Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: 28. The Prince's Legacy (1)
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The Prince's Tomb.
When they heard about it, most adventurers thought something like this.
"Not just any prince, but the Ariant Prince died there? There must be a ton of unique items!"
They said the place embodied every adventurer's dream.
That's why even in the Nihal Desert, there were adventurers who made finding the Prince's Tomb their lifelong goal.
"Make the Prince's Tomb your goal? Those idiots."
But veteran adventurers dismissed such dreamers as greenhorns.
Of course they did.
"It's where the prince died. No way a bunch of nobodies could conquer a place like that, right?"
A place the prince and his men couldn't conquer wouldn't be easy for anyone.
Veterans knew that much.
"And not just anyone—it was Prince Saleh."
They knew who Prince Saleh, the fourth prince of the Ariant royal family, was.
Prince Saleh had been extraordinary.
For starters, he was born with exceptional talent as an adventurer.
He unlocked his 1st Circle at just five years old, then his 2nd Circle at only eight.
That's why he ventured into the Mystic Gate.
Princes weren't idiots, and the Ariant royal family wouldn't let just anyone enter the Mystic Gate.
No, they wouldn't permit it at all.
Princes were candidates for the throne.
How could they send them into such a dangerous place when anything could happen?
But Prince Saleh was different.
No one opposed or tried to dissuade him from entering the Mystic Gate.
They trusted him.
"Prince Saleh has the qualities to become the greatest fire mage in Ariant royal history!"
They trusted his abilities.
That's why they said it.
"A tomb where even Prince Saleh died? There must be some unimaginable monster there."
They claimed a monster from hell guarded the Prince's Tomb.
Of course, no one knew for sure.
Anyone who saw it was dead.
And now, El Pam's party had witnessed the reason.
2.
"My god."
The moment they entered the third floor, a pitch-black forest greeted El Pam's party.
It was a bizarre forest.
But a black forest wasn't particularly shocking.
Compared to a world full of eyes, or deserts and swamps, a black forest seemed laughable.
"Isn't that a Dark Nependeas?"
The problem was the monsters in that black forest: Dark Nependeas.
Just as the name suggested, they were black Nependeas.
"This is insane."
But Dark Nependeas were at least three times stronger than regular Nependeas.
The three times referred to their durability and attack power.
It wasn't just three times stronger—it was a monster on another level entirely.
"And they have poison, right?"
The most troublesome part was that Dark Nependeas carried poison.
One solid bite could mean death.
Of course, everyone here knew that.
"But I doubt that alone would kill a prince."
This couldn't be the end of it.
In other words, something even more headache-inducing and sinister than the Dark Nependeas lurked here.
"And unlike the second floor, you can't avoid the real problem this time."
Crucially, they couldn't dodge it now.
They could run.
"But we didn't come here to run, did we?"
"Right."
If they'd planned to flee from the start, they wouldn't have needed that resolve, that determination.
"We have to find the prince."
They'd steeled themselves to retrieve the prince's remains.
"So we can get the golden elephant."
"You're talking about money again?"
"If you're not interested, that's fine by me. The four of us can split Dibo's share."
"Hey, why'd you phrase it like that? Who said they didn't want in?"
"Both of you, shut up already? Huh? We don't even know what's here."
In any case, El Pam's party's top priority was assessing the dangers here.
With one exception.
El Pam knew what lurked here and why the prince had met his end.
He had regressed.
Of course, he couldn't explain it that way.
And he didn't need to.
"Huh?"
It appeared right in front of them.
"Wait a second."
Mina narrowed her golden eyes and spoke.
"A Giant Nependeas! Crazy!"
"What?"
Giant Nependeas.
The moment Mina uttered the words, everyone's faces—except El Pam's—turned pale.
They had no choice.
"My god, that's the Orbis Calamity!"
It happened fifty years ago.
Orbis, the floating island above the Elnas Mountains.
Adventurers who always made a point to visit the area began disappearing.
At first, it was just dozens.
Then hundreds, then thousands.
Eventually, the Adventurers' Association launched an investigation.
And the world learned the truth.
A Giant Nependeas was the cause.
It was that troublesome of a monster—one so dangerous that the Adventurers' Association itself had to step in.
"And it grows stronger based on how many people it eats, right?"
The scariest thing about Giant Nependeas was how they grew in power with every victim they devoured.
That's why people remembered its appearance fifty years ago as the Orbis Calamity.
The Giant Nependeas back then had eaten well over two thousand adventurers.
To slay it, a party of fifty adventurers—all beyond the 5th Circle—was assembled.
That Giant Nependeas, over a thousand strong, was a monster of that caliber.
"Wait, how many adventurers entered here...?"
"The prince and his men alone numbered over two hundred. And rescue teams followed repeatedly."
"At least a thousand. Factor in all the random adventurers who figured it out, and... my head hurts."
The Giant Nependeas before El Pam's party now was just as formidable.
"Green rank."
Far beyond anything fitting for Yellow rank.
An astonishing fact.
"No wonder it became a tomb."
On one hand, it made sense.
Abdullah VIII wouldn't have sent random rescue teams to retrieve the prince's remains.
Of course, one question lingered.
"But even so, it shouldn't have grown this much when the fourth prince fought it, right?"
Growing stronger with each meal meant it hadn't been this powerful when Prince Saleh faced it.
A Giant Nependeas was strong on its own, but Prince Saleh was no ordinary adventurer.
"Giant Nependeas are born from seeds with one of two abilities."
"Abilities?"
"Either powerful resistance to magic or to physical force. In this case, it's the former. Prince Saleh was a fire mage."
His companions understood at El Pam's words.
"I see. Bad matchup for magic... Wait, what? Boss, you mean magic won't work?"
"It works, but don't expect full power."
"Wait, then you too..."
Right now, El Pam—the party's strongest firepower—couldn't effectively damage the Giant Nependeas.
The moment they grasped that, El Pam's party's faces hardened more than ever.
It was the worst-case scenario they'd imagined.
Gulp!
Their throats went dry.
But the nightmare didn't end there.
Prince Saleh and his men couldn't have been ignorant of this dire situation.
They must have thought the same.
Better to find the exit safely than risk hunting that monster.
No reason for the prince himself to gamble recklessly with his life.
Yet they failed to find the exit.
Why?
There was only one possible reason.
"We have to kill that thing for the exit to appear?"
To leave, they had to defeat the Giant Nependeas somehow.
"Alright."
At that point, El Pam's party stopped spiraling into despair.
"We'll just kill it then."
No turning back.
In such a situation, the best course wasn't despair—it was finding a way forward.
That's what adventurers did.
"If magic won't work, we'll just hack it apart with this polearm."
"I'll finish it with my sword. No problem."
"Pfft, you two don't need to step up. I'll handle it. Just follow my lead this time."
El Pam's companions readily showed their confidence.
"Come on, Ralph. Say something."
"I'm support, so I'll back you up from behind. What can I do physically?"
"...That's true, but why does it sound weird when you say it, Ralph?"
"What's weird? This fist is all I have."
As Ralph clenched his fist, the veins in his arm writhed like worms.
The terrifying sight drew dry laughs from the other three.
Of course, everyone's minds were racing.
'The Giant Nependeas is bad enough, but the Dark Nependeas are a problem too.'
After all, the Giant Nependeas wasn't alone here.
Countless Dark Nependeas filled the area.
That made it even worse.
'To fight the Giant, we'll have to draw aggro and move around, but Dark Nependeas are everywhere—like dancing through a minefield.'
Facing the Giant in terrain where even walking was treacherous.
Honestly, it was hard to even imagine.
No matter how they pictured it, the outcome was gruesome.
That was the moment.
"Twenty minutes."
El Pam spoke, and the party's expressions eased.
Naturally.
"Twenty minutes? Boss, you mean twenty minutes, right?"
"We just have to hold out for twenty minutes?"
"Hey, really just twenty minutes?"
If El Pam said twenty minutes, it meant a solution would come after holding out that long!
He had a plan to conquer this.
Of course, it was astonishing.
'Twenty minutes? We might not last two.'
Everyone had tried imagining survival earlier but couldn't.
They'd have to stake their lives on it.
'I hold, then Kiri, but Mina might struggle.'
Not just one, but multiple.
Honestly, everyone except El Pam dying wouldn't be surprising.
Yet no one refused.
Naturally.
'Hold for twenty minutes, and we have a shot.'
Going as is meant certain death, but following El Pam meant a path to survival.
'I'll go first.'
As everyone steeled themselves inwardly, they all spoke at once.
"I'll take the lead."
"I'll go first."
"Time to drag it out from range. Perfect for me."
"Doesn't matter to me. Whoever goes up front will need my support."
Eager to volunteer as the sacrifice.
Seeing his companions step up, El Pam's expression grew stern. Dibo grinned and said,
"Boss, are you touched right now? Huh?"
El Pam shook his head in denial, but Dibo laughed harder.
"Aw, no need to be shy. You are."
At Dibo's insistence, El Pam replied,
"You've misunderstood something."
"Huh? What? You said twenty minutes, right? While we hold out for twenty, you do something?"
"I said twenty minutes, but I never told you to hold out for twenty."
At that, the other four tilted their heads, excluding El Pam.
"Isn't that the same thing?"
That was the moment.
"I'll be the one holding out for twenty minutes."
"Huh?"
Expressions vanished from their faces at El Pam's words.
Their minds blanked from incomprehension.
"No, Boss! What are you saying?"
Dibo recovered first and exclaimed. El Pam tilted his head.
"Is there anyone here who can last three minutes against the Giant Nependeas amid the Dark Nependeas?"
"Well..."
No one answered.
They all knew it was impossible.
But that didn't mean they accepted it.
"Wait, hold on. You mean you can? Hold out twenty minutes in that situation?"
El Pam nodded, leaving them even more dumbfounded.
To his companions, El Pam said,
"I'll spend twenty minutes against the Giant Nependeas creating a stage."
"A stage?"
"A stage where everyone else can fight without worrying about the Dark Nependeas."
Stop thinking.
"Now, let's begin the conquest."