Chapter 54
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
Chapter 54: Martyr (2)
3.
When El Pam mentioned five minutes, everyone thought the same thing:
‘Has the boss lost his mind?’
Even though El Pam had shown incredible abilities so far, this was simply unbelievable.
But there were no objections like, “How can we do that?”
El Pam was their leader, and it was the party’s role to follow his lead.
Thump!
“Oh dear.”
Above all, El Pam’s party was running out of time.
“It’s coming!”
The giant swamp mud monster approached the spot where El Pam’s party was located.
In fact, it wasn’t strange.
“As expected, it knew this place.”
The giant swamp mud monster would remember.
The time when adventurers gathered here, on this vast, solitary piece of land, to oppose it.
Naturally, the giant swamp mud monster would perceive this place as a gathering point for adventurers.
“No need to call them, this is perfect.”
It wasn’t bad for El Pam’s party either.
Unlike the swamp, this was a stage where they could fight on solid ground.
“Five minutes, let’s try to endure it.”
On that stage, Divo, burning with determination, began to equip Jack Richie’s items.
Everyone prepared for battle.
El Pam said to them,
“Precisely, properly provoke its rage.”
At that emphasis, Divo’s eyes narrowed.
‘Considering how strongly the boss is emphasizing this, he really means for me to go all out.’
El Pam wasn’t someone who spouted nonsense.
“Yes sir, I’ll make that bastard scream bloody murder.”
Divo confidently expressed his determination and fully equipped himself with Jack Richie’s items.
Then, one by one, he infused each of the items with mana from the three circles he now possessed.
At this moment, three items were imbued with mana.
Achilles Helmet, Theseus’ Armour, and the ring enchanted with Physical Training that he had recently acquired.
The effects of these three magically imbued items filled Divo’s body.
At that moment, Divo felt it.
“Whoa!”
An overflowing power surged through his entire body.
It didn’t end there.
“Bless.”
Ralph approached and cast a buff on him.
“Don’t die.”
Along with a word of encouragement.
“What’s gotten into you? Cheering me on?”
“75 million mesos, make sure you live and pay it all back.”
Of course, the reason was different from common sense, but Divo didn’t mind much.
“Alright, I’ll pay you back with interest.”
“Really? With interest?”
“… Just a figure of speech.”
“You almost got my hopes up.”
“Enough, now step back.”
Having thus dismissed Ralph, Divo raised his head.
Thump!
Only after raising his head for a considerable time could he finally face the giant swamp mud monster.
The difference was immense.
The difference between an elephant and a puppy, honestly, a difference where the concept of a fight couldn’t even be established.
A difference where even attacking seemed impossible.
Boom!
However, the moment the giant swamp mud monster set foot on the solid ground, Divo charged forward without hesitation.
Whoosh!
The giant swamp mud monster slammed its massive fist down towards Divo, like stamping a seal.
Divo deftly dodged the fist.
But dodging wasn’t the end of it.
Crack!
The moment the fist hit the ground, the earth screamed, and the grains of sand on the ground jumped up as if electrocuted.
Even without being hit directly, just feeling the shock nearby was enough to shatter one’s mind.
It was an overwhelming punch.
“Slash Blast!”
However, far from having his mind shattered, Divo, with an even more spirited appearance, scratched the giant swamp mud monster’s leg with his polearm.
That was the beginning.
“Come on!”
Divo dodged the giant swamp mud monster’s attacks and repeatedly targeted its legs.
Only the left leg!
Grrr!
The relentless attacks filled the giant swamp mud monster with rage, and at that sound, Divo laughed and said,
“Are you crying now? Crying? You big baby?”
Words full of mockery.
Grrr!
The giant swamp mud monster roared in even greater fury at the taunt.
Against this behemoth, Divo displayed remarkable agility.
Kiri, Ralph, and Minerv, who were on standby, were genuinely surprised.
‘He’s showing that kind of skill?’
Of course, they knew.
Divo was currently equipped with three unique items, making him significantly stronger.
‘But he just put them on?’
This was the first time in his life that Divo had used these items.
Yet he showed such adaptability?
It was beyond common sense.
That’s why El Pam wasn’t surprised.
‘To survive, you need exceptional adaptability.’
He knew what kind of adventurer Divo was before returning to the past.
There was no reason to be surprised.
And there was no time to be surprised either.
‘But adaptability and stamina are different matters.’
Divo wouldn’t be able to maintain this level of performance for long.
‘We have to finish this within five minutes.’
El Pam had to defeat the giant swamp mud monster within that time frame.
In truth, it wouldn’t be difficult.
There had been countless similar situations.
Among the monsters El Pam had encountered, many were impervious to even his most powerful magic, not receiving a single scratch.
Nevertheless, El Pam had slain those monsters.
By persistently digging into their bodies until he reached their magic stones, and ultimately destroying them.
His companions called El Pam’s hunting method ‘surgery.’
4.
When encountering a monster with strong defense, the choices adventurers made were always the same.
“Focus on one point.”
A breakthrough at a single point.
It was the most reliable method.
“Easier said than done.”
And it was the most difficult method.
“Simply digging in won’t do. You have to dig straight, towards the target.”
The miners, who could be considered experts in this area, said,
“That’s the hardest part.”
Digging straight was the most challenging.
That’s why El Pam was recognized.
Because he could do it.
Using psychokinesis, El Pam could dig straight towards the target with precision.
‘They called it surgery.’
It was indeed surgery.
‘If I fail, everyone dies.’
Of course, the surgery wasn’t always successful.
He had failed many times.
It was inevitable.
El Pam, he wasn’t someone who had achieved everything from the beginning.
Through numerous failures and the deaths of countless comrades, El Pam’s skills had grown.
“Fire Arrow.”
In other words, the current El Pam was the result of those failures.
He no longer needed to fail.
‘I’m going in.’
El Pam’s Fire Arrow flew towards the back of the giant swamp mud monster’s neck, which was chasing Divo.
Phut!
The Fire Arrow pierced its target.
“Fire Arrow.”
Starting with that, El Pam relentlessly summoned Fire Arrows and aimed them at the same spot.
With each hit, the arrow penetrated only a finger’s length deep.
In contrast, the depth required to reach the magic stone was about two meters, enough for a person to fall into.
Moreover, the deeper the arrows went, the weaker their power became, and if the direction deviated even slightly, the entire effort could be rendered useless.
It was a daunting task.
Nevertheless, El Pam continued his surgery.
“Fire Arrow.”
While Divo and his companions risked their lives fighting the giant swamp mud monster, El Pam delved deeper.
‘Four minutes.’
Finally, when four minutes had passed and El Pam cast his 98th Fire Arrow, it happened.
El Pam’s face, which had been unwavering during the surgery, hardened for the first time.
Then, El Pam raised his head.
And he heard it.
Thump!
5.
Thump!
With the sound of the door closing, Bayz appeared and said to Ivok,
“I’ve double-checked. The door is definitely closed.”
Bayz’s expression as he delivered the report was more grim than ever.
‘Damn it, of all times.’
Of all things, to fail such an important mission that required the deployment of a Martyr…
Bayz was worried.
About Ivok’s anger.
However, contrary to his expectations, Ivok’s expression remained indifferent after receiving the report.
“They went to the second floor, what do you think?”
“Pardon?”
“How do you think they got to the second floor?”
“Well… they must have moved due to the urgency of the situation. It must have been so critical that they couldn’t wait for reinforcements, leaving them with no other choice.”
Ivok nodded in satisfaction at the answer.
“There’s no need to worry anymore.”
“Pardon?”
Bayz was surprised by the response.
The Ivok he knew was someone who never tolerated even the slightest chance of failure.
And right now, El Pam’s party definitely had a slim chance of survival.
The fact that they had moved to the second floor was evidence of that.
The plan to join forces with the reinforcements and conquer the second floor had gone awry, but they had indeed moved to the second floor.
This meant that if they were lucky, they could escape through the exit on the second floor.
That’s why Ivok had prepared the Martyr.
To eliminate even that possibility.
But now, Ivok was satisfied that they had moved to the second floor?
“He will die.”
Ivok said to Bayz, who was harboring doubts.
“Because two people have already been martyred there.”
6.
Thump!
With that tremendous roar, the giant swamp mud monster appeared.
Groooar!
A second giant swamp mud monster.
At its appearance, El Pam and the others could only stare blankly.
‘There’s another one?’
That wasn’t all.
Thud!
“The small fries are coming too!”
This time, the giant swamp mud monster wasn’t alone. It was accompanied by over twenty swamp mud monsters.
It was leading an army.
It was something no one could have imagined.
El Pam was no exception.
‘Two of them?’
This was unexpected even for him.
‘To use two Martyrs…’
Knowing the value of a Martyr, El Pam hadn’t expected them to use two just to capture Jack Richie.
‘It seems the reason for killing Jack Richie is even more desperate than I anticipated.’
In any case, the situation had changed.
Completely.
First, El Pam checked on Divo.
Boom!
“Come on! Try to catch me!”
Even in this urgent situation, Divo was fulfilling his role against the giant swamp mud monster.
But El Pam could see it.
‘His stamina is at its limit.’
Divo’s impressive performance wouldn’t last more than three minutes from now.
And that was in the best-case scenario. It wouldn’t be surprising if he collapsed from exhaustion at any moment.
‘We can’t take down the second one.’
In short, this was the end for Divo.
Then who was next?
‘Kiri won’t be enough.’
Kiri could potentially replace Divo’s role, but the problem was the smaller monsters.
It wasn’t realistic to expect Ralph and Minerv to handle them.
Escaping wasn’t easy either.
The only escape route from here was the swamp.
But would it be possible to escape effectively in the swamp with those mud monsters in pursuit?
It was possible.
‘Someone has to act as bait to escape.’
If one person sacrificed themselves to hold them off, the rest could easily escape.
It was a fundamental principle of adventuring.
So, everyone came to the same conclusion.
But they didn’t say it out loud.
“Boss!”
At that moment, Divo spoke up.
“I’ll buy you time, so run!”
It was a decisive statement.
“There’s no need for pointless calculations! I’m the only one who can hold their aggro! So, I’ll do it!”
A resolute and cold-headed decision.
No one could respond to that decision.
And there was no time to respond.
“Hurry!”
From now on, every second counted, a moment where even the time spent pondering and hesitating was precious.
“Divo.”
“Yes, Boss!”
In response to Divo’s decision, El Pam also made his own.
“We continue the hunt.”
“What? What?”
As everyone stared blankly at his words, El Pam took out a magic stone from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
Gulp!
He swallowed it right away.
Simultaneously, a ring began to form on El Pam’s left wrist.
The fourth ring.
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
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