Chapter 166
Chapter 166
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: 51. Wolf King (1)
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1.
“We’ve sent the best hunters to take down El Pam’s party so far. And yet, we’ve failed. At this point, we can no longer chalk it up to mere luck.”
Hote had investigated El Pam’s movements and, the moment he experienced failure against him, reached his conclusion.
“That’s why we can’t think of him as just a hunter anymore. We need to use a different approach.”
That was the reason.
“We’re just going to trap El Pam’s party alone in the Mystic Gate. At a level they can’t clear.”
The reason Hote had chosen to do nothing this time against El Pam’s party.
Ebob wasn’t surprised to hear it.
It was a perfectly solid plan.
There was a low but real chance that the hunters sent to catch El Pam’s party could end up as his allies instead.
It even opened the door to further suspicions.
‘El Pam’s party might have skills or items that enchant or hypnotize opponents.’
The thought that El Pam’s party might possess some overwhelming ability to deceive others.
No, given El Pam’s party’s actions so far, that possibility was very high.
In that case, attaching hunters to such a party would just make El Pam’s group laugh.
That was why.
“Those who entered ahead will commit suicide the moment the door closes, the moment they move to the second floor.”
The reason Hote had left nothing behind.
The reason he had turned it into a place with absolutely nothing.
It was thorough preparation.
Preparation so thorough even Ebob couldn’t fathom it.
‘Thorough.’
Yet even after hearing this explanation, Ebob’s expression remained stiff.
‘But the opponent is El Pam.’
The reason was simple: the prey they were hunting was El Pam.
Seeing Ebob’s expression, Hote smiled and said,
“You’re still doubting the possibility, aren’t you?”
Doubt. The moment that word came up, Ebob looked at Hote.
Normally, he would deny it.
To doubt the shadow of the Lion King, who spoke with such confidence, right in front of him?
“I am doubting.”
But at this moment, Ebob didn’t deny it.
“Because it’s El Pam. I’ll doubt it to the end.”
Hote didn’t show any displeasure at those words.
He smiled and nodded.
“I feel the same.”
And then he said,
“That’s why I’ve prepared something.”
It wasn’t the end here.
Hote, having revealed what he had prepared, spoke with a smile more confident than ever.
“El Pam’s party is about to experience hell.”
2.
“It’s hell, total hell.”
At Dibo’s words, Kiri beside him nodded.
“Real hell.”
“Yeah, hell it is.”
With those words, they looked up ahead.
And there it was.
“Hell for the monsters.”
Kieeeek!
The sight of Hectors dying miserably before El Pam, before his magic.
Shiiik!
The five Fire Arrows El Pam had created pierced through the heads of Hectors scattered everywhere, tearing through the blizzard like a storm.
The corpses of thousands upon thousands of those Hectors littered the ground.
In truth, it wasn’t anything special.
To El Pam’s party, it was, in a way, everyday life, as natural as breathing.
It was a scene El Pam had shown countless times before.
But this time, they couldn’t help but be amazed.
“Truly impressive, and this is an abandoned mine.”
This place was none other than the Mystic Gate in the abandoned mine area under Zakum’s curse.
Normally, facing that horde of Hectors would require everyone to fight for their lives, prepared to die.
“Zakum’s Helm is incredible.”
That was why, at this moment, everyone couldn’t help but marvel at the wooden helm El Pam was wearing.
Moreover, the fact that El Pam had Zakum’s Helm wasn’t just about killing monsters well.
“The ones outside are screwed.”
This effect would apply not only to monsters but also to the adventurers outside.
No, it was even worse for adventurers and outlaws.
Zakum’s curse didn’t affect monsters like Hectors, but adventurers and outlaws were different.
They were weakened by the curse.
Facing a freed El Pam while burdened with penalties, ankles and wrists bound.
Gulp!
The moment they imagined it, Dibo and the others involuntarily swallowed hard.
‘Hell.’
Just like the expression.
Of course, not everyone thought it was the worst.
“Hell my ass! This is heaven!”
Ralph wore a more joyful expression than ever.
“All that is money!”
The fact that he could earn money so easily thanks to El Pam was making Ralph happier than ever.
Seeing his face brought smiles to his comrades’ faces too.
“Yeah, all money.”
In the end, this entire scene was far from bad for El Pam’s party—never bad at all.
“Since we’re making money, let’s make even more!”
Far from bad, it was the best possible.
“You bet. We didn’t come here just to watch.”
“Same here.”
Everyone showed high spirits at that fact.
“Boss! Let us fight too! Yeah?”
There was one exception.
“Boss doesn’t look happy?”
El Pam wasn’t even wearing a faint smile in this situation.
Of course, smiles were rare on El Pam’s face normally. He rarely showed his emotions.
But this expression clearly said one thing.
This wasn’t the time to smile.
“There’s no way this is all they’ve prepared.”
“Huh?”
And El Pam explained the reason to his comrades.
“There’s no way this is all they’ve prepared. They must have something more.”
The trap they had prepared was impressive.
Who would have thought they’d prepare a place with absolutely nothing to catch El Pam’s party?
And they had even prepared this.
“Those who went to the second floor committed suicide.”
Preparation enough to kill without hesitation even the elites capable of clearing this Mystic Gate’s first floor.
Preparation to eliminate any chance of aiding El Pam’s party.
“If they went this far, there’s no way they’d end it here.”
If El Pam were in their position, he never would have stopped here satisfied.
“Is there more?”
Of course, preparing anything more seemed impossible.
“The ones who entered first are already dead, right?”
There was nothing here but El Pam’s party.
On that, El Pam said simply,
“Putting adventurers in beforehand is always possible.”
The possibility of tampering beforehand.
At El Pam’s words, no one smiled anymore.
They had all experienced it.
The schemes of the Black Mage’s followers that shattered Mystic Gate common sense in an instant.
That martyr scheme.
If El Pam was saying this much, it was basically safe to assume they had used martyrs.
‘The boss monster’s level is different.’
And using martyrs made the boss monster’s difficulty on another level entirely.
Meaning the boss monster here might not be a green-rank 150-man party but blue-rank.
Terrifying just to imagine.
‘We’re useless.’
Even more terrifying was that everyone except El Pam here couldn’t fulfill their roles.
There was only one Zakum’s Helm.
The rest could barely exert half their abilities due to Zakum’s curse.
In other words, El Pam alone had to handle the enemy fully.
The others couldn’t even serve as sacrificial time-buyers for El Pam.
At that moment, an indescribable tension began to flow around El Pam’s party.
Amid that tension, they reached it.
“The entrance to the fourth floor.”
The gateway to hell.
But there was no hesitation.
“Moving.”
El Pam and the others crossed the gate to the fourth floor without a moment’s pause.
Because they knew.
Stopping here led nowhere.
There was no place to run.
Arriving on the fourth floor without hesitation, the first thing to greet El Pam’s party was the blizzard.
Whoooosh!
The relentless blizzard didn’t even allow them to see ahead easily.
It was an unwelcome environment.
But to El Pam’s party, it was a familiar sight.
That was why.
“No way it’s the Witch of the Snowy Mountains, right?”
They thought of that existence.
And if it appeared, it was more than enough to turn the fourth floor into hell, a boss monster lacking nothing.
But to El Pam’s party, it was different.
“I hope it does come out.”
To them, the Witch of the Snowy Mountains was far easier than other boss monsters.
However, that hope didn’t last long.
Awoooo!
The howl piercing through the blizzard told them exactly what was here.
“Damn.”
Awoooo!
It was unmistakably a wolf’s howl.
“Werewolves, huh.”
“Yeah, looks exactly like werewolves.”
Moreover, El Pam’s party immediately realized the howl wasn’t from a regular wolf but from werewolf wolf-men.
Normally, adventurers couldn’t tell the difference between White Fang, Hector, or werewolf howls.
The difference was so subtle.
But El Pam’s party had experienced White Fangs, Hectors, and werewolves.
And they had the ability to distinguish based on that level of experience.
Awoooo!
“They’re howling like crazy, so they must’ve spotted us?”
They could even roughly guess the meaning of the howl now.
Of course, put another way, they didn’t know.
“No.”
“Huh?”
“Not werewolves.”
“No? It sure sounded like werewolf howls.”
“No way to know. It’s your first time seeing it.”
Even for El Pam’s party, at top level, distinguishing the cry of an unexperienced monster was impossible.
Conversely, El Pam knew.
“Boss, do you know what it is?”
“I do.”
Because he had experienced it.
‘No way I wouldn’t.’
And not just any experience.
‘I’ve been through hell because of it multiple times.’
It was one of the clearest, most brutal memories in El Pam’s many recollections, to that degree.
That was why El Pam could say for sure.
Awoooo!
“It’s a Lycanthrope.”
That the owner of this howl wasn’t a werewolf but a white-furred wolf-man Lycanthrope.
“Lycanthrope?”
At the explanation, El Pam’s comrades looked puzzled, as if hearing it for the first time.
They had no choice.
Lycanthropes were like ultra-rare monsters existing only in tiny numbers in the Elnas Mountains.
And now, they were practically extinct.
To adventurers, no need to worry about them anymore.
El Pam had been the same.
Before returning to the past, he’d never even heard the name Lycanthrope.
But now was different.
Having experienced it, El Pam couldn’t forget the name.
That was how it was.
“A silver-furred werewolf. Similar in appearance, but its power is incomparable to a werewolf.”
The strength of the Lycanthrope was something even El Pam couldn’t forget.
“And the most headache-inducing part is its ability.”
Especially the ability that had driven El Pam and adventurers to despair.
“Its ability?”
“It summons werewolves.”
“Huh?”
“Werewolves are summoned from its shadow.”
Summoning werewolves, those insanely powerful monsters.
“S-summon? How many?”
“Endlessly.”
“Huh?”
“Given time, it summons endlessly.”
The moment they heard that, everyone realized.
“That’s why it’s called the Wolf King.”
Awoooo!
That this place was truly hell.