Chapter 165
Chapter 165
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 165
Chapter Title: Chapter 50. Abandoned Mine (3)
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7.
"Dibo walking right into our hands? We're lucky."
At Hote's words, Ebob nodded.
But his expression wasn't good.
"Lord Hote."
"I know. I know what you're thinking."
Hote knew the reason well.
"Two things are bothering you. First, how did El Pam's party slip out of our grasp without anyone noticing."
If everything had gone according to plan, Dibo and Hote would never have even met.
Dibo should have been a Coolie Zombie in the Dead Tree Forest alongside El Pam.
Yet El Pam's party had escaped.
They had strolled right out of the Lion King's palm, without a single sign, like ghosts.
It meant the Lion King had missed El Pam's movements.
That was a very important point.
The moment a hunter loses the prey's tracks, the hunter becomes the prey.
Of course, Dibo's betrayal had allowed them to track El Pam's party again.
That was the second reason for Ebob's stiff expression.
"And whether Dibo really betrayed them."
From the situation, Dibo's betrayal seemed extremely reasonable.
Anyone in Dibo's position would have no choice but to betray if they wanted to live.
And if they wanted to live, the first thing they'd do is contact no one else but the Lion King.
There was no safer place in the Elnas Mountains than under the Lion King's protection.
But until now, El Pam's party had never once followed a reasonable process or common-sense method.
"From talking with him, it's true his dissatisfaction exploded."
"Are you sure?"
"I pride myself on being pretty good at reading people. In my eyes, Dibo's rage toward El Pam was vicious. It was hard to even calm it down."
Of course, Hote, who had spoken with Dibo, was somewhat convinced that Dibo wasn't lying.
"But that's just my opinion."
However, what Hote was doing now wasn't some personal errand.
He was carrying out the sublime plan of finding and killing the polearm hero Aran.
Personal opinions didn't matter.
"I'm keeping in mind the possibility that Dibo is lying."
That was why.
"So I dangled Aran's necklace as bait."
He wouldn't fall for a simple trap, but if that trap had irresistible bait, he'd approach even knowing it was a trap.
"The moment he bites the bait, it's over."
At Hote's words, Ebob still didn't relax his expression.
It wasn't that he was dismissing Hote's preparations.
In fact, they were more perfect than Ebob could have imagined.
"Still, you never know."
The problem was El Pam.
"Until now, he's escaped every trap alive."
His survival skills surpassed any adventurer's.
To Ebob, who harbored such doubts, Hote said,
"Do you know what the scariest trap is?"
Ebob shook his head at the question, and Hote smiled as he replied.
"A trap with nothing in it."
"Pardon?"
That was when it happened.
Knock knock!
With the sound of knocking, one of Hote's subordinates entered the office where the two were.
"He's bitten the bait."
8.
"Still noisy as ever."
The Dead Tree Forest they returned to wasn't much different from before El Pam's party had left.
Uwaaaah!
"Grab it!"
Adventurers and outlaws were fiercely battling Coolie Zombies everywhere, with the zombies right in front of them.
They didn't know.
"We hold out until we find El Pam's party!"
That El Pam's party had left this place.
Of course, unlike at the start, many were exhausted now.
"Doesn't it seem like their numbers have increased?"
But the number of adventurers and outlaws fighting was now double what it had been when El Pam left.
It wasn't strange.
In the meantime, the rumors had spread further, drawing more adventurers and outlaws.
Thanks to that.
The adventurers and outlaws in the Dead Tree Forest now appeared far more relaxed than expected.
No matter how strong the Coolie Zombies were, they couldn't overwhelm sheer numbers.
Of course, it wasn't just about numbers.
"Seems like they've roughly marked out their territories."
The adventurers and outlaws gathered here had made a silent pact.
To cooperate with each other until they found El Pam.
It was something rarely seen.
Even in dangerous places, competitors joining hands? And even then, ready to stab each other in the back at any moment.
Moreover, these weren't pure adventurers.
They were vultures eyeing El Pam's items and the mesos on his head.
But now was different.
"Probably because of the Wolf King."
Faced with the overwhelming beast known as the Wolf King, the survivors had no choice but to join hands.
"I didn't expect this many people to come all the way to the abandoned mine trying to kill us."
In any case, it wasn't welcome news for El Pam's party.
But no one paid it any mind.
"Anyway, no time to worry about these guys."
From now on, El Pam's party would face an even more hellish ordeal.
"There it is."
Before El Pam's eyes appeared the Mystic Gate that was their goal.
The trap set by the Black Mage's followers to ensure El Pam's party died.
"The portal is activated."
The green portal of the Mystic Gate shimmered.
Meaning there were adventurers inside the Mystic Gate right now.
El Pam's party wasn't surprised by that.
"A party with Aran's item went in there—that was the bait, right."
They had already heard that explanation.
Instead, everyone looked at El Pam once more.
Were they really going in just like this? Their eyes asked.
At that look, El Pam stepped toward the other side of the Mystic Gate without hesitation.
The moment they saw it, El Pam's party changed their own gazes.
Whoosh! They crossed the portal and entered the world beyond the Mystic Gate, a blizzard raging around them.
In El Pam's party's eyes, there was no longer any hesitation or wavering.
They had resolved themselves before crossing.
"Alright, now let's fight for real! A sword dance—no, let's do a spear dance!"
From now on, it would be a fight for survival.
"Talking about dances—hurry up and move. The guys who want to catch us will come rushing now."
Of course, fighting head-on would be insane.
The top priority was to move as fast as possible and assess the situation.
So everyone prepared to move.
All but one.
"Everyone."
El Pam issued a command to them all.
"Don't move."
"Pardon?"
At his order, everyone looked at El Pam with surprised expressions.
As mentioned earlier, countless people would now invade the Mystic Gate to catch El Pam's party.
And not haphazardly.
They were all in cahoots, and upon entering, they'd quickly pursue El Pam's party.
So common sense dictated moving as fast as possible right now.
Even a second sooner.
Yet he said not to move?
"Boss, we don't have time."
To his puzzled comrades, El Pam pointed to one spot with his finger.
Honestly, there appeared to be nothing there.
"Ah!"
But El Pam's party could see it.
'There's a thread on the ground.'
A translucent thread existed there.
'A trap!'
And what that meant.
Only then did El Pam's party realize others had already entered this place.
"We got careless."
And that they had been too complacent.
"No way the first ones in would just sit idle, but we didn't think of that."
If they had rushed ahead, they'd have suffered considerable damage from the trap.
"Tricky."
On the other hand, it made them feel that this time, their enemies had truly prepared to kill them, sending a chill down their spines.
Their minds cooled as well.
"We need to dodge the traps and move fast. I'll handle disarming them."
Dibo, regaining his composure, moved to act.
"No need."
"Pardon?"
El Pam blocked Dibo.
"No need to rush. No one else will enter this place anyway."
At the follow-up explanation, everyone looked even more shocked.
"Do you know what the most dangerous trap is?"
Turning his head to look at the Mystic Gate, El Pam told them.
"A trap with nothing in it."
"A trap with nothing?"
"A trap teeming with beasts is dangerous. But there are always ways to survive. A trap with nothing is different. Inside it, there's nothing you can do."
His comrades still looked confused, so El Pam explained directly.
"The team that entered this Mystic Gate first? Their role is to head to the second floor the moment we enter."
"The second floor?"
"To trap us in this Mystic Gate."
"Ah!"
Only then did everyone finally understand.
What El Pam meant.
And the moment they did, a question arose.
"No, wouldn't it be more reliable to just send outlaws or adventurers to take us out?"
Common sense said sending hunters was surer than hoping the prey died on its own, right?
"That's what they've done until now. And they've all failed."
But El Pam's party had shattered that common sense time and again.
"Without knowing why they failed."
Moreover, no one truly knew how El Pam's party had broken that common sense.
In such cases, there was one typical thought.
"Above all, can they be sure the hunters are really on their side?"
Maybe the problem was that they weren't El Pam's party.
It was the same now.
Sending adventurers and outlaws to catch El Pam's party?
"What's the chance they'll get bought off?"
But what if they joined hands with El Pam's party?
Or got fooled by El Pam's party?
And joined them in attacking the Mystic Gate?
Then it would end in failure again.
"Would they get bought off?"
"Who knows."
Of course, the possibility was infinitesimally low. Practically nonexistent.
"No room to bet on unknowns."
And now, hunting El Pam's party left no margin for error.
They'd put up 10 billion mesos.
Brought in the Wolf King.
Even used Aran's item as bait.
Fail after all that?
If El Pam knew the Black Mage's followers, they wouldn't let the one who commanded this failure live.
That was why.
"But if they leave it be, at least there's no chance of buy-offs."
The intent was to lock El Pam's party in here.
"The difficulty of Mystic Gates in the abandoned mine area is three times that of other regions. This one's far harder than a 400-man gate."
In their eyes, clearing this Mystic Gate with just El Pam's party was impossible.
El Pam's party couldn't do anything new in a place with nothing.
"Wait a minute."
Of course, they didn't know.
"The Zakum Curse doesn't work on Boss, right?"
That El Pam had Zakum's Helmet.
In other words, for El Pam, this Mystic Gate was just a normal 144-man gate.
Far easier than the 400-man one he'd cleared before.
"Wait, Boss?"
At this point, everyone realized.
"Could it be?"
That El Pam had obtained Zakum's Helmet anticipating a situation like this.
"Exactly."
They were right.
El Pam had kept this in mind, gone all-out to get Zakum's Helmet, and now he had it.
"As I've said many times, no problem."
So El Pam didn't hesitate.
"Fire Arrow."
With the incantation, El Pam's magic swept through the traps around them.
Boom boom boom!
The traps activated, shooting red lights into the blizzard-filled sky.
That was the moment.
The portal of the Mystic Gate El Pam's party had entered vanished.
"Those who went to the second floor probably chose to end it themselves."
It became a Mystic Gate no one else could enter, empty except for El Pam's party.
"So now, only one thing left."
At that moment, El Pam donned the prepared Zakum's Helmet on his head and said,
"Time to start the raid."