Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Martyr (2)
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055
Chapter 18. Martyr (2)
3.
When El Pam mentioned five minutes, everyone thought the same thing.
‘The boss has lost it?’
Even after all the incredible feats El Pam had pulled off so far, this was just too much to believe.
But no one asked, “How?”
El Pam was their leader, and if he said it, their role as a party was to follow.
Thud!
“Damn.”
Above all, El Pam’s party didn’t have time to waste.
“It’s coming!”
The Giant Swamp Mud Monster barreled toward where El Pam’s party waited.
Truth be told, there was nothing strange about it.
“As expected, it remembered this place.”
The Giant Swamp Mud Monster would surely recall it.
The time when adventurers had gathered on this vast, open expanse—the only one of its kind—to stand against it.
Naturally, this spot would have registered in the Giant Swamp Mud Monster’s mind as a place where adventurers flocked on their own.
“No need to call it over. Perfect.”
It wasn’t a bad development for El Pam’s party, either.
Unlike the swamp, this was solid ground—a proper stage for battle.
“Five minutes. Let’s hold the line.”
Dibo, his resolve burning on that stage, began donning Jack Rich’s items.
Everyone readied for combat.
El Pam spoke to them.
“Precisely. Properly draw out its rage.”
Dibo’s eyes narrowed at the emphasis.
‘If the boss is stressing it this much, he means business.’
El Pam wasn’t the type to spout nonsense.
“Got it. I’ll make the fucker spew curses from its mouth.”
Dibo flashed a confident grin, fully equipping Jack Rich’s items.
He then channeled mana from his now three circles into each one, one by one.
In that moment, three items brimmed with mana.
Achilles’ Helmet, Theseus’ Armor, and the ring enchanted with Physical Training from their last haul.
The effects of those three mana-infused items flooded Dibo’s body.
In that instant, Dibo felt it.
“Whoa!”
Power surging through every inch of him.
But it didn’t stop there.
“Bless.”
Ralph stepped forward and layered on a buff.
“Don’t die on me.”
Complete with encouragement.
“What’s this? Words of support?”
“Seventy-five million mesos. Make sure you pay it all back alive.”
The reasoning strayed from normal sense, but Dibo brushed it off.
“Fine. I’ll throw in interest.”
“Interest too, for real?”
“. . . Just a figure of speech.”
“Almost had me hopeful.”
“Enough. Fall back.”
Dibo shoved Ralph aside and lifted his head.
Thud!
Only after craning his neck far upward did he finally lock eyes with the Giant Swamp Mud Monster.
The size gap was astronomical.
Elephant versus puppy—an insurmountable divide where battle itself seemed impossible.
Even charging in felt out of the question.
Boom!
Yet the instant the Giant Swamp Mud Monster’s foot hit the firm ground, Dibo charged without a second thought.
Whoosh!
It swung a massive fist down at him—like slamming a stamp.
Dibo dodged it effortlessly.
But evasion was just the beginning.
Kaboom!
The fist cratered the earth with a shriek, sending sand grains erupting like they’d been shocked.
Even at a distance, the sheer shockwave was enough to shatter sanity.
“Slash Blaster!”
Dibo’s mind held firm. If anything, he grew bolder, raking his polearm across the Giant Swamp Mud Monster’s leg.
That marked the opening salvo.
“Come on!”
Dibo weaved through its assaults, hammering that same leg again and again.
The left one only!
Groooar!
The relentless barrage drew a roar thick with fury from the Giant Swamp Mud Monster. Dibo laughed.
“Crying already? Waaah? Boo hoo hoo?”
Pure taunt.
Groooar!
The mockery fueled an even angrier bellow.
Dibo danced nimbly around the beast.
Kiri, Ralph, and Miner—watching from the sidelines—were floored.
‘He’s pulling this off?’
They knew it, of course.
Dibo was stacked with three unique items right now—peak power.
‘But he just equipped them?’
This was his first time ever using them.
Such instant mastery? Unheard of.
El Pam, unsurprised, watched on.
‘Survival demands freakish adaptability.’
He knew exactly what kind of adventurer Dibo had been before his return to the past.
No shock here.
No time for it, either.
‘Adaptability isn’t stamina, though.’
Dibo’s show wouldn’t last.
‘Finish in five minutes.’
That was El Pam’s window to slay the Giant Swamp Mud Monster.
It wouldn’t be hard.
He’d faced this scenario countless times.
Plenty of monsters El Pam tangled with shrugged off his strongest spells without a scratch.
Yet he’d felled them all the same.
By doggedly burrowing to the magic stone and smashing it.
His comrades dubbed El Pam’s method:
‘Surgery.’
4.
Adventurers facing a high-defense monster always had one go-to.
“Pick a spot and hammer it.”
Single-point breakthrough.
The surest path.
“Talk is cheap.”
And the toughest.
“Blind charges won’t cut it. Straight line, dead on target.”
The miners—true experts at excavation—nailed it.
“That’s the real killer.”
Drilling straight was hell.
That’s why El Pam earned respect.
He could do it.
Telekinesis let him bore straight and true to the goal.
‘Surgery, they called it.’
Literal surgery.
‘Fail, and everyone dies.’
Not every operation succeeded, of course.
He’d botched plenty.
No helping it.
El Pam hadn’t started as a master of all.
Countless failures. Endless comrades lost. That forged his skill.
“Fire Arrow.”
Put simply, the El Pam before them was failure’s finest product.
No more room for error.
‘Here we go.’
El Pam’s Fire Arrow streaked toward the Giant Swamp Mud Monster’s nape—right behind where it chased Dibo.
Fwoosh!
It sank in.
“Fire Arrow.”
From there, El Pam unleashed a barrage, each one piling into the exact same spot.
One arrow: a single knuckle deep.
To reach the magic stone? Two meters—room for a whole person.
Deeper it went, the weaker each shot landed. A hair’s-breadth off course, and it was all wasted.
Daunting work.
El Pam pressed on with the incision.
“Fire Arrow.”
Dibo and the others staked their lives to keep it occupied as he delved.
‘Four minutes.’
Four minutes in. El Pam’s ninety-eighth Fire Arrow.
His unflinching face finally tensed.
He looked up.
Then:
Thud!
5.
Thud!
The door slammed shut. Beju turned to Ebob.
“Double-checked. Door’s sealed tight.”
Beju’s face was grimmer than ever as he reported.
‘Damn it. Of all the missions.’
Not just any job—this was martyr-worthy stakes. And it crumbles like this?
Beju dreaded Ebob’s wrath.
But Ebob took the news stone-faced.
“Went to the second floor. Your take?”
“Pardon?”
“Why’d they head to the second floor?”
“The situation turned dire . . . They couldn’t wait for reinforcements. No other play.”
Ebob nodded, pleased.
“No need to fret anymore.”
“Pardon?”
Beju blinked.
The Ebob he knew stamped out even the tiniest odds.
El Pam’s party had that sliver right now.
Proof? They’d hit the second floor.
Sure, merging with the rear guard to clear it fell through. But they made it up there.
Luck out on the second floor, and they escape via exit.
That’s why Ebob prepped martyrs.
To snuff that chance.
Now they cross over, and he’s content?
“He’s dead.”
Ebob cut through Beju’s confusion.
“Two martyrs went there.”
6.
Thud!
A colossal boom. The Giant Swamp Mud Monster arrived.
Roooar!
A second one.
Everyone—including El Pam—could only stare, dumbfounded.
‘A second one?’
It didn’t end there.
Thud!
“Small fry incoming too!”
This Giant Swamp Mud Monster brought company—over twenty regular Swamp Mud Monsters.
An army at its back.
Beyond anyone’s wildest guess.
Even El Pam.
‘Two, huh.’
Outside his predictions too.
‘Burning two martyrs.’
El Pam knew martyrs’ worth. He hadn’t figured they’d waste two just for Jack Rich.
‘More desperate to kill him than I thought.’
Situation shifted entirely.
El Pam checked Dibo first.
Boom!
“Come at me! Catch me if you can!”
Even amid crisis, Dibo held his own against the Giant Swamp Mud Monster.
El Pam saw through it, though.
‘Stamina’s capping out.’
Three minutes tops from now—if he pushed perfectly. Collapse any second wouldn’t shock.
‘Second one’s impossible.’
Dibo’s run ended here.
Next up?
‘Kiri won’t cut it.’
She could sub in for Dibo, maybe. But the minions?
No counting on Ralph and Miner to mop them.
Flight wasn’t simple, either.
Only escape: the swamp.
Against Swamp Mud Monsters in their element? Doubtful.
Possible, sure.
‘Escape needs bait.’
One sacrifice pins them, the rest bolt.
Adventure 101.
Everyone knew it.
No one said it aloud.
“Boss!”
Dibo broke the silence.
“I’ll buy time. You run!”
Pure resolve.
“No second-guessing! Only I can tank the aggro! I got it!”
Cold, ironclad.
No one could respond.
No time to.
“Now!”
Seconds burned precious now. No room for doubt.
“Dibo.”
“Yes, boss!”
El Pam matched his resolve.
“We keep hunting.”
“Yeah! . . . What?”
Blank stares all around. That instant, El Pam drew a magic stone from his pocket and popped it in his mouth.
Gulp!
Swallowed whole.
Simultaneously, a ring formed on his left wrist.
The fourth one.