Chapter 156
Chapter 156
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: Chapter 47. Witch of the Snowy Mountains (4)
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7.
The location of the Mystic Gate hiding Aran's item spread through the world at an astonishing speed.
And the moment it became known, adventurers and outlaws naturally swarmed the Mystic Gate. They could tell right away.
"It's being cleared!"
No one could attempt the adventure until everyone inside was dead.
The gathered crowd naturally waited.
The problem was how many were waiting.
And that there were others preying on those waiting.
That was why.
"Huh? No one's here?"
When El Pam's party emerged from the Mystic Gate, not a soul was in sight nearby.
"What?"
El Pam's companions, geared up for full-scale combat, found it hard to comprehend.
"I told you, didn't I?"
El Pam had, of course, informed them.
"There won't be anyone."
Too many were eyeing this spot for anyone to hold guard here.
The instant you tried, you'd become the target of every adventurer and outlaw around—you couldn't last.
But his companions couldn't easily buy it.
How could they just leave a Mystic Gate holding Aran's item, with a bounty on El Pam's party?
"Yeah, no one's here, just like Boss said."
Besides, El Pam's words only meant no one nearby.
This place was the eye of the storm.
"Instead, it's probably overflowing out there."
In other words, centered on this spot, a storm of unimaginable ferocity raged around them.
Not just any storm—a bloody gale.
Full preparations were only natural.
El Pam said nothing on the matter.
'Plenty gunning for us.'
No need to.
'Not difficult.'
For El Pam, punching through the adventurers and outlaws targeting them wasn't hard.
Not arrogance.
'Surviving.'
What El Pam did best wasn't hunting monsters or clearing Mystic Gates.
'That's what I'm best at.'
No matter the foe, breaking through and living—that was the Last Adventurer El Pam's greatest skill.
By his standards, this was the perfect stage for an escapee.
A relentless blizzard, packed with people too busy tearing into each other to even coordinate.
Escaping a place like this took hardly any effort at all.
"Most of them probably don't even know we've shown up."
True to El Pam's words, most adventurers here were oblivious to his party's arrival.
They had no headspace for it.
"Really? Then we're good?"
Dibo lit up at El Pam's assurance.
"Not quite."
"Huh?"
El Pam clarified.
"Those who spot us will spread the word soon enough."
"Spread it?"
It was then.
"El Pam's party!"
A voice rang out from somewhere.
"El Pam's party has appeared! El Pam's party emerged from the Mystic Gate!"
A roar so massive it drowned out the howling blizzard.
"What the? Who the hell?"
Dibo and the others panicked at the sound.
Someone spotting them was possible.
But broadcasting it like this, at top volume?
It wasn't just loud, either. He could bet on it—most people around, everyone within hundreds of meters, would hear whether they liked it or not.
"Using a megaphone item or something?"
No way to produce that volume without an item that amplified the voice.
Which raised the question.
"Isn't that crazy expensive? Like a million mesos a pop?"
"And disposable, too."
Those megaphones were ultra-rare, single-use items that cost a fortune.
The kind you saved for dire emergencies.
Yet someone used one here—just to announce El Pam's party?
El Pam's group was prime game, after all.
Game worth claiming solo.
Paying top mesos to tip off everyone? It didn't add up, even on a moment's thought.
But no one here had even that moment to think.
"They'll swarm us now."
Everyone who'd heard would come charging like mad to hunt El Pam's party.
El Pam had a plan for that, of course.
Hardly a plan.
Slip into the blizzard, trade a few blows, then drink it.
'With the transformation potion, no sweat.'
The one that hid their identities perfectly.
That left just one issue: handling the adventurers and outlaws swarming in.
Blood would spill, no avoiding it.
'Here, go hard…….'
And when it did, it had to be gruesomer than ever.
Only then would witnesses cower in fear.
El Pam steeled himself.
'Time to cut loose.'
Reveal some of his power—not everything, but enough.
Truth be told, he hated the idea.
Nothing aided survival like playing your cards close.
Especially with the Black Mage's followers watching him like hawks.
Letting them glimpse his strength was the surest way to court death.
But hoarding it all here wasn't the answer, either.
El Pam knew better.
'Better than hiding and getting cornered.'
The now trumped the later every time.
He finished psyching himself up and was about to move when—
El Pam's eyes narrowed.
'That?'
He confirmed it, then turned to his companions.
"Everyone, drop combat and prep to run."
"Huh?"
"The Witch of the Snowy Mountains has appeared."
8.
"Th-the Witch of the Snowy Mountains!"
It came out of nowhere.
But it wasn't strange.
"Damn it, she showed up after all!"
They were in the Frigid Plains, one of the Elnas Mountains' forbidden zones.
And what had turned those Frigid Plains forbidden? None other than the Witch of the Snowy Mountains.
She wasn't some monster you spotted every day, of course.
"We made too much noise!"
But given the bloody chaos adventurers and outlaws had stirred up lately in the Frigid Plains, her arrival made perfect sense.
"Of all the times!"
"Right when El Pam's party shows!"
The only odd part was the timing—smack in the middle of this critical moment.
No one had time to question it, though.
They couldn't.
With the Witch out in the open, any sane adventurer or outlaw had one choice.
"Fall back!"
Run.
As noted earlier, that was the sane play.
The crazy ones would ignore it and keep chasing El Pam's party.
But most of the adventurers and outlaw parties clustered around the Mystic Gate? They picked retreat.
Simple reason.
The crazy ones had already been hunted down by the sane ones long ago.
Either way, the adventurers and outlaws pulled back.
"Pursue El Pam's party at all costs! Fall back first, then track 'em!"
Swallowing their regrets and rage.
"Whew."
For El Pam's party, it was smile-worthy.
"Who'd have thought the Witch of the Snowy Mountains would bail us out here."
No need for a brutal slugfest with the incoming hordes, thanks to her.
"Lucky break."
Luck on their side all around.
El Pam saw it differently.
"Not luck."
"Huh?"
He knew.
"No way the Witch pops up right as we exit the Mystic Gate, like she's been waiting."
This was no coincidence. No fluke.
His companions' faces tightened.
"Boss, you saying someone dragged the Witch here on purpose?"
She was tough enough to find by accident.
Time her entrance perfectly?
Impossible, no matter how you sliced it.
"Who could pull that off?"
No adventurer or outlaw could bend the Witch of the Snowy Mountains to their will like that.
El Pam agreed.
The ones gathered here? No chance.
Even if someone could, why bother for El Pam's party?
'Only one person who could pull this off right now.'
El Pam was certain.
'He's here.'
9.
The Frigid Plains turned into pure pandemonium the instant the Witch of the Snowy Mountains appeared.
"Everyone, run!"
Every adventurer and outlaw fell back.
The smart move.
"Her breath freezes you solid on contact!"
Hunting the Witch in the Frigid Plains was like a pup taking on a tiger.
Either way, it was a godsend for El Pam's party.
They slipped away from the Mystic Gate fast, no serious clashes, all thanks to the chaos.
Once they reached an empty spot, they downed their prepared transformation potions.
Gulp, gulp!
It happened in a flash.
El Pam's party's faces and hair transformed.
A change so drastic it was hard to believe your eyes.
"Still blows my mind every time I drink this stuff."
Even they gawked at their new looks.
But they weren't done.
They ditched their old clothes and slipped into fresh outfits they'd prepped.
Totally different vibes now. Everyone was convinced.
"No way anyone pegs us for El Pam's party. Not even my little sister."
Not a soul would make them.
"If someone clocks our identities, I'll eat a spike. A spike."
Right as Dibo made his bold claim—
"Hey."
A voice cut through the blizzard.
"El Pam."
Dibo and the rest flipped out.
They'd gone all-out on the disguise, changed beyond recognition—and still busted?
This went past surprise.
Why the disguises in the first place?
To shake the outlaws and adventurers overflowing the area, right?
If the potions failed and they were made...
All their prep down the drain.
And straight into danger.
'Take him out.'
Dibo and the others readied to kill the voice's owner on the spot.
'Now.'
'No chance for tricks.'
'Dibo and Kiriga draw eyes, I put lead in his skull.'
'Big payday this time—can't croak here!'
No second thoughts.
The second they pinned his position and El Pam gave the word, they'd launch like bullets.
"Everyone."
El Pam cut in.
"At ease."
"Huh?"
Totally out of left field.
"Boss, what're you talking about?"
"No winning this fight anyway."
The words hit like ice water. Tension spiked.
El Pam had never admitted unbeatable odds, no matter the mess.
And now this?
Gulp!
Had to tense up.
Had to brace.
"Boss, lemme buy some time at least..."
Dibo steeled for sacrifice.
El Pam chuckled.
"That'd be entertaining."
He knew.
"Huh? Entertaining?"
"Wonder how long you could stall the Phantom Thief."
"Wh-who?"
"Yeah, me too."
With that, the voice's owner stepped into view.
"How about it? Dibo, up for a round?"
A stunning man with violet eyes and golden hair—the Phantom Thief Phantom.