grasped the implications early, showed more enthusiasm than ever.
"Before that, how about we rummage the witch first? I have a feeling it's in there."
And the first target for item hunting was none other than the Witch of the Snowy Mountains.
"That? What're you talking about, Goldie?"
"What else? Ice Tears."
"Ice Tears?"
"Tch, an adventurer who doesn't know that?"
There was a legend.
"That slaying the Witch of the Snowy Mountains yields a gem called Ice Tears."
"A gem? An item? What does it do?"
"Well..."
Of course, no one knew the truth.
Adventurers who'd slain her were rare to begin with, and there were no tales of her Ice Tears hitting Maple World's markets.
Even Miner, who knew treasure better than anyone, was in the dark.
But El Pam was different.
"Holding Ice Tears in your mouth activates a special power."
He knew.
"Wait, Boss, you knew?"
"Really? What power?"
El Pam didn't explain to the stunned Dibo and Miner.
Kyuu!
Just then, Mano approached El Pam and handed him something.
An ice gem the size of a knuckle.
El Pam passed it to Dibo, who popped it in his mouth.
"Huh?"
And he understood.
"While holding it, you're immune to all cold."
"For real? Not cold at all!"
Immunity to cold.
Dibo marveled, but soon wore a wry smile.
"Ah, but it's not that impressive. Just means lighter clothes in places like this. Kirr armor's probably better."
It didn't feel like much compared to the witch's reputation.
"Oh dear."
But Miner saw it differently.
"You don't get it."
"What?"
"Hey! Cold immunity means resistance to most ice magic too!"
"Huh?"
She knew exactly what Ice Tears meant.
"Huh!"
And Dibo realized it too, his face lighting up with unprecedented shock.
It was that astonishing an item.
"Eek!"
Dibo spat out the Ice Tear he'd been holding.
"Damn, nearly swallowed it from the shock."
"Too bad. If you had, I could've bossed you around like a slave forever."
"Slave? It'd come out eventually."
"Sure, but who else would eat it after you? 'Here, sounds great, I'll hold it in my mouth.'"
Swallowing it would have been a disaster.
Anyway, an incredible item.
"But man, starting with something this strong? How will the rest measure up?"
It made all future loot seem trivial.
That was when.
Kyuu!
One of Mano's clones, returning from afar, approached El Pam and spat out an item.
Shoes.
Worn shoes.
Nothing special about them.
"Hey, you bring back crap like this?"
Kyuu?
"Bring something decent."
Dibo voiced his disappointment.
"Dibo."
El Pam said to him:
"That's what we've been looking for."
"Huh?"
"Aran's boots."