Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Sand Shadow Group (1)
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1.
Malgal Oasis.
The most bountiful oasis in the Nihal Desert, teeming with powerful monsters thanks to that very abundance.
For adventurers, it was the harshest of all oases.
Not every adventurer found the Malgal Oasis barren and cruel, however.
There were exceptions.
For instance, those ranked 6th Circle or higher.
To them, the Malgal Oasis was no deadly stage.
Adin of the Iron Mace, one of the Sand Shadow Group's executives, was proving that fact right now.
"You damn monster scum!"
Whoosh!
He swung a massive iron mace the size of a grown man's torso like it was a toy.
Crush!
The monkey monsters called Lupins that swarmed him were smashed like toys in turn.
It was an astonishing sight.
Screee!
Even the ferocious Lupin pack fled in terror without looking back—an astonishing sight indeed.
"Huff!"
Thud!
Having dispatched the Lupin pack in one go, Adin set his mace down on the ground. His subordinates, the Sand Shadow Group members, gazed at him in awe.
"As expected of Lord Adin!"
His strength was overwhelming.
"Don't get complacent."
That was why Adin's face remained grim.
"We're not here just to hunt monsters."
A powerhouse like Adin had no reason to come to the Malgal Oasis.
It was a stage that didn't suit him.
Moreover, Adin of the Iron Mace was an executive of the Sand Shadow Group.
A core member of the Sand Shadow Group, who had raised the flag of rebellion to end the Ariant Kingdom's tyranny!
The Ariant Kingdom was throwing everything they had at eliminating him.
"We need to seize the Prince's Tomb."
For such a man to show up right in front of the Prince's Tomb, where all eyes of the Ariant Kingdom were focused?
It was madness.
Word of his appearance would have already reached the Ariant Kingdom, and now elite hunters would swarm to capture him.
In other words, there was a reason Adin of the Iron Mace was taking such a risk.
"We have to expose that this was all a scheme."
Originally, the Sand Shadow Group's goal had simply been to disrupt the assault on the Prince's Tomb.
Anything more would have been difficult for them.
One wrong move, and they'd turn all the adventurers participating in this assault into enemies.
For the Sand Shadow Group, who relied heavily on their cause and justification, losing that justification was unacceptable.
But the moment the Mystic Gate assault began, everything changed.
"That it was rigged from the start."
It had been revealed that this Prince's Tomb assault wasn't a fair festival but a scheme the Ariant royals had prepared in advance—a ploy to toy with the gathered adventurers.
It was a chance to inform Maple World's adventurers of the Ariant royals' immorality.
Of course, they still lacked solid proof. That was why—
"We grab the royals' lackeys, no matter what."
Adin of the Iron Mace had come to the Mystic Gate himself.
The adventurers emerging from the Prince's Tomb would provide clear, irrefutable evidence.
"By any means necessary."
Naturally, he had no intention of holding back his iron mace in securing that evidence.
"We smash their limbs first the moment they come out. They're Ariant Kingdom dogs anyway."
Moreover, the adventurers currently in the Prince's Tomb weren't pure, diligent types—they were nothing but the Ariant royals' dogs, complicit in Queen Areida's plan.
From the Sand Shadow Group's perspective, who hated the Ariant Kingdom more than anyone, sparing them would be the odd thing.
That was the situation.
No matter what happened, they had to capture anyone crossing that portal.
The moment someone appeared, smash a limb first.
That moment arrived.
Ripple!
'The portal!'
The yellow portal of the Mystic Gate, calm as a still lake until now, began to ripple.
No one there was ignorant of what that meant.
Everyone readied themselves.
They gripped their weapons, preparing to attack the adventurer who would emerge.
Grip!
Adin of the Iron Mace lifted his mace as well.
Poised to smash down in an instant.
All the while, they pictured scenarios in their minds.
'They'll panic the moment they see us.'
'They might charge in to attack.'
'Or try to flee.'
They accounted for every possibility.
Thus, they were confident. No matter the situation, they wouldn't falter.
Soon, an adventurer emerged from beyond the portal before their eyes.
"Urgh!"
The adventurer collapsed straight to the ground.
'What the—?'
It didn't end there.
Four more adventurers emerged in quick succession, and without exception, they all collapsed to the ground.
Their faces were pitch-black, as if they were on the verge of death—no, as if they were already dead.
No one failed to grasp the implication.
"Hassassin poison!"
It was one of the hallmarks of the poison used by the Hassasins, who drenched the Nihal Desert in terror.
An utterly unforeseen situation.
That was why no one could follow their preparations.
Truth be told, there was no need to attack.
Why bother striking men already dying?
That was when—
"P-Please... I have a request."
One of the fallen adventurers—the first to emerge—spoke up. At the sound of his voice, Adin moved.
There was no hesitation.
A dying adventurer poisoned by Hassasin poison posed no threat.
At the same time, another thought crossed his mind.
'If the Hassasins got them, they must have been hit by Queen Areida's orders.'
Getting taken out by the Hassasins—practically Ariant Kingdom minions—meant they were likely adventurers close to the Sand Shadow Group.
"P-Please... Take this... to Prince Kashaun..."
The moment he heard the adventurer's plea, Adin of the Iron Mace stopped hesitating.
"Shio!"
"Yes, Lord Adin."
"Get the antidote. We're saving them and taking them with us."
2.
"The Sand Shadow Group is on the move."
"Why?"
"We don't know. We can't get any more info from the Prince's Tomb anymore."
Kashaun Prince said nothing at his subordinate's report.
'So it's unfolding like this.'
For now, just as his subordinate said, there was nothing more Kashaun Prince could do.
Catching Adin of the Iron Mace would be ideal, but in this situation, it was practically impossible.
'It won't hurt my cause.'
And truthfully, from Kashaun Prince's position, he had no need to catch Adin anyway.
He already knew.
'Adin of the Iron Mace is moving to get proof that this Prince's Tomb competition isn't fair.'
The reason the Sand Shadow Group was acting.
'The one who planned this is Queen Areida. In the end, all the blame will point to her.'
That aligned perfectly with what the Sand Shadow Group wanted—and it benefited Kashaun Prince too.
In fact, that alone was harvest enough.
In other words, he hadn't expected anything more.
"The El Pam Party."
He hadn't expected the El Pam Party to accomplish anything.
He couldn't.
Kashaun Prince was certain.
"They've been wiped out."
That they no longer existed in this world.
3.
"Thank you for saving us."
As El Pam raised his head with those words, he saw three figures.
He couldn't identify them. All three had their faces completely wrapped in cloth.
Not even their eyes were visible.
It wasn't strange.
They were the Sand Shadow Group—Ariant Kingdom's enemies. Hiding their identities was paramount.
In other words, concealing their faces meant they still viewed El Pam with suspicion.
That wasn't strange either.
From the Sand Shadow Group's perspective, every adventurer who entered the Mystic Gate was Queen Areida's dog.
The El Pam Party was no different. Their investigation into the party wasn't complete yet.
They couldn't risk El Pam learning who they were.
"We didn't save you."
It also meant they were ready to eliminate El Pam anytime if needed.
Truth be told, even saving him in the first place was odd.
By the original plan, they should have at least shattered two of his limbs.
"You were poisoned by Hassasin toxin."
The sole reason they'd spared him was that poison.
"Why did the Hassasins attack you?"
Being attacked by Hassasins was tantamount to being attacked by Queen Areida.
At least by Sand Shadow Group standards.
'Playing right into my hands, as expected.'
That was exactly what El Pam had intended.
Being poisoned by Hassasin toxin meant they wouldn't attack first, at minimum.
Of course, he'd prepared for exceptions too.
'Good thing the antidotes I prepared went unused.'
He'd already hidden Hassasin antidote in his mouth. He'd given some to his comrades too.
As he handed them out, he'd said:
If things went south, swallow the antidote and fight right away.
Fighting the moment they exited the Mystic Gate was suboptimal. Better to seem weakened by poison, lulling the enemy into complacency before striking—that had far more merit.
In any case, the backup plan was moot now.
Time to go with the best-case scenario.
"Is this Hassasin poison?"
"You didn't know?"
For now, El Pam played dumb.
"I'm El Pam. I contracted with Prince Kashaun to assault the Prince's Tomb. And we cleared it swiftly."
He layered on the deception.
"We found the Fourth Prince's relic, and that's when we were poisoned. From then on, we searched desperately for the exit. To deliver this to Prince Kashaun."
As an adventurer who'd risked his life for Kashaun Prince.
A nobly devoted adventurer.
Of course, the Sand Shadow Group didn't buy the act wholesale.
El Pam hadn't put it on to make them believe him outright either.
'I brought the Fourth Prince's relic.'
He was tipping the scales.
'It could mean I'm the one who brought his last words.'
From the Sand Shadow Group's view, they began weighing El Pam's usefulness.
'A survivor from the Prince's Tomb, holding the Fourth Prince's relic.'
'Prince Kashaun opposes Queen Areida. His followers would strike at her too.'
The scales tipped toward sparing—and using—El Pam.
They weren't rushing in blindly, though.
'He could still be Queen Areida's dog.'
Doubts about El Pam's true nature lingered.
"We can't trust your words."
There was plenty to suspect, after all.
"Especially not that your party of five made it to the exit."
The biggest red flag was El Pam's prowess itself.
How had a mere five cleared a Mystic Gate that even the Fourth Prince couldn't?
El Pam answered the question.
"We followed the traces left by the Prince's rescue team to find the exit."
"Even so, it couldn't have been easy."
"I'm El Pam. Hunting monsters isn't my forte, but finding exits in Mystic Gates? No one does it better."
I'll prove my worth.
The Sand Shadow Group members fell silent at his words.
'The scales are shifting.'
To them, El Pam's claim sounded like this:
'Here's our chance to use him.'
A party that had cleared the Prince's Tomb could help them conquer a Mystic Gate no one else had.
The balance tipped further toward keeping him alive.
It wasn't a clean resolution, though.
Lingering suspicions abounded.
'This is where it really starts.'
El Pam knew it wouldn't be easy.
Creak!
"I came from the Cross Hunters. I'll vouch for this man's identity."
Not until the door opened and Cheryl appeared.