Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Time Attack (1)
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072
Chapter 24. Time Attack (1)
1.
The moment he received El Pam's proposal, Salaman felt flustered for two reasons.
'Crazy bastard?'
One was the proposal from El Pam itself.
'What do I do?'
The second thing that flustered Salaman was the fact that he currently had no say in the decision—and the one who did was standing right there behind him, the El Pam party.
That was why.
Salaman looked up at Prince Kashan, who stared back at him with a coldly sunken expression.
'Ah.'
It was a reprimand.
A reprimand toward Salaman for failing to put on a proper act right now.
At that reprimand, Salaman felt a chill run down his spine so intensely that his entire body stiffened.
'Get it together.'
But he couldn't show it.
'One more mistake here, and it's over.'
If he slipped up even once more here, it wouldn't end with just a reprimand.
Salaman changed his expression and said,
"Interesting."
He put on a relaxed face, an intrigued one.
"Fine, I'll accept. For every day under a week, ten million mesos. If you clear it in one day, sixty million mesos."
He accepted El Pam's proposal.
In truth, it was a decision beyond Salaman's authority.
What if the El Pam party actually conquered the Mystic Gate in a single day?
Sixty million mesos—that was an amount Salaman himself would have to take responsibility for, no one else.
Even so, Salaman wasn't overly worried.
There was no reason to be.
'No way they'll pull it off.'
The possibility was zero.
To such a Salaman, El Pam said,
"Where is it?"
2.
Those who visit the port city in the Nihal Desert are astonished by its prosperity and scale, far beyond their expectations.
And the moment they step into the Nihal Desert, they realize.
"Damn it. How the hell do people even live out here?"
Why the port city is so developed.
"No wonder everyone flocks to the port city. Makes total sense."
It's the only barely livable place.
The Nihal Desert's environment was more than enough to wither away any adventurer.
"Not even sweating anymore."
The scorching sun's heat melted away every expectation just as it was.
Of course, the desert's dangers weren't just the heat.
The heat was actually negligible.
With proper preparation, you almost never died from it.
There were two real problems.
"If we run into a monster here and sweat it out even a little, we'll drop dead on the spot."
One was the monsters.
"They say even 3rd Circle adventurers struggle with the baseline ones here."
Moreover, the monsters that appeared in the Nihal Desert were on a whole different level from those on Victoria Island.
Just surviving in a desert environment spoke volumes about their vitality.
But the most headache-inducing part was the desert environment itself.
"They all hide in the sand."
Unlike Victoria Island, tracking monsters in the Nihal Desert was incredibly difficult.
Even renowned adventurers from Ariant couldn't find them easily.
"Get lost in a fight like that, and you're done for, right?"
Another scary thing about the desert was how easy it was to lose your way.
That's why some adventurers loved the Nihal Desert. It was overflowing with unclaimed Mystic Gates.
Harsh in every way.
Of course, El Pam was the exception.
'Escaping monsters is easier in a desert.'
To him, the Nihal Desert wasn't difficult at all—it was actually something to be grateful for.
'Thanks to the Nihal Desert, I lived two more years.'
Without it, he never would have earned the title of Last Adventurer.
Of course, it was a story his companions could never know.
'The boss probably has no desert experience. I need to stay sharp.'
So they were all worried.
"Hey, more than that, Kiri. You okay?"
The biggest worry was Kiri, who was more heavily armored than anyone, clad in full plate.
Leaving the armor off would make it hotter, so she wore a robe over it.
Just looking at her made it hard to breathe.
"Why not take off the armor and travel lighter?"
That suggestion was, in truth, nonsense.
In a situation where monsters could leap out at any moment, going without armor?
It meant not fighting at all, becoming dead weight to the party.
"I'm fine."
Naturally, Kiri refused.
"Come on, I said I'm fine. Catch your breath. I'm suffocating just watching."
"Really, I'm fine."
"Fine my ass!"
That was when.
"Kiri's fine."
"Huh?"
El Pam stepped in himself.
"No, boss! How could that be fine?"
"She is. Kiri's armor has an item attached that keeps the inside cool for situations like this."
"What?"
That was when.
Miya!
A snail emerged from inside Kiri's armor.
Looking fresher than ever, utterly unaffected by the desert heat.
"Huh?"
At that moment, Dibo suddenly rushed to Kiri and hugged her—armor and all.
"What, what are you doing?"
Kiri was startled.
Dibo was startled too.
"Whoa, it's actually cold! Insane. How is this possible?"
Amazed, Dibo hugged her tighter.
Kiri freaked out even more.
"Let go! Dibo! Let go!"
"Hey, just stay like this a bit longer? Please?"
"Don't talk nonsense!"
"Huh? Aren't we past being so cold to each other? I'll hold just a little more."
The others stifled laughs at their bickering.
"Having fun, are we?"
"Free show like this? Quite the sight."
They enjoyed the spectacle.
Because they knew.
Opportunities to watch and laugh like this wouldn't come again.
So they had to savor this moment.
"Let's move."
And the moment El Pam said that, everyone got ready.
For the fierce battles and desperate survival days about to begin.
'No time to rest from here on. How brutal will desert fights be?'
'Can't let my guard down.'
With that resolve, the El Pam party soon saw it.
"That's the destination."
The Mystic Gate Salaman had designated.
"Hey, boss."
"What?"
"...What happened to us?"
"What do you mean?"
"We got here without fighting a single monster. Does that make any sense?"
Not a single battle.
El Pam calmly replied to his dumbfounded companions.
"No reason to waste energy."
Hearing that, they all realized.
'It's thanks to the boss.'
That over the five days since leaving Jeddah port city and crossing the Nihal Desert, not encountering a single monster wasn't luck.
'The boss maneuvered to avoid them.'
It was thanks to El Pam—his ability.
The moment they realized it, they looked at El Pam with awe.
El Pam had shown extraordinary abilities many times before.
Countless times.
He'd moved without encountering monsters several times too.
They'd been impressed then.
'Is this even possible?'
But what he was showing now was on another level.
Avoiding monsters was a skill any top adventurer should have.
But the Nihal Desert was a stage utterly different in difficulty from forests or wastelands.
And wasn't this El Pam's first time in a desert?
Awe-inspiring in every way.
'Just follow the boss, and we're golden.'
Of course, that awe turned to reassurance.
"Yeah, overflowing with energy thanks to you, boss."
Buoyed by it, Dibo spoke more energetically than ever.
"Good."
"Good?"
"We need to clear the Mystic Gate as fast as possible."
"Of course! Money's on the line! So, how many days do you want, boss?"
El Pam smiled faintly at the question.
"12 hours."
"12 hours? Haha, perfect. Wait, how many?"
To his shocked companions, El Pam said clearly,
"We'll finish it in 12 hours."
3.
Gapor Merchant Group's Ariant branch.
"Salaman."
In that shabby building, Salaman bowed his head at the voice calling him.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"How's it going?"
Salaman answered immediately.
"It's day 10, so they should have reached the destination by now."
Prince Kashan tilted his head at the reply.
"Isn't it about seven days to get there?"
"Yes, so I gave them ten. The Nihal Desert is merciless to adventurers—especially ignorant ones."
"I know. That's why I'm questioning it. Only ten days? You're rating them highly, huh?"
Salaman nodded at the question.
"I downplayed them in front of you, but the El Pam party's titles are impressive. Above all, in the 300-man Mystic Gate, they hunted the variant boss monster that everyone else gave up on."
At that praise, Prince Kashan said with a cold gaze,
Lately, the El Pam party had indeed gained exceptional fame.
Everyone was shocked about the Head Hector hunt especially.
That's why.
"I've heard rumors it's fake."
Rumors that the Head Hector head the El Pam party brought back was a cleverly faked one.
In a way, it was only natural.
All adventurers combined had given up on it—could a mere five-man party really take down that monster?
Was it more realistic they'd succeeded, or that they'd pulled a scam?
The answer was obvious.
And thinking about it, Head Hector was a monster that never even existed to begin with.
No way to compare or verify the head they brought.
"Yes, exactly. It's fake, no doubt."
Salaman thought it was fake too.
"Even so, the El Pam party did an excellent job as bait. And bringing back even a fake like that is impressive in itself. Other adventurers couldn't even dream of it, right?"
Taking that into account, he rated the El Pam party's abilities highly.
Prince Kashan showed no particular reaction to the assessment.
"Doesn't matter."
In truth, Prince Kashan had little interest.
For someone of his stature, caring about adventurers tackling a mere Yellow-grade Mystic Gate was odd to begin with.
His bodyguard unit was full of 5th Circle elites as the baseline—his inner circle even had 6th Circle openers aplenty.
Even so, the reason he was putting on this act himself, visiting repeatedly, showing interest—was simple.
"What I need is an adventurer party."
He had a Mystic Gate he absolutely had to conquer.
Conquering it itself was no issue.
"Clear that Mystic Gate within a week."
But this conquest came with a one-week time limit.
"The time I can blind Queen Areda to this is one week at most."
He had to evade none other than Areda, the de facto ruler of Ariant Kingdom right now.
In other words, exceeding that week meant making an enemy of Queen Areda herself.
"Failure means death for all. Except me."
In Ariant Kingdom, that meant hell—worse than hell.
On the other hand, there was an item he had to retrieve from within, worth risking it all.
That was why Prince Kashan cared about this job.
"So I need reliable members."
"Yes, we just need about ten more adventurers."
The members were already mostly assembled.
They were dragging it out to gather even more solid ones.
That's why Prince Kashan was all the more impatient.
It was nearly complete—now just picking the last members.
"Time's short."
Above all, in operations where security was lifeblood, the longer it dragged, the riskier it got.
"Still, proceed carefully. Better not to include half-baked ones at all."
Even so, Prince Kashan had no intention of rushing.
He couldn't.
"The throne is at stake."
It was a matter involving the absolute.
That was when.
Knock knock!
A knock sounded, and Prince Kashan rose from his seat, immediately switching back to Crown Prince Cesar handling paperwork.
"Come in."
At Salaman's follow-up words, a subordinate entered and said,
"What is it?"
"The El Pam party has returned."
Hearing that, Salaman frowned.
The road that even seasoned Ariant adventurers took seven days for—just to go.
And now on day 10, they were back?
"They gave up, I suppose."
Midway abandonment—that had to be it.
That was when.
"We never gave up."
El Pam appeared alongside the subordinate, drawing a single sword.
"It's an item from inside the Mystic Gate. A relic from a previous adventurer—check it out. That'll be the proof."
He tossed it to Salaman and said,
"Proof that we successfully conquered it."