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Chapter 18. Martyrs (2)
3.
When El Palm mentioned 5 minutes, everyone thought:
‘Is the boss crazy?’
Even though El Palm has shown great abilities so far, this is just unbelievable.
But there was no question of how.
El Palm was their leader, and it was the party’s job to follow him when he said so.
thud!
“this.”
Above all, there was no time for the El Palm party.
“Here he comes!”
A giant swamp monster was advancing towards where the El Palm Party was.
Actually, there was nothing strange about that.
“So you knew this place.”
You will remember the giant swamp monster.
A time when adventurers gathered here, in this vast and unique land, to fight against him.
Naturally, the giant swamp monster would have recognized this place as a place where adventurers would gather.
“No need to call, it went well.”
From El Palm Party’s perspective, it wasn’t all bad either.
Unlike the swamp, this is a stage where you can fight by stepping on the ground.
“Five minutes, let me try to hold out.”
Devo, who was burning with determination on that stage, soon started wearing Jack Leach’s items.
Everyone prepared for battle.
El Palm said to them:
“You have to elicit anger precisely and properly.”
At that emphasis, Divo’s eyes narrowed.
‘If the boss is talking this much, he really wants me to do it properly.’
El Palm wasn’t one to talk nonsense.
“Yes, I’ll make a fuck out of that baby.”
Debo was happy to show his confidence in him and wore all of Jack Leach’s items.
And then he injected the magic of the three circles into the item, one by one.
At this moment, there were three items imbued with magic power.
Achilles’ helmet, Theseus’ armor, and the ring with the physical training I got last time.
The effects of the three magical items filled Divo’s body.
At that moment, Divo felt it.
“Wow!”
Feeling full of strength throughout your body.
It didn’t end there.
“Bless.”
Ralph came over and gave me a buff.
“Don’t die.”
Cheer up too.
“What’s going on? Are you cheering me on?”
“75 million mesos. Be sure to pay it all back alive.”
Of course, the reason was different from common sense, but Devo didn’t really care.
“Okay, I’ll pay you back with interest.”
“Are you really going to give me interest as well?”
“… … That’s what they say.”
“I almost got excited.”
“Okay, now get back.”
Debo, who had dropped Ralph like that, raised his head.
thud!
Only after raising my head for a long time could I finally come face to face with the giant swamp monster.
The difference was huge.
The difference was like that between an elephant and a puppy, and honestly, it was a difference that made it impossible to even consider combat.
A difference that is so great that it is impossible to even rush in.
Kuung!
But the moment the giant swamp monster set foot on the solid ground, Divo charged without hesitation.
Phew!
The giant swamp mud monster swung its huge fist towards the Divo, as if stamping a seal.
Divo easily dodged the punch.
But avoiding it wasn’t the end.
Kwakwang!
The moment his fist struck the ground, the ground screamed and the grains of sand on the ground bounced up as if they had been shocked.
Even if it didn’t hit, it was an overwhelming punch that was enough to destroy your mind just by feeling the impact nearby.
“Slash Blust!”
However, rather than being destroyed, Devo became even more aggressive and scraped the giant swamp monster’s leg with his polearm.
That was the beginning.
“come!”
Divo dodged the giant swamp mud monster’s attacks and repeatedly aimed for its legs.
Only the left leg!
Woof woof!
The relentless attack caused the giant swamp monster to let out a growl, and Divo laughed at the sound.
“Are you crying now? Are you crying? Are you crying?”
Words full of ridicule.
Boo!
The giant swamp monster let out a more indignant roar at the taunt.
And against that giant swamp monster, Divo showed off his more agile side.
Kiri, Ralph, and Miner, who had been waiting, were genuinely surprised by the sight.
‘You’re showing me that kind of appearance?’
Of course they knew.
Now, Divo is armed with three unique items, making him very strong.
‘You just put it on?’
However, this was the first time in his life that Devo had used that item.
But does it show that kind of adaptability?
Out of the ordinary.
That’s why El Palm wasn’t surprised.
‘You have to be exceptionally adaptable to survive.’
Because I knew what kind of adventurer Divo was before he returned to the past.
There was no reason to be surprised.
And there was no time to be surprised.
‘But adaptability and stamina are separate things.’
It wasn’t long before Devo showed off performances like that.
‘It has to be finished within 5 minutes.’
During that time, El Palm had to slay a giant swamp monster.
Actually, it wasn’t difficult.
There have been countless cases like this.
Among the monsters El Palm encountered, there were many that could not even be hurt or scratched no matter how powerful the magic he used.
Still, El Palm caught those monsters.
By persistently digging into the area where the magic stone is, and eventually destroying it.
His colleagues described El Palm’s hunting methods as follows:
‘Surgery.’
4.
When encountering a monster with strong defense, the adventurers’ choices are always the same.
“Aim for one spot.”
Breakthrough.
It was the most surefire way.
“Easier said than done.”
And it was the most difficult way.
“First of all, you can’t just dig in blindly. You have to dig straight toward your goal.”
The miners who dig the mines, who are considered the most expert in that area, said:
“That’s the hardest part.”
They say digging straight in is the hardest part.
So El Palm got recognition.
Because I could do that.
Because by using his telekinesis, El Palm could pierce straight into his target with precision.
‘I said I was having surgery.’
Literally surgery.
‘If we fail, everyone dies.’
Of course, the surgery wasn’t always successful.
I have failed several times.
There was no choice.
El Palm, because he wasn’t the one who achieved everything from the beginning.
Through countless failures and the deaths of countless comrades, El Palm’s skills grew.
“Fire Arrow.”
In other words, El Palm was the result of that failure.
No need to fail anymore.
‘Going in.’
El Palm’s Fire Arrow flew towards the back of the neck of the giant swamp monster that was chasing Divo.
Phew!
And the piercing fire arrow.
“Fire Arrow.”
Starting with that, El Palm ceaselessly summoned fire arrows and thrust them into the same area.
The depth at which each foot went in was only the width of a finger joint.
On the other hand, the depth required to reach the magic stone is 2 meters, deep enough for a person to fall into.
Even so, the deeper you go, the less powerful the Fire Arrow becomes, and if the direction is off even a little bit, everything could become useless.
It was a daunting task.
Nevertheless, El Palm continued with the surgery.
“Fire Arrow.”
While Divo and his colleagues risked their lives fighting the giant swamp monster, he dug deeper.
‘4 minutes.’
Then, after four minutes, when El Palm cast his 98th Fire Arrow,
El Palm’s face, which had been performing the surgery without any hesitation until now, became rigid for the first time.
Finally, El Palm raised his head.
Then I heard.
thud!
5.
thud!
Beiju appeared with the sound of the door closing and spoke to Evoque.
“I double-checked. The door is definitely closed.”
Beiju’s expression as he made that report was more rigid than ever.
‘Damn, of all people.’
How could they ruin a mission so important that they would send in martyrs like this?
So Beiju was worried.
The wrath of the Evoque.
However, when Ivok actually received the report, his expression was indifferent.
“I went to the second floor. What do you think?”
“yes?”
“How do you think he got to the second floor?”
“Well… … they must have moved because the situation was urgent. There was no other way in a situation where they couldn’t wait for the second group.”
Evoque nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.
“You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
“yes?”
Beiju was surprised by the answer.
The Evoque he knew was one who would never allow even the slightest chance of failure to remain.
And now the El Palm Party had a slim chance of survival.
The fact that he immediately moved to the second floor was proof of that.
We joined up with the second group and attacked the second floor. Although that plan went awry, we were able to move to the second floor.
It means that if you’re lucky on the second floor, you can get out through the exit.
That was why Ivoke prepared himself as a martyr.
To eliminate even that possibility.
But are you satisfied when you go up to the second floor?
“He’s going to die.”
Evoque said to Beiju, who was wondering about this.
“Because two people were martyred there.”
6.
thud!
With that huge roar, a giant swamp monster appeared.
Ohhhhhh!
The second giant swamp monster.
At its appearance, everyone, including El Palm, could only look at it with blank eyes.
‘There’s one more?’
That wasn’t all.
thud!
“The little bastards are coming too!”
This time, the giant swamp monster was not coming alone, but was accompanied by over twenty swamp monsters.
He was leading the army.
It was something no one could have ever imagined.
The same was true for El Palm.
‘I thought there were two.’
This was unexpected even for him.
‘You’re using two martyrs.’
El Palm, who knows the value of martyrs, never expected that they would use two martyrs to catch Jack Leach.
‘It seems the need to kill Jack Leach is more desperate than I expected.’
Anyway, things have changed.
That too, completely.
First, El Palm confirmed the debacle.
Kuung!
“Come! Catch me!”
Even in this dire situation, Devo was doing his job against the giant swamp monster.
But it was visible to El Palm’s eyes.
‘My physical strength is now at its limit.’
The time that Devo can be active like that won’t exceed 3 minutes from now.
If even that was done well, it wouldn’t have been strange at all if he had collapsed from exhaustion at any moment.
‘I can’t catch the second one.’
In other words, Devo ended here.
So what’s next?
‘Kirito won’t do.’
Kiri could at least fill Divo’s role, but the problem was the leftovers.
It wasn’t easy to expect Ralph and Miner to deal with them.
Running away wasn’t easy either.
The only place to escape to here is the swamp.
But is it really possible to escape from the swamp while fighting that swamp mud monster?
You can do it.
‘If you want to escape, someone has to be the bait.’
If one person sacrifices himself and catches them, the rest will be able to escape easily.
That was also the basis of adventure.
So everyone gave the same answer.
But he didn’t say the answer out loud.
“boss!”
Then Devo opened his mouth.
“I’ll buy you some time, so run away!”
That was a decision.
“There’s no need for pointless weighing! I’m the only one who can draw aggro! So I’ll do it!”
A firm and cool-headed decision.
So, no one could answer that question.
And there was no time to answer.
“Hurry up!”
From now on, every second will be regrettable, and even the time spent worrying or hesitating will be regrettable.
“Divo.”
“Yes, boss!”
El Palm also made a decision based on Divo’s decision.
“The hunt continues.”
“yes yes?”
At that moment, when everyone was dumbfounded by those words, El Palm took out a magic stone from his bosom and put it in his mouth.
gulp!
And then El Palm swallows it.
At the same time, a ring began to form on El Palm’s left wrist.
The fourth ring.
fantasy,
