Chapter 167
Chapter 167
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Chapter 51. Wolf King (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
3.
It was a story from long ago.
A tale from before the Black Mage was sealed.
The Anti-Black Mage Alliance appeared at the castle of the Lion King, master of the Elnas Mountains.
“That day, the day I lost everything.”
And they began massacring everyone in the Lion King’s castle.
There was only one reason.
The Lion King had joined hands with the Black Mage.
On that day, the Lion King lost most of what was precious to him.
“That day, His Majesty swore an oath.”
With nothing left to protect, the Lion King was able to make his decision without a moment’s hesitation.
“Having lost what was precious due to allying with the Black Mage, he would gladly do so.”
On that day, the Lion King joined hands with the Black Mage.
Naturally, the Black Mage granted him a position befitting his name.
Legion Commander!
He gave him the most powerful seat, along with the immense authority and abilities that came with it.
One of those was the Martyr.
He handed the Lion King that mighty card capable of altering the rules of the Mystic Gate.
Of course, the number available was not large.
It was an exceedingly precious card.
“He used the Martyr.”
Hote played that card.
Not for anyone else, but to kill El Pam’s party.
Because of that, he was confident.
“Even if they push into the fourth floor, what awaits them will be hell.”
4.
Awooooo!
The Lycaonthropes’ howling struck the snow-white world filled with blizzards.
Awooooo!
The howling showed no signs of stopping.
It was chilling.
Awooooo!
Awooooo!
What was even more chilling was that the number of responding howls kept increasing.
“I’m going crazy. It feels like their numbers are growing, is he really summoning Werewolves?”
El Pam’s party, aware of what that meant, went pale.
“Is that even possible?”
“Honestly, I can’t believe it either.”
In truth, even at that moment, Dibo and the others couldn’t fully trust El Pam’s words.
And for good reason—Werewolves were tremendously powerful monsters.
A single Werewolf was stronger than a hundred White Fangs or Hectors combined.
Each additional Werewolf was like adding another boss-level monster.
It was hardly something one could easily believe.
Of course, that didn’t mean they dismissed it entirely.
It was El Pam saying it, after all.
“But if it’s true, it’s real hell.”
That was why everyone’s expressions were grim.
El Pam’s was no different.
His face was hardened too.
“Boss.”
Dibo spoke cautiously to him.
“Don’t hesitate.”
He offered advice.
“When a sacrifice is needed, don’t hesitate, no matter who it is. They won’t hesitate either.”
Better to find the most efficient sacrifice than attempt something reckless to save everyone.
El Pam tilted his head at the advice.
“A sacrifice?”
“Yes. Given the situation? The worst possible one.”
At those words, El Pam let out a wry chuckle instead of answering.
“Not really.”
“Yes?”
“It’s not exactly the worst situation.”
His companions freaked out at that.
“No, Boss? You said that Lycaonthropes guy can summon Werewolves endlessly?”
“Yeah, isn’t that the worst?”
“Hundreds, maybe thousands of Werewolves charging at us.”
If El Pam was right, it would be the worst, plain and simple.
El Pam replied calmly.
“Not a good situation, but no problem.”
Those words weren’t bravado, of course.
Lycaonthropes were certainly a headache of a monster.
Moreover, it wasn’t something that should appear in a Green-grade Mystic Gate for 150 people. It wouldn’t be out of place as a boss in a Blue-grade one.
Yet El Pam’s reason for saying this was simple.
“It’s weak to fire.”
“Fire?”
“It’s particularly vulnerable to fire-attribute attacks.”
The Lycaonthropes’ weakness was none other than fire-attribute attacks.
“Ah.”
The moment they heard that, Dibo and the others had no choice but to accept it.
“Then it’s no problem.”
El Pam possessed the All Master talent, allowing him to use magic of every attribute, but the one he wielded best was fire-attribute magic.
It was also his most powerful.
For him, a monster weak to fire-attribute magic?
Of course, it still wasn’t an easy opponent.
A single Lycaonthropes could turn an entire region into hell!
The slightest mistake, and no one’s life was guaranteed against that monster among monsters.
But with El Pam, it was different.
He was one who tolerated no such mistakes.
It would be strange to doubt his hunt.
Instead, a question arose.
“Then why were you worrying?”
El Pam’s face had clearly been filled with concern.
He explained why.
“Because of the Wolf King.”
“The Wolf King?”
At that point, everyone naturally recalled it.
“The Lycaonthropes?”
El Pam had used the term “Wolf King” when describing the Lycaonthropes.
“No, a different Wolf King.”
“Different? Then?”
But the Wolf King El Pam meant wasn’t the Lycaonthropes.
“The Wolf King of the Wolf Mercenaries?”
Wolf King Pao.
The moment that name came up, everyone grew puzzled again.
No matter how they thought about it, there was no reason to worry about Wolf King Pao here.
‘Ah.’
But soon, they remembered.
“Boss, no way?”
“Is Wolf King Pao waiting outside?”
The meaning of the Wolf King Pao that El Pam mentioned.
“If it were me, I’d prepare that much.”
Wolf King Pao had already come to the Dead Tree Forest to catch El Pam’s party. For him to move in to finish them off wasn’t strange at all.
It was the rational choice.
In other words, the moment they exited, they’d have to face Wolf King Pao and his subordinates.
That was why El Pam’s expression was grim.
“Once we go out, that’s when it starts.”
El Pam already took conquering and exiting this place as a given.
What mattered to him was what preparations to make before leaving.
It was a tough dilemma.
‘The outside is the real hell.’
Monsters could be conquered with the right method, but adventurers and outlaws were different.
Especially against Wolf King Pao?
Even El Pam, wearing Zakum’s helmet, would struggle to gauge his odds against a 6th Circle powerhouse.
And even if he could, that was only between him and Wolf King Pao.
Wolf King Pao had subordinates stronger than that.
‘It won’t end there.’
Crucially, countless others besides Wolf King Pao were targeting El Pam outside.
Breaking through all of them and escaping?
Honestly, he couldn’t see a way right now.
So they needed to find a way here, but that seemed even more impossible.
‘Just surviving to get out won’t be easy.’
Wouldn’t they be grateful just to escape alive?
In the midst of that profound anguish, the first to find an answer was none other than that guy.
Kyuu!
“Mano?”
Mano, who had been hiding inside Kiri’s armor, emerged with a louder cry than ever.
Kyuu!
“What’s with him?”
More excited than ever.
“Did he eat something bad?”
Everyone tilted their heads at the sight.
Mano had shown various sides before, but never this excited.
There was one exception.
El Pam’s eyes narrowed.
‘Snail pets react to items.’
If Mano was this excited now, there could only be one reason.
‘Aran’s item.’
The bait scattered by the Black Mage’s followers to turn this place into hell.
‘As expected, they placed the real one.’
At that point, El Pam didn’t question why the Black Mage’s followers hadn’t used a fake.
By common sense, it was odd.
Placing Aran’s real item inside a Mystic Gate?
Wouldn’t a fake be far smarter?
But El Pam was different.
He knew.
‘Their goal is to catch Aran.’
These people didn’t just want to turn adventurers and outlaws into corpses.
If that were the goal from the start, they wouldn’t need such elaborate methods or to use Aran’s item.
If the Black Mage’s followers wanted, they could burn every adventurer in the world right now.
Yet they didn’t, because they had a loftier, more critical objective.
And Polearm Hero Aran was one of the greatest threats to shattering that objective.
All this was a trap to catch her.
‘Using a fake would tip them off the moment it’s discovered, and Aran wouldn’t appear.’
In such a situation, if Aran’s item turned out to be fake, she’d have no reason to show.
This plan relied on the real Aran’s item to stir up a bloodbath.
But with a fake, adventurers and outlaws wouldn’t throw themselves into it anymore.
In the end, they had to use the real one.
‘But I didn’t expect this level of reaction.’
However, seeing Mano this excited was a first even for El Pam.
‘Legendary grade, or higher.’
It meant the item they’d find wasn’t just any Legendary-grade.
That wasn’t strange.
Legendary-grade items were great in themselves, but not all equal.
There were tiers within the grade.
Not just the item’s tier.
‘It’s an item infused with Aran’s soul.’
It depended on how much of the soul of the adventurer who used it was infused.
Mano’s reaction meant it was undoubtedly one of the top three most important items Aran possessed.
Either way, there was no reason to hesitate.
Kyuu!
If it was an item exciting Mano this much, recovering it came first.
Of course, El Pam knew.
“Everyone, from now on, just follow behind me.”
Awooo!
Moving carelessly in the Lycaonthropes’ territory would force a full-frontal battle before they even found the item.
That was a burden even for El Pam.
His idea of hunting was only feasible from a hunter’s perspective.
A full-frontal war, and even El Pam couldn’t guarantee his survival.
Lycaonthropes were that formidable.
El Pam knew that better than any adventurer in the world, etched into his bones.
Having watched countless comrades die while fleeing from a pack of them.
Thanks to that.
‘Mapping the Lycaonthropes’ territory isn’t hard.’
That was how El Pam learned to evade them, bone-deep.
Kyuu!
Amid El Pam’s maneuvers and Mano’s guidance, El Pam’s party soon arrived.
“This?”
At a corpse buried in the blizzard.
Kyuu!
And at the ring it clutched.
“Dibo.”
The moment he found the ring, El Pam handed it straight to Dibo without hesitation.
Only Dibo, qualified to use Aran’s item, could gauge its value.
“Yes.”
Knowing why, Dibo slipped the ring onto his finger without pause and injected mana right away.
Everyone watched the process with bated breath.
‘What skill could it be?’
One of Aran’s skills Dibo had used before, Smash Swing, boasted merciless destructive power.
If this was even stronger?
It was hard to even imagine.
Gulp!
As everyone tensed, Dibo’s eyes suddenly widened, and he spoke.
“Boss, this!”
Everyone’s eyes grew at his reaction, and Dibo told them.
“It’s a dud.”
His companions all tilted their heads.
They couldn’t make sense of Dibo’s words.
“A dud?”
“Hey, what nonsense are you spouting?”
“What are you talking about?”
Once they understood, his companions freaked out and chimed in one by one, and Dibo replied.
“No, it’s a dud! I injected mana and got zero reaction!”
“You’re not messing with us?”
“Hey, Goldie! Why would I lie at a time like this?”
“No reaction at all?”
“Nope!”
As he explained, everyone’s expressions hardened.
Who would’ve thought this could happen?
Of course, he was the exception.
“Dibo.”
“Yes? Yes, go ahead.”
El Pam removed the Zakum helmet he was wearing and handed it to Dibo as he spoke.
“From now on, just hunt down 50 White Fangs or Hectors.”
“Yes?”
“Fifty of them.”
Dibo looked baffled at the instruction, and El Pam told him.
“The skill on the item you got is a Combo Ability.”
“A Combo Ability?”
“Every 50 monsters you kill, your power strengthens. It’s the skill that made Aran the Polearm Hero.”