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Chapter 44. Crimson Balrog (5)
12.
Junior Balok.
A terrifying presence for adventurers in Maple World.
However, not many adventurers actually knew about Balrog. Encountering Junior Balrog was more difficult than expected.
Even if you decide to hunt them yourself, there are many people who can’t catch even one a year.
“That’s why Junior Balrog is scary.”
That’s why.
“Even if you hear Junior Balrog’s voice, you don’t know it’s Junior Balrog. You only realize it when it appears before your eyes.”
Why Junior Balrog is a nightmare for adventurers.
But the El Palm Party was different.
They already had experience dealing with Junior Balrog.
Wow!
Thanks to that, everyone, including Devo, could notice it right away the moment they heard the sound.
“Junior Balok is different!”
That there was something similar to the Junior Balrog sound they had heard, but also something clearly different.
Naturally, everyone looked at El Palm and soon remembered it.
“Is this the real Crimson Balrog?”
El Palm nodded in response to that question.
Actually, in most cases, I didn’t believe El Palm’s words. There was no way I could believe them.
Crimson Balrog is a variant that appears when a Junior Balrog hunts and eats another Junior Balrog, that is, when they eat their own kind!
In a situation where it was difficult to even see Junior Balrogs, the probability of a variant called Crimson Balrog appearing was very low.
Of course, it was hard to find someone in Maple World who could hear the Crimson Balrog’s cries and be certain that it was the Crimson Balrog.
But there was no doubt in the eyes of El Palm’s colleagues.
“If that’s what the boss says, then that’s what it must be.”
Considering what El Palm had shown so far, this was rather laughable.
So, El Palm’s colleagues changed the circuits in their heads.
“Okay, let’s give it a try.”
I imagined Crimson Balrog as a stronger version of Junior Balrog and prepared to face him.
This is one of the reasons why El Palm Party was so great.
Even for veteran adventurers, there are more monsters they haven’t faced than those they have.
That’s why, even if you see traces of a monster, there are many cases where you can’t be sure what kind of monster it is.
Or there were cases where misjudgments were made, and these were dangerous.
There were more cases than I thought where I mistakenly thought I could catch a monster and approached it but couldn’t.
El Palm Party, on the other hand, was different.
When El Palm spoke, everyone believed him, and the moment they believed, the tension in their hearts tightened.
We are ready to enter battle in the shortest possible time.
It was thanks to that.
Wow!
The reason why El Palm Party wasn’t surprised when the Crimson Balrog passed by, casting his shadow over the forest where El Palm Party was.
Far from being surprised, I saw it with my own eyes.
“He is wearing a skull-like helmet on his head!”
“The look in his eyes was different. There was blood in his eyes.”
“It’s bigger than the last Junior Balrog.”
“If you count the horns on the skull of the Junior Balrog you’re wearing, there are four horns. That’ll be salty.”
The characteristics of the Crimson Balrog.
El Palm Party, ready for battle.
Wow!
Crimson Balrog, who had been fluttering his wings toward the El Palm Party, began to dive like a hawk that had caught its prey.
Of course, at this moment, Crimson Balrog had no idea of El Palm Party’s strength.
Far from being strong, they are only interested in the lively prey that has entered their territory.
‘He let his guard down.’
And that was the only moment when the Crimson Balrog was virtually defenseless.
‘As expected.’
El Palm did not miss that moment.
To be exact, it was induced.
Crimson Balrog’s wings were much stronger than Junior Balrog’s. Their wingbeats were different. Their flight speed was twice as fast.
Once the guy started his full-scale escape flight, it was impossible to hit him properly, no matter how good El Palm was.
If you have the chance, just once.
‘It comes straight down.’
At this very moment, I am coming down in a straight line without letting my guard down.
And El Palm did not miss this moment.
He pulled out the most reliable skill he could use.
“Apollo’s fiery arrows.”
The two fire arrows of Apollo created in this way flew like swallows towards the incoming Crimson Balrog.
The Crimson Balrog didn’t stop at that attack.
Because I let my guard down.
There was also confidence.
He was confident that this kind of magic wouldn’t even be able to scratch his tough hide.
And that confidence soon led to ruin.
Phew!
Two of Apollo’s fire arrows fired by El Palm hit the Crimson Balrog’s wingbones accurately.
It wasn’t a penetration.
The Crimson Balrog’s hide was tough, but the strength of its bones was beyond imagination.
It is virtually impossible to penetrate.
El Palm didn’t aim for that either.
‘It’s okay if I get stuck. I won’t be able to flap my wings.’
The area Elpham is targeting right now is where all the wing bones meet, and with a fairly deep wound there, the Crimson Balrog will writhe in pain every time it flaps its wings.
It was as expected.
Wow!
The wounded Crimson Balrog screamed.
Naturally, the flapping of wings also stopped.
At that moment, the Crimson Balrog began to fall instead of fly.
Kwakwakwakwang!
Then the Crimson Balrog fell to the ground with a loud crash.
It’s a sound that’s creepy just to hear.
Krrrr!
But what was even more eerie was that despite the massive impact, the Crimson Balrog stood up unharmed.
It wasn’t that there were no wounds at all. Blood was clearly flowing from the body, and there were places where flesh had been torn off.
But looking at the fall just a moment ago, it couldn’t even be called a wound.
That was the scary thing about the Crimson Balrog.
Even though he can’t flap his wings, he is incomparably stronger than Junior Balrog.
In other words, the Crimson Balrog, who could flap his wings, was quite a burden to El Palm.
‘This is a sight you would never see if you came with the Knights of Signus.’
That was the decisive reason why El Palm wanted to conquer Mystic Gate alone this time.
What if El Palm entered the Mystic Gate with Viola’s party?
It would have reached the fourth floor without a single casualty.
And the moment he charged into the fourth floor, I bet Crimson Balrog would have reacted differently than he did now.
I wouldn’t have let my guard down like this.
Of course, it wouldn’t have fallen like this.
Of course, losing my wings wasn’t the end.
The Crimson Balrog that fell to the ground is a much stronger monster than the Junior Balrog that flaps its wings freely.
It was a monster from afar.
Wow!
That too, a monster full of rage!
“Okay, come.”
However, the gazes of El Palm’s comrades, including Divo, when they faced the Crimson Balrog were different from when they faced the Junior Balrog.
“It’ll be different than before!”
I was brimming with confidence.
It was worth it.
Now they are 5-circle adventurers with five rings!
“Yeah, it’ll be different than then.”
El Palm knew it too.
“Of course! I’ll take care of it!”
That’s why.
“Catch it, all four of you.”
“Yes! I understand… … Yes? Ji, what did you just say?”
“I’m going to find the necklace. So you four fight it out.”
13.
“The four of you fight it.”
The moment El Palm uttered those words, the four of them looked dumbfounded.
It is true that they have become stronger.
But it was unimaginable that they could catch Crimson Balrog with only the rest of the El Palm.
“boss!”
In normal circumstances, this would be something that would make you scream out loud.
“All right!”
However, everyone, including Devo, was surprised, but they did not scream that it was not possible.
Okay, I got it.
“Okay. I’ll try.”
“Yeah, let’s try to catch it ourselves.”
“Instead, there is no boss’ share.”
That El Palm would never give them or their comrades a mission to their deaths.
If El Palm wants to do it, he can do it.
That was actually the case.
‘You wouldn’t last ten minutes against a flapping Crimson Balrog, but a wingless Crimson Balrog would be a good training partner.’
El Palm believed that his comrades were more than capable of dealing with the Crimson Balrog.
It wasn’t a vague guess.
It was a guess based on the experience and knowledge of the last adventurer, the adventurer who survived until the end.
‘It is also necessary training.’
Plus, the El Palm Party now needed training.
‘It is possible to trim excessively rapid growth.’
In fact, El Palm did not anticipate the growth of his colleagues.
It was that fast.
Of course, being fast wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
‘I lack experience.’
But it wasn’t always a good thing.
Circle Up was a radical growth, and if this radical growth could not be properly controlled, it could have fatal consequences.
Therefore, after doing Circle Up, you originally had to go through a training and polishing process to control its growth.
Especially when there were more circles, the task took longer.
Once you reach the 5th circle, you have to train for over a year to properly use your abilities.
Even when things went well, there were countless adventurers who never made good use of their abilities throughout their lives.
There was that too.
Once you reach the level of a 5th circle adventurer, you are evaluated as a key force in any group and treated well.
It was common sense to grow safely even if it took time.
El Palm knew it too.
‘There is no time.’
The problem was that what El Palm lacked most was time.
Until the day the monsters jump out, until the day of destruction, there is not much time left.
‘The door may open sooner than expected.’
Moreover, there was no guarantee that the time would be accurate.
Because the history of Maple World has already changed in many ways from before El Palm returned to the past.
‘The followers of the Black Wizard are the kind of people who don’t get into trouble no matter what they do.’
That too in a bad way for the followers of the Black Mage.
So in the end, we have no choice but to use a more radical method.
‘It could be dangerous though.’
Of course, the good training that El Palm was talking about was usually training at the same level where you hang on to the edge of a cliff with your life and don’t die.
Going a little further, El Palm saw a high possibility that his comrades would escape without capturing the Crimson Balrog.
But it didn’t matter.
‘There is no need to die.’
I don’t know about anything else, but he taught me how to run away perfectly.
Enough to survive for at least 30 minutes even if El Palm targets you right now.
At that rate, I could run away from the Crimson Balrog for a whole day.
That’s why El Palm no longer cared about his colleagues.
Rather, that was what El Palm was worried about.
‘The problem is the necklace here.’
It’s something related to the Lion King, and the Knights of Signus are even looking for it?
The value of the item was good, after all.
Just from the facts that have already unfolded, the danger that the object poses is beyond common sense.
‘If the Lion King finds out about this, he won’t stay still. It’s not like the Knights of Signus did that, but they lost everything to the Anti-Black Mage Alliance.’
The Lion King’s wrath toward the world was beyond anything anyone could have imagined.
And El Palm knew better than anyone the extent of that anger.
‘Enough to become a follower of the Black Wizard.’
Because I knew very well what decision King Lion Van Leon made in that anger.
Although he had told his comrades that the Knights of Signus would be his shield, El Palm knew.
Now, Lion King Van Leon intends to destroy everything related to the Maple Union.
That the Knights of Signus cannot serve as a shield.
“agate.”
Qyuu!
Of course, that fear didn’t stop El Palm.
Compared to the horrors El Palm had faced, the terror evoked by the name of the Lion King, Van Leon, was only an impressive level of fear.
El Palm also knew.
‘Unless it’s something serious, there’s no reason for the Lion King to take action himself.’
There is a reason why King Lion Van Leon is keeping quiet now.
And it didn’t just stay silent for a day or two, it stayed silent for hundreds of years.
Despite the existence of the Lion King, he is so quiet that many adventurers think he is dead.
So there is no reason to be afraid right now.
It definitely was.
Qyuu!
‘This?’
The split mano set out to search for an item, until one of the five brought it to him.
Qyuu!
It was a necklace.
A plain silver necklace.
It wasn’t even an item.
But the moment he saw the necklace, El Palm’s expression couldn’t help but harden.
‘no way?’
Okay, I got it.
‘Ephia’s necklace?’
Van Leon, the relic of the Lion King’s wife.
It was never something that would come out of here.
‘Why on earth is this here?’
El Palm knew that better than anyone.
When the world was overflowing with monsters, and the followers of the Black Mage began to move in earnest, the Maple Alliance and the adventurers who had to deal with the Lion King when he came out of the Lion King’s castle once again thought.
‘It is the only thing that can change the mind of the Lion King.’
He said that he would have to find Queen Ifia’s necklace to temporarily return the Lion King, who has gone mad from anger, to his former self before he could face the Lion King.
Because of this, an item search party was formed to find this necklace, and El Palm also worked as part of that search party for several months.
But I have never heard of anyone finding it.
But the thing is here now?
‘I don’t know why.’
El Palm is also impossible to guess.
One thing was clear.
‘It’s something that could shake the Lion King.’
Something that could make a big difference in the history that El Palm remembers.
That was the moment.
“Kwaaaaak!”
I heard a scream.
fantasy,
