Chapter 215
Chapter 215
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 215
Chapter Title: 62. Manyong (3)
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7.
Resistance, they reached the second floor on the fifth day.
It was extremely slow progress.
But there was no helping it.
“There are still plenty of marks telling us to stay cautious.”
The marks left by El Pam’s party repeatedly warned them not to push too hard.
“But isn’t this too slow?”
“No.”
And that was a very important matter.
“What matters to us isn’t reaching the fifth floor. It’s the unexpected monster that exists there.”
They already knew this place was far more dangerous than the information they had.
“We preserve our strength as much as possible.”
In such a situation, what they needed to prioritize above all wasn’t the speed of conquest, but preserving their combat power.
In fact, the Resistance hadn’t lost a single member so far, trading time for safety.
And that wasn’t all.
‘Item consumption is lower than ever before.’
Thanks to barely engaging in combat, the Resistance still had nearly all their supplies intact.
‘The Mechanic unit hasn’t even moved.’
Especially the Mechanics, who boasted immense firepower but consumed just as much ammo—they hadn’t used a single round.
‘Thanks to El Pam’s party.’
It was an achievement they could never have managed entering this place with just the Resistance alone.
That was why everyone trusted and followed the marks left by El Pam’s party.
They moved extremely slowly.
At the same time, they gained confidence.
‘If we reach the fifth floor in this condition, there’s no reason we can’t take down whatever comes.’
But that confidence shook on the second floor.
“Alby, sir.”
“What is it?”
“We found a body.”
“A body?”
They weren’t too surprised at first when the body was discovered.
Even in a blue-grade Mystic Gate, there had to have been adventurers who attempted to conquer it.
Finding bodies was only natural.
“But this body… I think you need to see it.”
However, the moment Alby confirmed the body, his expression hardened.
He knew it the instant he saw it.
This body hadn’t been killed by a monster.
‘No way?’
And when he identified who the body was, Alby’s mind went blank.
‘Erka. Erka, the sixth-circle archer from the Adventurers’ Association.’
The corpses gathered here weren’t no-name adventurers—they were members of the Maple Alliance.
‘The others are also skilled members of the Maple Alliance. Ones reported missing or retired recently.’
The moment he recalled their recent news, Alby pieced it all together.
‘The Maple Alliance attempted a conquest here.’
This wasn’t just a blue-grade Mystic Gate with high difficulty.
‘But there was a traitor inside.’
There was an enormous backstory.
What troubled Alby was that he knew nothing about any of this.
‘The Supreme Commander can’t not know about this.’
It meant the higher-ups had hidden this information.
‘Deliberately.’
And he could guess why.
‘If this got out, morale would plummet.’
It was an unavoidable choice to maximize their chances of success.
Either way, it gave Alby a massive headache.
More precisely, it filled him with worry.
‘El Pam’s party doesn’t know about this.’
El Pam’s party had no idea this was a stage far worse than expected.
In other words, El Pam’s party was in greater danger than ever.
“Alby, sir.”
The other Resistance members were the same.
The moment they saw the body, they immediately realized.
“El Pam’s party is in danger.”
It was a call to help El Pam’s party.
They couldn’t just let El Pam’s party—who was willingly sacrificing for them—die like this.
“We…”
To his comrades’ opinion, Alby replied.
“Keep moving slowly like this.”
“Then what about El Pam’s party?”
“Assume they’re dead.”
Don’t go save El Pam’s party.
There was no helping it.
For Alby, who owed El Pam’s party more than anyone, his true feelings were that he’d gladly risk his own life to save them if he could.
But not now.
“Our mission is to conquer this place.”
Their lives weren’t their own.
And they knew.
“And on the fifth floor, there’ll be an enormous monster. One we can’t even imagine capturing.”
8.
Manyong.
Against the beast spraying poison mist enhanced by the Hydra’s heart, one knight charged forward.
It was like an egg advancing toward a rock.
No one thought Kirie, the knight inside that poison mist, could last even ten seconds.
And in truth, she couldn’t.
She didn’t have the ability to withstand that poison right now.
“Royal Guard!”
But the moment she activated the Royal Guard skill, the situation changed.
Paht!
A golden shield appeared in front of her, enveloping her completely.
It was Royal Guard, the skill of the great knight Mikhail, which ignored all incoming attacks.
Of course, poison attacks were an exception.
More precisely, poison magic attacks could be blocked since they were magic.
If they came from the front.
If the shield could block them.
In other words, it only defended the front, so it couldn’t fully protect Kirie from the poison fog enveloping her.
But she didn’t mind much.
“Advanced Royal Guard!”
Among the items she’d received was one containing the passive skill Advanced Royal Guard, which enhanced Royal Guard.
The moment its effect activated, Kirie’s resistance to all status ailments and elemental attacks multiplied several times over.
And that wasn’t the end.
“Advanced Soul Shield!”
She also activated Advanced Soul Shield, which boosted her defense and health.
In that instant, her health strengthened several times over for a short while.
Essentially, she was now virtually unaffected by the poison.
“Hoo!”
Even inhaling the poison meant nothing to her.
And it wasn’t just the poison.
Krurr!
Manyong reacted immediately to Kirie’s appearance.
Kraaa!
Without hesitation, Manyong opened its maw toward Kirie and spat a fireball.
Roooar!
It was a Fire Breath of immense heat.
The moment it was expelled, the surrounding space seemed to warp from the intensity!
Anything it touched wouldn’t just burn—it would melt!
Puuung!
That fireball engulfed Kirie completely.
And that was it.
Kirie, struck by the fireball, suffered no damage whatsoever—not even a troubled expression—as she charged toward Manyong.
It wasn’t strange.
As mentioned, Advanced Royal Guard worked not just on poison, but all magic!
Fire-attribute magic had no effect on her either.
“Insane!”
Dibo, Miner, and Ralph, watching from afar, wore expressions of disbelief.
They’d heard explanations, but they never imagined she’d put on such an absurd performance.
Of course, El Pam was different.
‘As expected.’
It was a familiar sight to El Pam.
‘Fitting for Mikhail’s disciple.’
None other than Mikhail, captain of the Cygnus Knights, had shown such scenes.
More than that, actually.
Cygnus Knights Captain Mikhail never faltered before any monster or foe—not even Manyong—displaying invincible prowess.
‘The Empress’s shield.’
That was why Mikhail became Cygnus Knights Captain.
He was the shield that had to protect Maple World’s noblest and greatest from the most dangerous being, the Black Mage.
A shield that could never be breached!
Of course, in El Pam’s memory, that shield had been breached.
‘Until Ralph killed him.’
But El Pam knew.
‘It was already as good as dead by then.’
Before El Pam returned to the past, the group Ralph belonged to could kill Mikhail not just because of their skill.
They were exceptional, no doubt.
But at that time, Cygnus Knights Captain Mikhail was practically dead already.
After countless battles, everything had crumbled.
Even in that state, he’d dealt fatal blows to the infamous Ralph and his comrades back then.
‘It won’t happen in this history now.’
Of course, only El Pam would remember it.
Ralph killing Cygnus Knights Captain Mikhail would never occur in this timeline.
And it wasn’t something to worry about right now.
“Boss!”
Kirie’s current performance wasn’t infinite.
The skills she was using could only be maintained for ten minutes.
“What do we do?”
If they didn’t take down Manyong within those ten minutes, Kirie would be in danger.
Of course, El Pam was prepared.
“Just watch.”
“Huh?”
“I’m enough on my own.”
Everyone wore expressions of confusion at El Pam’s words.
El Pam’s magic was impressive, sure.
But the opponent was Manyong!
A monster with inexpressible resistance and defense against magic.
From its current state, not just fire-attribute magic, but poison-attribute magic wouldn’t work either!
But El Pam wasn’t worried about that.
“If fire doesn’t work, I just won’t use it.”
He had a card to play.
“Fire Demon.”
El Pam pulled out the ancient magic Fire Demon, which was now nearly impossible to obtain.
‘Fire Demon?’
‘That ancient magic?’
At the spell, El Pam’s comrades recalled what the phantom thief Phantom had told them.
What kind of magic El Pam had acquired.
Of course, they only knew the name—they had no idea what effects it had.
So everyone tensed up, full of anticipation.
‘If it’s ancient magic, the power must be insane, right?’
Thus, the Fire Demon El Pam summoned quickly flew toward Manyong, whom Kirie was facing.
Puuung!
Soon, the Fire Demon collided with Manyong and exploded.
And that was it.
No notable wounds or changes appeared on Manyong’s body.
The Fire Demon possessed it, sending hot flames surging from its body, but Manyong wasn’t affected by the heat at all.
‘Huh?’
Question marks appeared on his comrades’ faces at the sight.
“Boss, doesn’t look like it hit?”
Dibo even said El Pam had missed.
Of course, the chance El Pam’s magic missed was zero—not even 0.01 percent.
“Fire Demon magic has two effects.”
In other words, it was exactly as El Pam intended.
“One is that immense heat surges from within the body.”
He’d aimed for a different effect from the start.
“The other is that resistance to ice-attribute magic drops to nearly zero.”
“Nearly zero? Ah!”
With El Pam’s explanation, everyone understood.
Why El Pam had used that magic.
And what magic he’d use next.
“Blizzard.”
As expected, El Pam summoned the Blizzard spell.
Razor-sharp ice spears began pouring endlessly from the sky.
Puhot!
The flying ice spears effortlessly tore through Manyong’s tough dragon hide.
Kraaa!
The one most shocked by that absurd attack was none other than Manyong.
It couldn’t have imagined such mere ice magic ripping its incredible hide.
Kraa!
At that fact, Manyong flew into a rage.
Rage at the being that dared wound its body!
But that rage didn’t last long.
Manyong could see it.
Krurr?
All the pouring ice spears, the countless ones flying toward it.
The moment El Pam began manipulating the Blizzard with telekinesis.
Seeing that, El Pam’s comrades had no doubt.
‘It’s over.’
Manyong’s death cry would come soon.
And as expected.
Krooo!
Nine minutes into the hunt, Manyong let out its death cry.