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Chapter 30. Cactus Desert (3)
6.
The Adventurer’s Association is a group that manages the adventurers of Maple World.
There were more adventurers than expected who were dissatisfied with the Adventurer’s Association.
The reason was simple.
“What does the Adventurer’s Association do?”
From the adventurers’ point of view, there is no particular need to receive help from the Adventurer’s Association.
In reality, most adventurers formed parties on their own and went on adventures on their own.
The Adventurer’s Guild also periodically provided information, guidelines, and rules for adventurers, but there was little enforcement.
However, there were several instances where these adventurer associations took active action.
One is to judge adventurers who commit trolling acts.
Another is hunting powerful boss-level monsters that appear throughout Maple World.
Among the two, the Adventurer’s Association put a lot of effort into hunting boss-level monsters.
That was precisely why the Adventurer’s Guild was born.
Creating a group that can hunt monsters and boss monsters that ordinary adventurers cannot hunt!
Among them, there were several types of boss monsters that the Adventurer’s Guild was most wary of.
These were monsters like Mushmom, Giant Nepenthes, and Dew.
That would be the case, as these types of monsters are not only strong in their own right, but if left alone, they have enough influence to change the local food chain and environment in an instant.
A representative example is the nightmare of the mushroom cloud incident where millions of mushroom moms appeared in Sleepywood a long time ago and were left alone.
The same goes for the giant Nepenthes. If left alone, it would eat adventurers and grow in strength, eventually becoming a disaster that the adventurers could not do anything about.
The giant Catus Deu was the worst of them all.
The Adventurer’s Association said.
“Anyone who discovers Deu, just report it to the Association and you will be paid 1 million mesos. Immediately.”
There’s no need to catch it.
If you just report my existence, I will give you a huge sum of money, 1 million mesos, on the spot.
It was an extraordinary bounty.
In other words, if left alone, the monster that was Deuran could become a nightmare.
It wasn’t a vague imagination.
In fact, long ago, Deu had survived in the Nihal Desert for about three years.
Around that Deu, millions of Catus had grown.
The adventurer who first discovered the sight then said:
“It’s a green hell.”
The sight was that terrifying.
First of all, the walking cactus monster, Katus, was a very powerful monster.
Unlike mushroom monsters such as orange mushrooms or green mushrooms, cactus monsters are exceptionally strong.
Above all, the thorns on its body were very threatening. They were literally like needles made of steel.
When I got stabbed, it wasn’t just a stinging sensation, it was like my skin was pierced and chunks of flesh were torn off.
Crucially, the giant cactus monster Deu himself was very strong.
Its body was so hard that it could be considered a boulder like a golem rather than a cactus, and the thorns coming out of its body were so strong that they should be called spears rather than thorns.
So, to deal with that Deu and the millions of Katus, over 10,000 adventurers gathered under the name of the Adventurer’s Association.
It was an anecdote known to all adventurers from the Nihal Desert, and so all adventurers from the Nihal Desert spoke of it.
“Many monsters are scary, but the scariest of all is the abandoned Deuda.”
Fear of Dew.
It wasn’t just the adventurers of the Nihal Desert who knew about it.
Even adventurers from distant Victoria Island knew of Deu’s terror.
The monster called Deu, who is now in the tomb of the Knights of Signus, where the disciple of Oz died, was that kind of guy.
“boss.”
That’s why.
“What did you just say?”
“There’s a change of plans. The original plan was to fill up the remaining time here. But now, we’re out of here in an hour.”
“No, one hour?”
At El Palm’s words, Divo and his colleagues, who were no longer easily flustered by anything, made dumbfounded expressions.
“Boss, it’s Deu. Deu! Deu who creates that green hell!”
Eventually, Devo reacted violently.
That’s how absurd El Palm’s words were.
“This isn’t a guy you can catch in just an hour!”
El Palm answered that.
“According to my calculations, it will take about 3 days and 13 hours.”
“yes?”
El Palm explained to Debo and his colleagues who were tilting their heads at the unexpected answer.
“It’s literally true. In order to hunt Deu, you have to deal with the Katus around him first. That alone will take at least 45 hours. You have to clean up without encountering Deu. After that, it will take more than 30 hours to hunt Deu.”
Everyone’s heads tilted even further at the extremely detailed explanation.
“No, boss? But how can you catch him in an hour?”
El Palm showed the answer to that question.
“Because I have the necklace of Oz.”
7.
“The Necklace of Oz?”
Cheryl’s expression was one of surprise at Sejan’s words.
“Is this the Oz necklace I know?”
It had to be that way.
“That’s right. That necklace made from the eye of the phoenix.”
It was the necklace of Oz, the commander of the Knights of Fire, or more accurately, the eye of the phoenix.
Of course, the item’s abilities were beyond words, to the point that Oz himself wore it.
“Double the duration of fire attribute magic.”
“It’s the item that fire attribute magicians dream of.”
Duration doubled, when using fire attribute magic as indicated, the duration is doubled.
If someone who doesn’t know heard it, they would ask what it means, but if they knew, their reaction would be different.
That would be the case, since fire attribute magic has a duration.
For example, if a Fire Arrow hits a target, it will naturally disappear after a certain amount of time. Unless there is something to ride on, it is strange for it to continue to exist.
But what if the duration is doubled? The damage it can inflict will also be different.
That wasn’t all.
The longer duration meant that the durability of the fire attribute magic also increased.
That’s why Cheryl was surprised.
“How could Oz’s necklace be around the disciple’s neck?”
It was simply incomprehensible that such a great and precious item was hanging around the neck of none other than his disciple, and one who had only been his disciple for a little over a year.
If it was something like that, Oz, the commander of the Knights of Fire, should have absolutely prevented it from being taken outside.
Sejan answered that question.
“That was bait.”
“Bait?”
“While conducting various investigations on Queen Areda, I often had doubts.”
“What are your suspicions?”
“Those who opposed Queen Areda were killed at the Mystic Gate. Without fail.”
Cheryl wasn’t surprised by those words.
Instead, he gave her a look, and Sejeon nodded in return.
“The Cross Hunter knew too.”
Cheryl didn’t answer.
He just sent me a look.
I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I know that the world that Cross Hunters face is more dangerous than the world that we Sand Drawing Groups face.”
Sejean didn’t complain about that, but only smiled bitterly.
“Anyway, I had to find out what it was, and that’s when I found someone who thought like us.”
“Was that the disciple of Oz?”
“If that were the case, Oz’s necklace would not have been given out.”
“It was her, Oz, the Commander of the Knights of Fire.”
Only then did Cheryl finally understand the whole situation.
Why did the Knights of Signus move?
Why did Oz give his invaluable necklace to his disciple?
Why did the Sand Knights make so many sacrifices to bring back the remains of the Knights of Signus?
“I’ve made all the preparations.”
And why is Sejan so sure that El Palm Party will fail?
Only then did Cheryl’s expression harden.
“I guarantee you that you will be able to conquer even a green-grade Mystic Gate.”
It is strange that El Palm Party succeeded where it had failed despite thorough preparation.
Sejan said after seeing Cheryl’s expression.
“El Palm Party, I recognize their skills. They’ll probably be able to reach the third floor soon.”
With those words, Sejan closed his eyes.
“So I pray for their souls to rest in peace.”
8.
“dead.”
Divo spoke again, looking at the sight beyond the vast crowd of Catus that was approaching.
“dead!”
It was visible in Devo’s eyes as he spoke those words.
Deu, a gigantic cactus monster with a body length of 40 meters, falls forward.
Kwakwakwakwang!
Soon, the moment Deu’s body fell onto the sand desert, sand gushed up with a loud noise.
That was the evidence.
Evidence that the boss monster, Deu, is an incredibly strong and heavy monster, comparable to a golem.
So, this is proof that it is an incredibly terrifying monster.
It was actually a nightmare for the monsters that were warming up. For the adventurers, each arm and leg that Deu was swinging was like facing an elephant charging at them with all its might.
Because the concept of blocking was virtually impossible.
But that kind of thing was collapsing.
“The boss did it!”
None other than El Palm, in his attack.
“In one hour!”
Even El Palm kept his promise exactly on time.
Actually, that was nonsense.
The reason Deu was tricky was not only because of the destructive power coming from his incredibly strong body, but also because of the defensive power that his strong body possessed.
That’s why it’s often compared to a golem. In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that it’s a walking rock.
Of course, against such a Deu, any magic would be of no use.
Because lightning can’t travel through rocks, and poison can’t travel through rocks.
The fire had even less meaning.
To be precise, it took a long, persistent attack to make sense.
That’s why.
‘The Eye of the Phoenix, it’s definitely effective.’
El Palm, who boldly changed all his plans after seeing the necklace of Oz that he had obtained this time.
The fire attribute magic used by El Palm is of exceptional power.
However, the greatest peculiarity of El Palm’s fire attribute magic was that he used telekinesis.
Among them, the revolver technique that rotates the fire arrow using psychic power!
‘The revolver’s duration has been doubled.’
In other words, doubling the duration of fire attribute magic meant that the time the revolver would last the moment it touched the enemy would also double.
This was a huge deal.
You’ll know just by trying it a little.
The difference between digging a hole for 10 seconds and digging a hole for 20 seconds is that the hole is twice as deep, but not twice as deep.
‘Even if it’s not a cold beam, it’s possible to penetrate Deu’s body.’
Of course, El Palm also had ice attribute magic that lasted longer, but ice attribute magic was heavy and required much more telekinesis, mental power, and magical power than fire attribute magic.
In any case, the moment it became possible to dig into Deu’s solid body with fire attribute magic, El Palm did not hesitate.
The operation began.
Fire Arrow, Enhanced Fire Arrow, and even Apollo’s Fire Arrow.
Every time the cooldown ended, he used magic, and Deu’s core persistently dug into the place where the magic stone was.
For one hour.
During the hour that his colleagues, including Katus, were keeping Deu’s attention on him, the surgery was successful.
It was an unexpectedly great achievement for El Palm.
But El Palm wasn’t entirely happy here.
He rather thought.
‘More than that, the presence of Oz’s necklace means that none other than Oz, the Commander of the Knights of Fire, was involved in this incident.’
Bayos’ death is a bigger deal than El Palm thought.
Of course, the ripple effects after he conquers this place will be greater than expected.
‘This isn’t a story that ends with just one legendary item.’
This means that the calculations are bound to be different.
That was when.
“boss!”
During that time, his colleagues who had been drawing aggro for El Palm for an hour approached El Palm.
“That’s amazing!”
Everyone looked amazed.
“Thank you for your hard work. It was possible thanks to you.”
El Palm was happy to express his gratitude to such colleagues.
“Thanks to you, what have we done? All we did was fight against Katus.”
Debo and his colleagues smiled at El Palm’s praise.
It seems like El Palm thought what he said was just a passing remark.
“no.”
But El Palm’s words were never empty words.
If El Palm had been alone, it would have been impossible for him to concentrate on hunting Deu for an hour.
And it was no easy task to stall for time against tens of thousands of Katus, including Deu, for an hour.
Even in the extreme environment of the desert!
I’m sure most adventurers wouldn’t be able to last even 10 minutes.
“Thanks to you, it was possible.”
At El Palm’s repeated words, his colleagues soon nodded, knowing that it was not an empty promise.
“Haha, isn’t that thanks to all the hard training you’ve done under the boss? Compared to that training, this is just a joke, a joke.”
She smiled brighter, more confidently.
“So is there anything else I can do? I have some energy left over now.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“yes?”
Towards such colleagues El Palm said:
“Cartus, finish cleaning up.”
“Excuse me, cleaning up?”
Devo, surprised by those words, turns his head and sees that there are still hundreds of thousands of Catus left.
“That one?”
El Palm nodded toward him and said.
“I have time and energy left, so I should finish it.”
At that moment, the smiles disappeared from everyone’s faces.
But soon he smiled again.
Okay, I got it.
“Yes, there is no reason to turn down such a great training opportunity.”
That what El Palm is saying isn’t just to harass them, but is really for their benefit.
“I have no problem.”
“Okay, let’s see the end of it.”
“If you catch it, you can make money and that’s good.”
Above all, El Palm’s colleagues were confident.
In fact, it was natural for him to be confident.
I was able to last an hour even with Deu, so it wasn’t hard to last longer than that when Deu was dead.
“If there are four of us, there won’t be a problem.”
El Palm knew it too.
So I said.
“So now each of us hunts.”
“Yes? Each one?”
“It’s not training if four people do it. Training is about putting in effort.”
The hell that started with those words.
That hell ended two days later.
El Palm Party, they went out.
fantasy,
