Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: 16. Kairin's Treasure (2)
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5.
After monsters burst out of the Mystic Gate, Maple World turned into hell.
And that hell gave birth to new heroes.
The world referred to the seven at the pinnacle of those heroes as the Seven Stars.
Golden Eye Miner, Aran's disciple Dibo, Hero Tracker Pir, Heart Destroyer Baekwol, Magic Bullet Sniper Max, Divine Archer Nael, Thunder Emperor Rick.
They were all great figures who refused comparison to any other adventurer.
Naturally, El Pam knew their exploits better than anyone.
He had deep ties with them.
So deep that he alone, the Last Adventurer El Pam, remembered their final moments.
'Thunder Emperor.'
Among them, the one with the deepest connection to El Pam was none other than Thunder Emperor Rick.
There were two reasons for that.
'Follower of the Black Mage.'
The first was that he was a follower of the Black Mage in hiding.
Thunder Emperor Rick revealed his true identity on the day of the Death Squad, when 100,000 adventurers gathered to fight the Black Mage's followers.
'Because of him, 100,000 were massacred.'
The adventurers present that day were slaughtered.
'Everyone except me.'
The sole survivor was El Pam.
Of course, he hadn't survived through skill alone.
In fact, El Pam had been on the brink of death.
Thunder Emperor Rick had grabbed El Pam's throat with his right hand.
Then he unleashed lightning magic, Chain Lightning.
For El Pam, a mere 4th Circle mage adventurer at the time, it was more than enough firepower to kill him.
'If I hadn't had the All Master talent, if I hadn't had resistance to lightning magic, I'd have died there.'
But Thunder Emperor Rick, unaware of El Pam's All Master talent, thought him dead and left.
That's how he survived.
That's how he could remember.
'He was wearing this ring.'
The ring on the finger of Thunder Emperor Rick as he gripped El Pam's throat.
He later learned what that ring was.
'Zeus's Ring.'
A ring that granted the ability to control all lightning attribute magic.
It was an incredible item.
Lightning magic was inherently powerful, but nearly impossible to handle.
Lightning was wild by nature.
And far too fast.
That's why people said lightning mages were bombs that didn't distinguish between enemy and ally.
Chain Lightning was a prime example. It jumped from target to target in a chain, dealing damage without regard for friend or foe. Even if it hit an enemy first, the next could be an ally.
It was uncontrollable.
Even El Pam, with his telekinesis, found lightning magic nearly impossible to manipulate.
But this ring allowed control?
'With this, the Thunder Emperor displayed absurd power.'
How terrifying that was had been shown by Thunder Emperor Rick himself.
In the heat of battle, freely wielding lightning magic to burn everyone around him.
Thunder Emperor! True to his name, carrying out a massacre!
So it was puzzling.
'Zeus's Ring is here...?'
The Thunder Emperor's item, the item of a Black Mage follower, was on Kairin's Treasure Island?
There were two possibilities.
Either the Thunder Emperor had come to Kairin's Treasure Island.
'Or there's a traitor among the treasure island's guardians.'
Or a Black Mage follower had delivered Zeus's Ring to the Thunder Emperor.
El Pam naturally favored the latter.
'Dangerous.'
That meant the Black Mage's followers likely now had their eyes on Zeus's Ring or already recognized it.
If El Pam acquired it here, he'd be hunted by them.
'Interesting.'
Of course, that wasn't a reason for El Pam to refuse Zeus's Ring.
So he picked it up without hesitation.
At that moment, Valeria spoke.
“The choice is made. Now we return.”
6.
The Nautilus.
It was filled with adventurers and pirates from all corners of Maple World.
Naturally, stories from every part of Maple World gathered there.
New tales circulated constantly, and most stories were buried without even becoming gossip.
But right now, only one topic was making the rounds on the Nautilus.
“Did you hear? Golden Eye raided Eagle Eye's Tomb?”
It was about Golden Eye.
Of course it was.
“They finally conquered it.”
“What the hell was inside?”
“What about Eagle Eye's legacy? There had to be something.”
A Mystic Gate that no one, not even Bounty Board pages, had touched in a year—a place deemed untouchable—had been conquered by none other than Golden Eye.
In other words, everyone thought:
“Damn, it's all Golden Eye talk.”
That Golden Eye had done the conquering.
“We're the ones who woke it up.”
El Pam's party had just ridden their coattails.
In truth, that was the common-sense view.
Unless El Pam's party claimed the conquest themselves.
Even if they did, most wouldn't believe them.
“Why did the boss order us to keep this quiet?”
El Pam had even issued a gag order on the matter.
Of course, he'd explained why.
“Even if it rubs the Nautilus pirates the wrong way...”
The first reason was the Nautilus crew's pride.
If word got out that Golden Eye had needed help from nobodies, they wouldn't take it well.
Above all, the Nautilus crew were pirates.
They lived by the creed of repaying slights twice over.
“The leader said not to make needless enemies.”
The second reason was to avoid drawing attention.
If El Pam gained fame, challengers would naturally target his reputation.
It was the adventurer's fate, in a way.
The higher the fame, the more titles, the more hunters it attracted.
“And we get paid for our silence.”
Silence came with a hefty price.
For those reasons, Kiri and Ralph had no real complaints about El Pam's decision.
“What are you talking about? Adventurers are supposed to make a name for themselves! I'll talk to the boss about it!”
Only Dibo remained.
“Go ahead.”
“Huh? Boss?”
“What do you want?”
“Oh, uh, that is... just talking big.”
Of course, Dibo never voiced complaints to El Pam.
“More importantly, how'd the job go? Hehe...”
El Pam replied to Dibo's fawning look.
“Beyond expectations.”
“Beyond expectations?”
The unexpected answer drew surprised looks from Dibo and the others.
El Pam, who stayed stone-faced through most things and treated even huge results as ordinary, said beyond expectations?
That meant it was no ordinary matter.
“Yeah, beyond expectations.”
It truly wasn't ordinary.
'With Zeus's Ring, I can make lightning magic my mainstay.'
El Pam now had the Thunder Emperor's power.
If those who knew El Pam before his return, during his time as the Last Adventurer, learned of it, they'd be horrified.
And harbor hope.
Hope that El Pam could save the world.
Of course, El Pam knew better.
'It's not enough to hunt Hontail on its own.'
That was their hope, not his. El Pam, who had faced Hontail himself, knew it was still insufficient.
'Before Hontail, I need to deal with the Kania Merchant Group.'
Above all, what El Pam had to fight right now wasn't Hontail, but the Black Mage's followers.
'They've gauged my strength.'
The Black Mage follower hiding in Golden Eye's party would have reported on El Pam's party's abilities.
In other words, they now knew.
That El Pam wielded tremendous power using telekinesis and Fire Arrow.
Naturally, to kill him next time, they'd send stronger adventurers.
'I need to prepare thoroughly.'
Even with Zeus's Ring, problems remained.
El Pam had no experience properly using it. He'd have to build that now.
It wouldn't be easy, in many ways.
That was certain.
“Hey there.”
As El Pam's party pondered, one person approached.
The air froze.
“Golden Eye?”
It was the golden-eyed beauty, Miner.
Scraaape!
She dragged over a chair and sat right at El Pam's party's table.
Everyone's faces hardened.
Sitting at the table—in the adventurer world, that meant one thing.
“I want to join your party.”
“Join the party?”
“Yeah, your party.”
At those words, Dibo looked utterly baffled.
Golden Eye Miner, Captain Kairin's disciple, leader of over a hundred subordinates already, wanted to join a party?
“Come on, that doesn't make sense!”
Naturally, Dibo let out a hollow laugh.
“Hmm? Doesn't it? Kiri, what do you think?”
“I'm for it.”
“Right? She's for it? Wait, what?”
But Kiri thought differently.
“A highly skilled party member joining? No reason to refuse.”
She welcomed Miner's arrival.
“No, sure, she's skilled, but... Hey, Ralph. Say something.”
Seeing Kiri like that, Dibo turned to Ralph.
“I'm against it.”
“Yeah, that's right. You have to oppose. Common sense, right? Even you think it's ridiculous, don't you, Ralph?”
“One more person means my cut shrinks.”
At that perfectly sensible answer, Dibo blanked for a moment—then Miner spoke.
“I'm not joining for free. I'll pay a joining fee.”
“I'm for it.”
Ralph immediately gave a thumbs-up.
“Name's Ralph. Position: supporter. Specialty: punching monsters while using heal skills. Looking forward to working with you.”
Dibo's gaze turned to El Pam.
“Boss, what do we do?”
El Pam didn't answer right away.
He thought it over.
Common sense said Miner joining would greatly bolster their strength.
And El Pam knew her abilities better than anyone.
She'd be a huge asset.
The problem was that El Pam wanted more than just raw power.
Golden Eye joining El Pam's party?
That alone would spark massive buzz, and buzz meant trouble.
'If she joins, the Black Mage followers will recalibrate.'
Crucially, from the Kania Merchant Group's perspective, eliminating El Pam's party was one thing—eliminating one that included Captain Kairin's disciple was another level entirely.
Dragging Captain Kairin into their affairs.
Chasing a rabbit and rousing a tiger.
'They'll go all out.'
To leave no trace while catching the rabbit, they'd commit fully.
'They'll send hunting dogs loaded with unique items.'
That was the reason.
“Miner.”
El Pam addressed her.
“Welcome to the party.”
Miner grinned.
“You've got an eye for talent.”
She extended her hand.
Looking at it, El Pam said:
“Joining fee is 10 million mesos.”
“What?”
“And we haven't settled the entry fee yet. Settle the total, including that.”
Miner looked dumbfounded.
That was the moment.
“Hey! Everyone!”
A man burst into their tavern, shouting.
“Big news! Huge news!”
“What happened?”
“Goldrich's son died raiding a Mystic Gate! The son of Victoria Island's richest man is dead!”