Chapter 168
Chapter 168
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 168
Chapter Title: Chapter 51. Wolf King (3)
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5.
The polearm hero Aran—there were countless heroic tales told when describing her.
So many that it was impossible to single out just one.
Moreover, not a single one of those tales was lightweight. Any one story alone was enough to make her a hero.
And there were countless such stories.
However, all those innumerable tales shared one common thread.
“The polearm hero Aran grew stronger the more battles she fought.”
She became stronger the more enemies she faced.
It was something that defied common sense.
No matter how strong an adventurer or hero might be, they couldn't grow stronger as battles dragged on.
Battles were a continuous drain, repeated fights gnawing away at stamina, mental fortitude, and mana.
But Aran was different.
She truly showed greater strength with each successive battle, with every enemy she felled.
It was later revealed.
“Thanks to her Combo Ability.”
It was made possible by one of her skills: Combo Ability.
As the name implied, it was a skill that boosted her power the more enemies she defeated in succession—a combo.
The skill's benchmark was 50.
In other words, her abilities increased every time she defeated 50 monsters.
Of course, it wasn't an unconditional boost.
There were several conditions attached.
“First off, the duration is 10 minutes.”
The most critical condition was that the ability boost lasted only 10 minutes.
It wasn't a short time by any means.
The problem was—as explained earlier with combos—she had to keep hunting monsters nonstop within those 10 minutes.
If she failed to kill even a single monster in that window?
Then every bit of power gained from Combo Ability vanished in an instant.
Even accounting for that, it was an incredible skill.
“Hunting around a thousand nets you a stat boost comparable to leveling up a circle.”
It was powerful enough to rival gaining an entire circle.
That was no small feat.
The gap between circles was immeasurable, and when sealing the Black Mage, the polearm hero Aran had been at the 8th Circle.
For her to surpass even one more circle?
It was the realm of transcendence, right at its doorstep.
That was why.
The six heroes could stand against the Black Mage—that transcendent being—and ultimately seal him away.
In other words, it was one of the skills that made the polearm hero Aran a true hero.
Kyuuu!
Mano showed more excitement than ever, and for good reason.
It was an item more valuable than anything the El Pam party had ever obtained.
‘To think this would drop.’
Even El Pam hadn't expected an item containing Aran's Combo Ability skill to appear among her gear.
‘They wouldn't have known.’
If they had, they never would have let it go.
‘At this point in time, only one person could wield Aran's items.’
And they had no way of knowing.
There was no one among the Black Mage's followers qualified to inherit Aran's legacy.
“An incredible item.”
Without Dibo, even El Pam might not have recognized it.
“An incredible find.”
Either way, they had finally obtained the item they'd been seeking.
“No reason to stick around here anymore.”
So El Pam didn't hesitate any longer.
“We hunt the Lycanthrope.”
6.
Lycanthrope.
Auuu!
The beast howling nonstop looked much like a werewolf.
Of course, that was just its appearance.
Auuu!
For starters, it was at least twice the size of a werewolf.
Werewolves were no small monsters to begin with—twice their size felt like an entire house looming before you.
Its fur was also silver. That alone was a massive headache.
Whoooosh!
In the midst of a raging blizzard, spotting the Lycanthrope visually was no easy task.
But the most troublesome part wasn't its outward appearance.
Auuu!
Auuu!
Every time the Lycanthrope howled, werewolves began emerging one by one from its shadow.
“Ugh.”
Horrifying even to imagine.
“Rough count puts it over three or four hundred, right?”
But even more horrifying was that hundreds had already been summoned.
“I counted 348.”
A werewolf's toughness equated to about a hundred Hectors.
348 werewolves gathered together? It wasn't an exaggeration to say it was like facing over 30,000 Hectors.
In reality, it was even worse.
Three hundred werewolves could take down 100,000 Hectors with ease.
The sheer scale was staggering.
That was why the El Pam party reached an immediate conclusion.
“Better to take it down as soon as possible.”
Right now, when it was weakest.
“If time drags on, it'll be impossible to handle.”
If the werewolf pack swelled past 1,000, it was game over.
But they couldn't act on it just yet.
“Boss, what’s the plan?”
Only one person could take down the Lycanthrope right now: El Pam, wearing Zakum's helmet.
His remaining companions couldn't even provide proper support in their current state.
Every decision fell to El Pam.
“Not yet.”
No one argued or showed surprise at his response.
‘It won’t be easy.’
They knew rushing in wasn’t feasible, no matter how urgent.
‘He’ll need prep time.’
So they waited silently for El Pam to make his move.
Without a word.
But El Pam showed no movement at all.
‘Is something bothering him?’
His companions wondered but held their questions.
They kept waiting.
Auuu!
Time passed, and with it, the number of howls echoing through the air began to grow.
El Pam remained still.
He let the time slip by endlessly without budging.
A day passed, then two, and soon it was a week.
Auuu!
“Over a thousand now.”
The Lycanthrope's summoned werewolves had now surpassed 1,000 in number.
Meanwhile, El Pam did nothing.
At that point, silence was no longer an option.
“Uh, Boss.”
Dibo finally spoke up.
“Is something wrong?”
El Pam tilted his head at the question.
“Wrong?”
“No, I mean… you haven’t done anything for a whole week?”
Weren’t they wasting time without cause?
El Pam answered.
“No issues.”
“Boss.”
Dibo spoke cautiously at the reply.
“We’re nowhere near your level, but we’re still your companions. You don’t have to shoulder everything alone. Our lives are yours to command anytime.”
The others chimed in.
“Yeah. Just give the orders.”
“Skip the orders—hand me Zakum’s helmet. I’ll punch holes in those wolf bastards’ skulls.”
“You can’t die yet, Boss. You’ve still got plenty of debts to collect!”
They were ready to sacrifice themselves if needed, showing their resolve.
It was remarkable resolve.
Even the finest adventurers struggled to face death with such determination.
Especially here, where Zakum’s curse lingered.
Everyone but El Pam could muster only half their full strength.
Yet they showed no hesitation.
El Pam’s chest swelled with emotion at their display, but he said,
“Really, no problem.”
He hadn’t been brooding alone just to spare them worry.
Of course, El Pam knew.
“Boss.”
By now, they wouldn’t easily believe him.
But he didn’t need to convince them.
“Then why wait?”
“I needed sacrifices.”
“Huh?”
“And now they’re all gathered.”
The stage he wanted was finally set.
“We start the Lycanthrope hunt.”
The moment it was complete, El Pam launched the hunt without a second’s delay.
“I go alone.”
With those words, he vanished into the blizzard by himself.
His companions didn’t follow.
Not from lack of resolve.
They knew better than anyone it would only drag him down in this situation.
So they held their breath, waiting for the hunt to end.
Worry lingered, of course.
‘How’s he gonna pull this off?’
They respected El Pam’s abilities, but taking down the Lycanthrope solo still seemed impossible.
And it wasn’t just the Lycanthrope.
‘Over a thousand werewolves around it?’
The area teemed with those indomitable monsters.
That’s when it happened.
Auuu!
A howl rang out, and the moment they heard it, El Pam’s companions knew.
‘It’s started.’
Unlike the howls before, this one carried venomous hostility—pure murderous intent.
El Pam’s hunt had begun.
Auuu!
Auuu!
Soon the world was drowned in howls. They pierced the ears, shaking the brain just from the sound.
It was justified.
The Lycanthrope itself, plus over a thousand werewolves howling in rage—it was no ordinary chorus.
Auuu!
The El Pam party’s anxiety deepened at the noise.
‘The sound’s moving.’
‘They’re giving chase.’
They could sense the werewolves and Lycanthrope pursuing El Pam in a frenzy.
And it wasn’t a simple pursuit.
‘From all sides.’
The werewolves scattered in every direction to encircle him.
Their overwhelming numbers made it possible.
Auuu!
The werewolves’ howls spread outward, engulfing the world even more fiercely.
‘Even escaping won’t be easy.’
In that situation, the El Pam party stayed put.
Moving now would only complicate things for him.
But such waiting couldn’t last forever.
Auuu!
As the howls briefly quieted, Dibo glanced at his companions and signaled with his eyes.
‘Let’s set an order.’
No explanation needed.
They all knew it was the order for who’d volunteer as bait if El Pam got cornered.
‘I’ll go first.’
‘Second’s mine.’
‘Okay, you’re third.’
‘I’ll take last.’
The order was set in moments.
Auuu!
And right then—
Swish!
Something appeared before them, jolting everyone to their feet.
‘No way?’
They braced, fearing it might be the Lycanthrope.
Then a voice reached their tense ears.
“Stand down.”
“Boss?”
El Pam’s voice.
“You’re back alive!”
Joy lit up their faces.
“Thank goodness.”
“Yeah, our leader wouldn’t go down that easy.”
“I knew it!”
Amid the relief, no one held expectations.
Not a soul thought El Pam had slain the Lycanthrope.
“We’re needed after all, right?”
“Hunt’s over.”
“Huh?”
“Lycanthrope’s down.”
Everyone froze at his words.
“You got it?”
To his stunned companions, El Pam gave a brief explanation.
“Wore Hermes’ Boots and attacked from a kilometer out. Would’ve been weirder if I missed.”
They stared blankly at the explanation.
One thing they were certain of, though:
If El Pam said he got it, he got it.
He’d never lie about something like this.
Naturally, questions arose.
“Boss, if it was that easy, why drag it out?”
Why had he waited?
El Pam answered.
“I needed to.”
“Huh?”
With that, he removed Zakum’s helmet and handed it to Dibo.
Then he said,
“The sacrifice.”