Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Chapter 29. Sand Shadow Group (3)
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6.
“Boss!”
The El Pam party had gathered again, and they were all unharmed.
“Everyone’s in one piece.”
El Pam offered a brief comment on the sight.
It was a different reaction from his usual demeanor.
But no one was surprised by it.
“Yes, we’re all fine.”
‘Thanks to the boss.’
No one there was unaware of just how incredible it was that they could reunite like this and chat casually.
After all, by all rights, they should have been slaughtered by the Sand Shadow Group.
If they got lucky, they might’ve only had their limbs crushed.
Even then, it wouldn’t have been a pretty aftermath.
No exaggeration.
That was the kind of organization the Sand Shadow Group was—one that would do anything to stop the tyranny of the Ariant Kingdom.
And the El Pam party had been mistaken for dogs of that very Ariant Kingdom.
Yet El Pam had overcome it all.
‘He’s seriously amazing. Even prepared antidote for the Death God’s poison.’
It was a moment that inspired admiration in every way.
Naturally, their trust in El Pam had grown even more solid.
“I accepted the Sand Shadow Group’s proposal. Sorry for deciding without consulting you.”
“No, boss must’ve handled it perfectly! Right? What’s there to fear traveling with you? So, what’s the proposal?”
“Clearing the Mystic Gate.”
“Pfft, no problem then. We cleared the prince’s tomb!”
That was why no one worried at El Pam’s words.
“It’s where thirty people died.”
“Thirty? So the entry limit is thirty?”
“Entry limit is fifty-five.”
The tension eased even further at his follow-up.
From their perspective, who had cleared the prince’s tomb with over two hundred entrants, fifty-five was a joke.
“No issue. A place where thirty adventurers died.”
“Not adventurers.”
“Huh?”
“The dead were Cygnus Knights.”
“Huh?”
But the moment the Cygnus Knights were mentioned, everyone’s reactions shifted.
“Th-the Cygnus Knights?”
No one there was ignorant of the Cygnus Knights’ reputation.
Kiri’s expression hardened the most.
As a member of the Cygnus Knights herself, it hit her especially hard.
Of course, no one uttered a word of refusal.
Once El Pam made the call, the rest would follow.
Above all, they had faith.
‘The boss has something up his sleeve.’
Faith that El Pam wouldn’t have accepted such a proposal without reason or a plan.
“There’s one thing you must keep in mind for this job.”
El Pam’s next words only solidified that faith.
‘Knew it, boss!’
‘He’s prepared!’
‘So reliable!’
To his expectant comrades, El Pam said,
“Act exhausted.”
“Huh?”
His curt instruction left his comrades with blank looks.
Then El Pam added,
“We move out now.”
“Huh? Right now?”
Their follow-up left everyone stunned.
“Isn’t this rushing it a bit?”
“Yeah, this isn’t kid’s play!”
It had only been two days since they emerged from the prince’s tomb.
And those two days weren’t rest—they’d been captured and interrogated by the Sand Shadow Group.
Meaning they hadn’t gotten proper rest at all.
El Pam knew that.
“I know.”
But the reason for moving out immediately was simple.
“This is the best timing to move.”
“Right now?”
“The Nihal Desert must be in chaos.”
7.
“What a mess.”
In a tent at the heart of the Nihal Desert.
Anyone could tell it had been abandoned by someone, yet inside that cramped space sat four men and women.
Strange, right? Four people crammed into a discarded tent in the middle of the desert?
But knowing their identities changed the story.
“For all four of us to gather in one place.”
They were none other than the Sand Shadow Group’s executives.
Normally, they never gathered like this.
They couldn’t.
If the Ariant Kingdom attacked them all together, it would spell the end for the Sand Shadow Group.
So until now, the executives had operated separately across the Nihal Desert, unaware of each other’s locations.
Yet here they were, together.
“Chaos has come to the Ariant Kingdom. We need to make a decision before it’s too late.”
“A decision?”
“We use this chaos to assassinate Abdullah VIII. That’s my judgment.”
It was that serious a matter they were discussing.
“If need be, I’ll do the assassination alone.”
“Ereska.”
Precisely, this was a meeting to stop Ereska—one of the Sand Shadow Group executives—from acting on her decision.
“If Abdullah VIII dies, the Ariant Kingdom falls into chaos. Our goal is to save its people from that very chaos.”
“So we just sit back and watch?”
In truth, Ereska had long planned to assassinate Abdullah VIII, and the other executives had repeatedly stopped her.
But you can’t hold back a crumbling dam forever.
“The princes aren’t checking Queen Areida—they’re being eliminated by her one by one. If all the princes die? Only First Prince Harun and Third Prince Kashan remain. If they go too, Queen Areida takes everything.”
The Sand Shadow Group didn’t have much time left either.
“This is our chance. Word’s spreading among adventurers that the event Abdullah VIII held over the prince’s tomb was a scam.”
Above all, a golden opportunity had arrived.
Right now, countless adventurers had flooded the Ariant Kingdom due to Abdullah VIII’s prince’s tomb event.
And those adventurers believed Abdullah VIII had scammed them, tricked them.
“Thanks to that, most of the forces are tied up managing the adventurers.”
The kingdom’s military was fully committed to handling these adventurers, who could explode at any moment.
“The guard forces are thinner than ever.”
In other words, the guards protecting Abdullah VIII and Queen Areida had been reduced.
“The capital’s more chaotic than ever.”
Decisively, Ariant’s capital—the king’s seat—was in total disorder from the gathered adventurers, order collapsed, a battlefield.
No better stage for Sand Shadow Group members to infiltrate the palace.
The perfect opportunity.
Of course, Ereska wasn’t some stubborn fool pushing her own agenda blindly.
The fact she hadn’t acted on her assassination plan yet proved it.
“Convince me.”
Until now, she’d listened to her comrades, and they’d convinced her.
That was why.
Everyone’s expressions were grim.
As mentioned, it’d be hard to find a better chance to assassinate Abdullah VIII.
That was when.
“One time.”
The man in a turban, bow slung over his back, who’d been watching silently till now—Sejjan—spoke up.
“Give it just one shot.”
“Sejjan, what opportunity are you talking about?”
“Queen Areida will tackle clearing that Mystic Gate where she killed the Cygnus Knights. If they succeed and retrieve the Cygnus Knights’ last words, the Cygnus Knights will mobilize.”
Ereska smirked at his words.
She wasn’t alone.
Adin of the Iron Fist and the dancer Sirin directed hardened stares at Sejjan too.
They had no choice.
“You think they’ll clear that place now, after failing so many times?”
The value of clearing the Cygnus Knights’ tomb was immeasurable, as Sejjan said.
Not just because of the Cygnus Knights there.
Those Cygnus Knights had made a pact with the Sand Shadow Group, so they’d surely left behind last words.
In fact, they already carried them.
Words stating that if they died, it was no one but Queen Areida’s doing.
That was why so many Sand Shadow Group members had risked their lives entering the Mystic Gate to retrieve it—but none returned alive.
“One more try at a place we failed a hundred times?”
When the Mystic Gate bore a hundred scars from their attempts, the Sand Shadow Group gave up.
And now, one more chance?
Absurd.
“I’m sending the El Pam party.”
“Who?”
“The ones who survived the prince’s tomb. Adventurers hired by Prince Kashan.”
Ereska fell silent at his follow-up, but that was it.
Surviving the prince’s tomb meant they weren’t ordinary.
But the Cygnus Knights’ tomb was a different story.
“Stalling for time?”
In the end, it just looked like Sejjan’s delay tactic.
To that doubt, Sejjan replied.
“You could see it that way. That’s why I made the proposal to the El Pam party.”
8.
“Boss, hold up! What did you just say? How many days?”
Atop a black camel crossing the Nihal Desert, Dibo whipped his head around in horror to stare at El Pam.
“Five days.”
“No way—you’re saying we have to clear a Mystic Gate that even the Cygnus Knights couldn’t in five days?”
At El Pam’s confirmation, Dibo—who was in the lead—glanced at the others.
They all wore the same shocked expression as him.
“This is insane. Clear it in five days?”
“And it’s not like we get extra pay for finishing early. Why agree to that?”
Everyone freaked out.
“We don’t have to finish in five days. It just means extra rewards if we do.”
El Pam’s explanation left them all tilting their heads.
“Is there a reason it has to be five days?”
El Pam gave a succinct explanation.
“There are two factions in the Sand Shadow Group. The Moderates, who want to change the Ariant Kingdom through proper channels, and the Radicals, who want to form a death squad and assassinate Abdullah VIII.”
“Ah, assassination?”
“The Radicals have the justification right now. This chaos is the perfect chance to kill Abdullah VIII. So the Moderates proposed giving them five days.”
Only after that brief rundown did his comrades understand.
“Boss, what happens if we don’t clear it in five days?”
“If we fail to clear the Mystic Gate in five days, the Sand Shadow Group will attempt to assassinate Abdullah VIII.”
The moment they grasped it, everyone fell silent.
‘If we fail, the assassination starts? Then what?’
‘Success or failure, the Ariant Kingdom’s in for massive turmoil.’
Having realized the weight of El Pam’s five-day deadline.
“We have to finish it within five days, no matter what.”
The fate of the Ariant Kingdom now rested on their shoulders.
As they steeled themselves anew, the black camels sped across the desert and soon reached their destination.
“It’s a cactus field.”
A barren desert thick with massive cacti—the so-called Cactus Desert.
It was hellish.
“Half of those are disguised Cactuses, they say.”
Just operating in a cactus forest was nightmare fuel, but some of those cacti hid Cactuses—the monster variety.
And Cactuses were brutally powerful.
Tough as mushrooms in vitality, but with power mushrooms couldn’t touch!
The El Pam party’s goal lay within that Cactus Desert.
A daunting prospect.
Yet the faces of the El Pam party staring at the Cactus Desert held no hesitation.
“Cactuses or whatever.”
They’d reaffirmed their resolve countless times already.
“Nothing harder than the Cygnus Knights.”
El Pam gave a faint smile at his comrades’ attitudes.
He knew.
How hard it was to hold that resolve right now.
And even harder to show this leisure while carrying it.
“Hey, boss! Let’s go already! Time’s money, right?”
“Yeah, hurry it up. No point dragging our feet. I’m not getting caught in some war.”
That was when.
“One question.”
Kiri—who’d stayed silent since hearing they were heading to the Cygnus Knights’ tomb—finally directed her first question at El Pam.
“What?”
“Can you tell me the dead knight’s name?”
El Pam answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“Don’t know all their names. Just that the leader’s name was Beios.”
Kiri’s face stiffened at the reply.
More than any expression she’d shown before.
“Huh?”
Dibo cocked his head at her look.
“Kiri, what’s with your face? Like you chewed shit three times?”
Meanwhile, Miner’s expression hardened.
“Wait, you know the name?”
If Kiri—a Cygnus Knight herself—reacted like this, there had to be a reason.
The answer to that question came not from Miner, but from El Pam.
“Beios, disciple of Oz.”
“Oz? You don’t mean...?”
“Yes. Oz, captain of the Fire Knights. Her disciple.”
