The Last Adventurer -
Chapter 44
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
Chapter 44: The Nautilus (3)
5.
El Paume was momentarily surprised when Golden Eye appeared.
‘So, she’s here to raid this place too.’
However, he wasn’t particularly surprised by the fact that she was planning to raid Eagle Eye’s tomb.
He knew why.
Golden Eye and Eagle Eye had lived lives as close as sisters.
So, it was natural that she would be the one who most desperately wanted to raid Eagle Eye’s tomb.
‘That’s why she raided the 200-man Gate.’
That was also why she had participated in the raid on the 200-man Mystic Gate, which boasted the highest difficulty among Orange-ranked Gates.
It was a statement of her determination.
It was a way of saying that if she could clear an Orange-ranked Mystic Gate with the highest difficulty, then raiding Eagle Eye’s tomb would be a piece of cake.
Of course, El Paume knew.
‘That confidence has been shattered.’
Only seven of Golden Eye’s party members had returned from Eagle Eye’s tomb.
‘And they didn’t even find Eagle Eye’s relic.’
Barely surviving the ordeal.
‘I didn’t know she would be raiding this tomb now.’
In other words, El Paume was only surprised by her appearance at this point in time.
And even then, his surprise was only momentary.
‘This is the best-case scenario.’
Her appearance was the best possible opportunity for El Paume.
As mentioned earlier, Golden Eye was more desperate than anyone else to raid Eagle Eye’s tomb.
At the same time, she was also capable.
That was why.
“100,000 meso per spot.”
El Paume’s pricing wasn’t motivated by greed.
He wanted to use this provocation to secure her participation in the raid.
He was also confident that it would work.
‘Given Golden Eye’s personality, she’ll definitely accept, just to avoid losing.’
He knew her personality well.
‘Even at the last moment, she went to kill Bellum first because she hated to lose.’
She was the type of person who would face the terrifying ground dragon Bellum, a monster on par with Hontail, just because she hated to lose.
Of course, this ‘hatred of losing’ also included the fact that she couldn’t accept someone else dying first.
Whatever the case, she fell for El Paume’s provocation.
“All the remaining spots!”
She bought all the spots.
“But I’ll pay you later!”
She didn’t just blindly accept El Paume’s offer, but from his perspective, money wasn’t really the issue anyway.
“I’ll give it to you when we get out alive.”
The fact that she was participating was more important to El Paume.
“Fine.”
The moment the deal was done.
It was a moment of great gain for El Paume.
With this, only the El Paume party and Miner’s party would be participating in the raid on this Mystic Gate.
The possibility of Kania Guild or Gafor Merchant Union interfering was eliminated.
However, El Paume knew.
‘There must be members of Kania Guild within Miner’s party.’
He already had a hunch about that.
‘Followers of the Black Mage are everywhere. On the Nautilus, and even near the Signus Empress.’
Those followers would surely try to meddle.
‘But that’s fine.’
El Paume wasn’t worried.
He had no reason to be.
‘I can clear Eagle Eye’s tomb alone right now.’
He was confident.
And that’s why El Paume didn’t hesitate.
“We’ll leave tomorrow, right away.”
6.
“Adventurers are challenging Eagle Eye’s tomb for the first time in a year!”
The news spread quickly throughout the Nautilus.
Of course, when it first spread, there was little interest among those who heard it.
“Some other idiot decided to cause trouble again.”
All sorts of incidents, accidents, and extraordinary events occurred on the Nautilus, where all sorts of people gathered.
“It’s already a lot of patience that the interested parties have waited for a year.”
They thought it was just another stupid stunt this time.
“He sold the spots to Golden Eye!”
“And Golden Eye bought the spots!”
But the moment Golden Eye Miner got involved, the weight of the situation changed.
Naturally, she was also interested.
“Murat.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Captain Kyrin.
The current owner of the Nautilus and the adventurer who has cleared the highest-ranked Mystic Gate.
“I’ve heard the news. Miner is going to challenge it.”
She also happens to be Miner’s master, and asked Murat.
“Do you think Miner can clear it?”
To that question, Murat replied firmly.
“Impossible.”
It was an answer that would be hard for others to understand.
Golden Eye had just cleared the 200-man Mystic Gate, an Orange-ranked Mystic Gate with the highest difficulty.
Yet, she couldn’t clear an Orange-ranked Mystic Gate with a mere 74-member party?
But Murat was adamant.
He had to be.
“Miner’s talent is still not at Rhea’s level.”
The fact that it was Eagle Eye Rhea’s tomb.
In fact, that was also why Murat had intervened in the argument between El Paume and Miner at that time.
“Why didn’t you stop her?”
Murat knew that Miner’s goal was Eagle Eye’s tomb, and he had tried to stop her from tearing off the bounty page.
He only saw El Paume arguing with her by chance.
“Because of this El Paume?”
In other words, it meant that an unexpected variable had appeared.
“Yes.”
“I’ve investigated him. His background is quite peculiar.”
And according to the investigation, El Paume was certainly different from ordinary adventurers in many ways.
“His survival skills are indeed impressive.”
However, that was all that Kyrin saw. And no wonder, considering it was Kyrin. By her standards, even successful adventurers were just clumsy fools.
El Paume was no different.
That’s why she was puzzled.
Why had he allowed Miner’s raid on Eagle Eye’s tomb just because of the inclusion of El Paume, who only had excellent survival skills?
To that question, Murat replied.
“I heard his heartbeat. It reminded me of his heartbeat when the Luminous and Maple Alliance was formed. There was not a single tremor.”
Luminous!
One of the six heroes who had sealed the Black Mage!
The mage of light and darkness!
The moment that name was mentioned from Murat’s mouth, Kyrin didn’t hesitate for long.
She knew better than anyone how discerning Murat was.
The fact that he was saying this much meant that there was something truly special about El Paume.
“Is there any guarantee that he will help Miner?”
Of course, it was one thing for El Paume to have something special, and another for him to help Miner.
To that question, Murat didn’t give much thought.
“Prepare a negotiation card. Without Miner knowing. Something that El Paume will accept.”
At those words, Kyrin began to ponder.
What kind of negotiation card would be good?
She didn’t have to think too hard about it.
Kyrin took out a gold coin from her bosom and said.
“I’ll give him the right to take one thing he wants from the Nautilus’s treasure vault. That should be enough, right?”
If he doesn’t know what he wants, he can just choose it himself.
That was the end of her deliberation.
All that was left was one thing.
“Deliver it tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
Waiting for the time.
And the time came.
7.
It was an island.
A small, uninhabited island of about 300 square meters, with only a few trees, rocks, and a pile of garbage.
Four adventurers appeared on this uninhabited island.
“Boss, this must be Eagle Eye’s tomb.”
To challenge the Mystic Gate worth 9.99 million meso, Eagle Eye’s tomb, which no one had even dared to challenge for a year.
“The Gate is over there.”
As the El Paume party approached the Mystic Gate, it created a portal.
Emitting a shimmering orange light.
It was then.
“There they come.”
At Kiri’s words, they turned their heads and saw five small boats packed with people approaching the uninhabited island.
And one of them had eyes that shone with a golden light.
Miner’s party, they had arrived on the uninhabited island.
In an instant, the island was full.
Naturally, the pressure was indescribable.
In that pressure, Miner approached El Paume and said.
“Did you sleep well?”
El Paume didn’t bother to answer that greeting.
“No answer, huh?”
There was no reason to.
“Whatever.”
He had something else in mind.
“There’s only one important thing to talk about anyway.”
Setting the rules.
In fact, the concept of setting rules didn’t exist in Lis.
The rule was that adventurers usually helped each other when clearing Mystic Gates.
But the Nautilus was different.
“So, about the bounty?”
It was because of the bounty.
Adventurers had to discuss the distribution of the bounty they received after completing an adventure.
Of course, most Nautilus adventurers followed one rule.
“The one who kills the boss monster gets it all.”
Boss hunting.
“Sounds good to me.”
This also implied something else.
“From now on, we’re competitors inside.”
Don’t expect any help beyond that Mystic Gate.
It was an obvious statement, but in that case, it was clear to anyone that the El Paume party was at a disadvantage.
The El Paume party had only four members, while Miner’s party had a whopping 70!
Honestly, this wasn’t even a competition.
“Don’t make a fuss about it. Your subordinates too. Huh? Or get down on your knees and beg now.”
However, none of the El Paume party members raised any questions or concerns about this.
‘The boss will know what to do.’
They had seen El Paume up close.
Seeing the El Paume party like this, Miner no longer had any interest in them.
In fact, Miner had never been interested in El Paume in the first place.
‘Finally, we’ve come this far.’
Her goal was one thing only: to retrieve the relics of Eagle Eye that lay beyond that Mystic Gate.
El Paume was just an obstacle that had appeared along the way, nothing more, nothing less.
And now there was no need to worry about that obstacle anymore.
“Let’s all go in!”
And so, the gathered adventurers began to cross the Mystic Gate, carrying the luggage they had prepared one by one.
And then they could see it.
“A forest?”
“It’s so dark?”
“Someone light a fire!”
A dense forest where not a single ray of light could penetrate, with trees growing thickly together.
Sniff!
“This humidity is no joke, huh?”
And the damp, pungent humidity that filled the forest.
At that moment, all the adventurers there had a hunch.
“There are mushrooms here.”
They were sure that the monsters that would appear in this place would be mushroom monsters.
And that fact relaxed the adventurers a little.
“This might be easier than we thought?”
Mushroom monsters are not weak, but honestly, for experienced adventurers, mushroom monsters were one of the most laughable monsters they could encounter.
That was for sure.
“There they are!”
Ordinary mushroom monsters were no reason for adventurers to be particularly afraid.
“Huh? Those?”
“Grayish?”
“Surely not?”
There was one exception.
“Zombie mushrooms!”
And that one exception appeared.
8.
Among the monsters, there were those that were cursed with the zombie curse.
And these zombie monsters were not easy to hunt.
Unlike ordinary monsters, zombie monsters did not die even if their limbs were smashed to pieces.
Among them, the most troublesome were none other than the zombie mushrooms.
“Regular mushrooms usually die if you crush them enough. But zombie mushrooms are different. You can only kill them by smashing their cores.”
Zombie mushrooms would resurrect if their cores were not destroyed.
That was a nightmare for adventurers.
It wasn’t just the resurrection that made it a nightmare.
“Otherwise, they’ll resurrect. Right under your feet, not anyone else’s.”
The problem was where they resurrected.
As they fought mushroom monsters, the area would be filled with the corpses of mushroom monsters. And those corpses would resurrect.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
“And remember, mushroom monsters reproduce faster than any other. Especially zombie mushrooms. No need to say it. It’s just hell there.”
Regular mushroom monsters would starve to death if they didn’t have anything to eat, but zombie mushrooms were different.
Zombie mushrooms, which didn’t die even if they didn’t eat, grew exponentially in number over time.
So, how many zombie mushrooms could there be in the Mystic Gate a year after the last raid?
One thing was for sure.
There would be an uncountable number.
“Damn it!”
Miner and her party members screamed at the realization.
The El Paume party was no different.
“Crazy!”
Dibo’s face was pale as he looked at the horde of zombie mushrooms approaching.
And it wasn’t just him.
Kiri and Ralph too.
Everyone’s face was stiff.
The adventurers found themselves in the most dire situation they had ever faced.
“Boss!”
Dibo, realizing the gravity of the situation, sought out El Paume.
“Fire Arrow.”
In response to Dibo’s concern, El Paume summoned a Fire Arrow.
Dibo’s expression hardened at this sight.
“Boss? Are you planning to use a Fire Arrow? That won’t work against them, will it?”
Zombie mushrooms had significantly higher defense than regular mushrooms.
This was due to the Zombie Curse, which turned their flesh into a mud-like substance.
For ordinary monsters, this would weaken their skin, but for zombie mushrooms, which were essentially just masses of flesh, it had the opposite effect of strengthening their defense.
‘Damn it, I’ll only be able to kill one or two with that.’
Even a powerful Fire Arrow like El Paume’s would have difficulty being effective against zombie mushrooms. That was the common sense.
And El Paume knew it too.
‘Normally, it’s not easy to kill even one zombie with a Fire Arrow.’
That was the common sense.
‘But…’
However, El Paume was different now.
‘I have four Phoenix Feathers in my possession.’
He was in an extraordinary situation.
Naturally, the situation he could create would also have to be extraordinary.
Whoosh!
El Paume’s Fire Arrow pierced a zombie mushroom like a piece of paper, obliterating it.
“What?”
Dibo and the other two were stunned by the sight.
A spectacle beyond common sense.
El Paume showed them what was beyond their wildest imaginations.
“Clairvoyance.”
A sight beyond imagination, beyond common sense.
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
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