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Chapter 49
[Translator – Pr?ks]
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Chapter 49. The Treasure of Kyrin (2)
After monsters emerged from the Mystic Gates, Maple World became a living hell.
And from that hell, new heroes were born.
The seven who stood at the pinnacle were known as the Seven Stars.
Golden Eye Miner, Aran’s disciple Dibo, the Hero Tracker Pir, the Heartbreaker Baekwol, the Marksman Max, the Divine Archer Nael, and the Lightning God Rick.
Each was a legend, unmatched by any other adventurer.
Naturally, El Paume knew their exploits better than anyone.
He had deep ties with them.
So deep, in fact, that he was the only one who remembered their final moments.
The last adventurer, El Paume.
‘Lightning God.’
Among them, El Paume had the deepest connection with Lightning God Rick.
For two reasons.
‘A follower of the Black Mage.’
One was that Rick was a follower of the Black Mage, hiding his true identity.
Rick revealed himself on the Day of the Crusade, when 100,000 adventurers gathered to fight the Black Mage’s followers.
‘100,000 were slaughtered because of him.’
The adventurers present that day were massacred.
‘Except me.’
Only El Paume survived.
Of course, it wasn’t due to his skill.
He was on the verge of death.
Lightning God Rick had grabbed El Paume’s neck with his right hand.
He used Chain Lightning, a lightning spell.
It was more than enough firepower to kill El Paume, who was only a 4th Circle mage at the time.
‘If I didn’t have the All-Master talent, if I didn’t have resistance to lightning magic, I would have died there.’
But Lightning God Rick, unaware of El Paume’s All-Master talent, assumed he was dead and left.
That’s how El Paume survived.
And because of that, he could remember.
‘He was wearing this ring.’
The ring on the finger of Lightning God Rick as he gripped El Paume’s neck.
Later, El Paume learned the ring’s true identity.
‘Zeus’s Ring.’
The ring that granted control over all lightning magic.
It was incredible.
Lightning magic was inherently powerful, but also uncontrollable.
Lightning was unpredictable.
And incredibly fast.
That’s why they said:
A lightning mage is a bomb that doesn’t discriminate between friend and foe.
A prime example was Chain Lightning. This spell, jumping from target to target, dealt damage indiscriminately. Even if the first target was an enemy, the next could be an ally.
It was uncontrollable.
El Paume, with his telekinetic abilities, found it nearly impossible to manipulate lightning magic.
But to control it?
‘With this ring, Lightning God Rick displayed unbelievable power.’
Lightning God Rick had shown just how terrifying that power was.
He had controlled lightning magic at will on the fierce battlefield, incinerating everyone in his path.
Lightning God!
He truly lived up to his name, unleashing a massacre!
That’s why it was so strange.
‘Zeus’s ring is here…?’
The ring that belonged to Lightning God Rick, a follower of the Black Mage, was in Kyrin’s treasure island?
There were two possibilities.
One, Lightning God Rick had infiltrated Kyrin’s treasure island.
‘Or there’s a traitor among the treasure island’s guardians.’
Two, another follower of the Black Mage had delivered Zeus’s ring to Rick.
El Paume considered the latter more likely.
‘This is dangerous.’
It meant the Black Mage’s followers were likely aware of and interested in Zeus’s ring.
If El Paume took the ring, he would be hunted by them.
‘Interesting.’
But that wasn’t enough to deter him from claiming Zeus’s ring.
Without hesitation, El Paume picked up the ring.
At that moment, Valerie spoke.
“Your choice is made. Now, return.”
6.
The Nautilus.
It was filled with adventurers and pirates from all over Maple World.
Naturally, stories from all over Maple World converged on the Nautilus.
New tales always circulated, so most stories were quickly buried, not even worthy of gossip.
But now, only one story echoed throughout the Nautilus.
“Did you hear? Golden Eye conquered Eagle Eye’s tomb!”
The story of Golden Eye.
It was only natural.
“She finally did it.”
“What could be in there?”
“What about Eagle Eye’s legacy? There must be something, right?”
The Mystic Gate, untouched for a year, a challenge no one could overcome, had been conquered by none other than Golden Eye.
In other words, everyone thought:
“Damn, it’s all about Golden Eye.”
Golden Eye was the one who conquered it.
“We’re the ones who cleared it.”
El Paume’s party just tagged along.
That was common sense.
Unless El Paume’s party claimed the victory themselves.
And even if they did, most wouldn’t believe them.
“Why did the boss tell us to keep this quiet?”
El Paume had even ordered silence about the matter.
Of course, he gave them a reason.
“Even if it means provoking the Nautilus pirates…”
The first reason was the pride of the Nautilus.
If it got out that Golden Eye was helped by nobodies, the Nautilus wouldn’t be happy.
After all, they were pirates.
Their creed was to repay any offense twofold.
“The leader said we shouldn’t make unnecessary enemies.”
The second reason was to avoid unwanted attention.
If El Paume gained fame, others would naturally try to steal it.
In a way, that was an adventurer’s fate.
The more fame and titles they gained, the more adventurers would covet them.
“But we could get paid, couldn’t we?”
Their silence was compensated with a hefty reward.
That’s why Kiri and Ralph didn’t complain about El Paume’s decision.
“What are you talking about? An adventurer should strive for fame! I’ll talk to the boss!”
Only Dibo remained.
“Go ahead.”
“Huh? Boss?”
“What do you want?”
“Oh, that, well… I was just saying.”
Of course, Dibo didn’t actually complain to El Paume.
“More importantly, did everything go well? Hehe…”
El Paume replied to Dibo’s question.
“Better than expected.”
“Better than expected?”
Dibo and the others were surprised by the unexpected answer.
For El Paume, who usually remained indifferent and acted as if extraordinary results were nothing special, to say “better than expected”?
It meant something truly remarkable had happened.
“Yes, better than expected.”
And it was indeed remarkable.
‘With Zeus’s ring, I can now focus on lightning magic.’
El Paume had gained the power of the Lightning God.
If those who knew him as the Last Adventurer in the past were aware of this, they would be shocked.
And hopeful.
Hopeful that El Paume could save the world.
Of course, El Paume knew.
‘But even with this, hunting Horntail is impossible.’
That was just their hope. El Paume, who had faced Horntail himself, knew he was still lacking.
‘Before Horntail, I need to deal with the Kania Merchant Guild.’
More importantly, El Paume’s immediate enemy wasn’t Horntail, but the Black Mage’s followers.
‘They must have assessed my strength.’
The Black Mage’s follower hiding within the Golden Eye party would have reported on El Paume’s abilities.
In other words, they now knew.
They knew that El Paume could wield immense power using Telekinesis and Fire Arrow.
Naturally, they would send stronger adventurers to kill him next time.
‘I need to prepare thoroughly.’
Even with Zeus’s ring, there were challenges.
El Paume had no experience using it properly. He needed to gain experience from now on.
It was definitely not easy.
“Over there.”
As the El Paume party pondered, someone appeared.
The atmosphere instantly froze.
“Golden Eye?”
The newcomer was a beautiful woman with golden eyes, Miner herself.
Screech!
She pulled up a chair and sat down at the El Paume party’s table.
Everyone’s expressions hardened.
In the world of adventurers, sitting at a table meant only one thing.
“I want to join your party.”
“Join our party?”
“Yes, your party.”
Dibo looked dumbfounded.
Golden Eye Miner, Captain Kyrin’s disciple, the leader of over a hundred subordinates, wanted to join their party?
“No, you can’t be serious!”
Dibo let out a hollow laugh.
“Right? Kiri, back me up here.”
“I’m in favor.”
“See? She agrees, right? Wait, what?”
But Kiri thought differently.
“A skilled party member wants to join, there’s no reason to refuse.”
She welcomed Miner’s presence.
“Well, yeah, but… Hey, Ralph. You say something.”
Dibo turned to Ralph.
“I’m against it.”
“See? That’s right. You should be against it. Even you think it’s absurd, right, Ralph?”
“If one more person joins, my share will decrease.”
Dibo was momentarily stunned by Ralph’s logical answer, and at that moment, Miner spoke.
“I’m not asking to join for free. I’ll pay a joining fee.”
“I’m in favor.”
Ralph immediately gave a thumbs-up and said,
“I’m Ralph. I’m a supporter, and my specialty is punching monsters while using healing skills. Pleased to meet you.”
Dibo turned to El Paume.
“Boss, what are you going to do?”
El Paume didn’t answer.
He pondered.
Logically, having Miner join the party would greatly strengthen their power.
El Paume knew Miner’s abilities better than anyone.
She would be a tremendous asset.
The problem was that El Paume wanted more than just to strengthen their power.
Golden Eye joining the El Paume party?
That alone would be a huge issue, and with that issue would come a lot of trouble.
‘If she joins, the Black Mage’s followers will reassess the situation.’
Crucially, for the Kania Merchant Guild, eliminating El Paume’s party was one thing, but eliminating El Paume’s party with Kyrin’s disciple in it was on a whole different level.
Involving Captain Kyrin in their affairs.
It was like trying to catch a rabbit and accidentally poking a tiger.
‘More decisively.’
In other words, they would go all out to eliminate the rabbit without leaving a trace.
‘They’ll send hunting dogs loaded with Unique items.’
That was the reason.
“Miner.”
El Paume spoke to Miner.
“Congratulations on joining.”
Miner smiled and replied,
“You have a good eye.”
She extended her hand.
Seeing her hand, El Paume said,
“The joining fee is 10 million mesos.”
“What?”
“And you haven’t paid the entrance fee yet. Please settle the amount including the entrance fee.”
Miner looked dumbfounded.
Just then,
“Hey! Everyone!”
A man entered the tavern where they were and shouted.
“Big news! Big news!”
“What is it?”
“Gold Rich’s son died while trying to conquer a Mystic Gate! The son of Victoria Island’s richest man is dead!”
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
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