The Last Adventurer Chapter 294

294

Chapter 77. Horntail (1)

One.

The Maple Expedition is a group of the best players!

“Hontail, I will definitely catch that bastard.”

Everyone was on edge about the Maple Expedition’s movements.

Among them, the ones who were most sensitive were none other than Empress Signus and Nineheart.

“From this time on, Ereve’s alert level will be raised to the maximum level.”

Most of the best forces that were supposed to protect Empress Signus, who led the Maple Alliance, are missing.

In particular, Mikhail’s absence was a very serious problem.

This means that there may be a threat to Empress Signus.

“No one will be permitted to come to Ereve.”

That didn’t just mean followers of the Black Mage.

Rather, Nineheart did not worry about the Black Mage’s attacks.

If they wanted to move, if they wanted to attack Ereve, they would have done so long ago.

Because they had a purpose beyond that.

Those who were concerned were those who had been disadvantaged by the Maple Union.

Those are the outlaws!

Because it was none other than the Knights of Signus who judged them most definitely.

Of course, it was their fault.

The Knights of Signus never attacked adventurers who pursued the right values.

And they didn’t punish the incompetent outlaws either.

Because Maple World was overflowing with outlaws and the number of the Knights of Signus was insufficient.

In the end, we have no choice but to judge the really f*cking bastards first.

But if they had understood the fact and accepted the judgment, if they had been people who could reflect, they would not have become lawbreakers.

“No matter what I do now, it won’t be strange.”

Moreover, the current Maple World situation is so bad that the voices of doomsday theorists are getting louder.

Except for the hope for the Maple Expedition, there was virtually no hope left.

In such a worst-case scenario, even the outlaws could easily make the decision not to look back.

That’s why.

“From now on, the information network will also operate at the highest level.”

Nineheart also put a lot of effort into obtaining information.

“Dark Lord, please.”

And at the center of that information network was none other than the leader of the bandits, the Dark Lord.

To be exact, Dark Lord had already been working at Nineheart’s request since the Mystic Gate opened early on. He had been traveling around Maple World, gathering information.

That’s why it wasn’t there when Kerning City was attacked.

It was a heartbreaking thing for Dark Lord, but he did not turn back.

I granted Nineheart’s request.

In this time of chaos, I sent the information I gathered to Nineheart in the fastest way possible.

But the information was different.

“Nineheart, an unfair ship is coming.”

“Who are you?”

“This is Dark Lord.”

The Dark Lord himself had come to Ereve, and the moment Nineheart heard the news, he had a gut feeling.

Something very bad happened.

And that intuition soon became reality.

Dark Lord Jin, the moment he landed on Ereve and saw Nineheart waiting for him, he said:

“A purple-grade Mystic Gate has been discovered. It is located in the Dragon Valley of Minar Forest.”

Worst news.

“There is one week left until the door opens.”

It’s worse than I imagined.

2.

There was one more purple grade mystic gate!

“And the boss monster is… … Horntail.”

The moment he heard the news, only one thought came to Nineheart’s mind.

‘It’s a trap.’

The Mystic Gate that the Maple Expedition had just entered was a trap designed to catch the Maple Expedition.

‘Akairum.’

In a way, the very appearance of Akairum was evidence that it was a trap.

He himself, and no one else, appears?

I should have been suspicious.

‘I shouldn’t have listened to that man who was more serpentine than a snake.’

Of course, Nineheart wasn’t the only one who was fooled.

I had some doubts, so I made a plan with all the parts in mind.

The Maple Expedition was by no means formed just for the sake of it.

However, the reason this result came about was actually because there was no choice.

I postponed the Purple Grade Mystic Gate conquest until later, because it was simply impossible.

‘Still, I had to attack.’

What if that was real and monsters came out of there?

Even that monster was a horntail.

There is no worse nightmare than the appearance of a Horntail with the ability to command monsters in Maple World, which is overflowing with monsters.

In the end, the current result was an inevitable result.

That’s why Nineheart had no regrets.

It was also not a time for regrets.

Now is the time to come up with an answer.

“One week left.”

And the answer sheets that could be chosen here were also set.

“I guess I’ll have to kill some time.”

The time the Mystic Gate opens, I confirmed that the time stops during the raid.

In other words, just send it.

By continuing to send adventurers to the Mystic Gate every time they failed, you could buy some time.

Of course, it was only a temporary measure.

And it wasn’t easy.

Of all places, it’s the purple-grade Mystic Gate!

It was not easy for an average adventurer party to even kill time on the first floor.

Also, the time that had to be earned was not short.

“There will be no Horntails at the Mystic Gate where the Maple Expedition entered right now. It would be impossible to prepare two Horntails.”

The only good thing was that there was no need to catch the Horntail twice, but even taking that into account, it would still take quite some time for the Maple Expedition to return.

The Maple Expedition won’t know this fact.

So they will want to be as prepared as possible for the final floor.

So, the time you need to earn is at least one month.

At that point, Dark Lord Jin said.

“There is one place that is the best expert in this field.”

“If you are an expert?”

“Let’s do business with the vassal.”

Those words were very dangerous words.

First of all, the Hassasins were beings that the Knights of Signus considered to be outlaws.

That’s understandable, as the chief of the secret service was assassination.

It was a very lawless act.

It is simply impossible for the Knights of Signus to properly punish the Hassassin because it is impossible to identify the Hassassin who committed the outrage, and because the Kingdom of Ariant is secretly dealing with the Hassassin.

Of course, that was the biggest reason.

It is impossible to catch the messenger.

In other words, that was why Dark Lord Jin mentioned Hasasin.

The fact that the Signus Knights, and even the Maple Alliance, are so good at hiding that they can’t even catch the Hasasin.

The ability also applied to monsters.

However, only the first or second floor was allowed.

Ultimately, conquering Mystic Gate requires defeating boss monsters, and Hasasin’s abilities are far removed from hunting such boss monsters.

In any case, it was clear that this was the most certain card in the current situation.

But as I said before, the Maple Union and Hasasin were not in a relationship where they could join hands.

But do you do business with such a servant?

“I ask the Dark Lord.”

In that situation, Nineheart answered without hesitation.

“Can you reserve a seat for me?”

If you reach out, I’ll gladly take your hand.

It wasn’t even a problem to worry about.

It was an issue that determined the fate of Maple World.

If a problem arises in the future, and someone needs to be held accountable, Nineheart should be the one to take responsibility.

“We’ve already discussed it. They said they’d join hands if we just acknowledged that this operation was an official operation of the Maple Alliance.”

Moreover, the same was true for the servants.

They didn’t set any big conditions either.

If Maple World collapses, Hasasin will also lose everything.

That’s why Nineheart didn’t have to worry any more.

“I admit it. I will write the contract in my own handwriting. Please give it to the person in charge.”

Gave clear evidence.

“step.”

And he said,

“Everything must be handled with utmost secrecy.”

It was a given that information should never be leaked.

Now, Maple World was filled with hope again with the appearance of the Maple Expedition.

That was a very important thing.

In a situation where monsters are constantly jumping out of the Mystic Gate, what if there is no hope in this desperate situation?

No adventurer would want to fight a monster.

Rather than fighting, it was obvious that most adventurers would turn into outlaws and hasten their destruction.

Because there was hope, because there was hope that if they held on, the Maple Expedition would come to their rescue, they were willing to fight.

That was another reason why the Maple Union formed and moved the Maple Expedition as quickly as possible.

Because Maple World needs hope more than ever now.

But what if it is revealed that the Maple Expedition was tricked and that there is another purple-grade Mystic Gate?

It would have been fortunate if just that fact had become known.

The problem is that based on that fact, ridiculous rumors will start to spread.

Then everything was meaningless.

Even if we hunted down the Horntail, Maple World would have been in a miserable state of collapse.

Dark Rose Jin nodded, knowing that too.

And so Dark Lord Jin disappeared into the shadows.

After that, everything progressed quickly.

Special forces, including Hashashin, headed to the newly appeared purple-grade Mystic Gate to buy time.

After that, I heard news.

“We have entered.”

The suicide squad including Hasasin entered the Mystic Gate.

And the next day, another piece of news was heard.

“The countdown has begun again.”

3.

Minar Forest Dragon Valley.

Considered the most dangerous area in Minar Forest, simply visiting this place is a source of pride for adventurers.

Needless to say, it was crazy to venture there.

A place so distant that it’s hard to even get through the day.

But now there was a party of adventurers there.

The number of members is about 100.

Even they had been here for seven whole days.

That was amazing.

This meant that the level and skill of those here far exceeded that of average adventurers.

“f*ck.”

But the adventurers’ expressions were very serious and hardened.

It wasn’t just stiff, it was filled with despair.

It had to be that way.

What was in front of them now was none other than a purple-grade Mystic Gate.

Of course, I wasn’t despairing because I couldn’t come up with a strategy.

“This time I couldn’t even last half a day!”

What makes them despair is that none of those sent beyond this Mystic Gate will survive another day.

That was nonsense.

Because the number of adventurers who had been deployed to buy time had now exceeded 1,000.

Moreover, they were not just adventurers.

They were all skilled people with 5th circle or higher.

“What on earth is on the first floor!”

That was the worst.

“How much time is left?”

“There are now 78 hours left.”

Time is running out, and now there are only about 100 members left.

In addition, these 100 people were the last members.

The members of the suicide squad who had prepared had all entered the Mystic Gate to buy time and were facing death, and now only one challenge remained.

This last member had to buy us more than a month to get going.

Honestly, everyone knew.

‘It’s impossible.’

That the remaining members are not superior to the members who came before in any way.

No, it wasn’t that it was lacking.

‘The troops that gave me the order also failed.’

Among the first members of the suicide squad to enter, there were as many as 100 sergeants.

Nevertheless, even they could only last for a day.

‘What do we do?’

The time that the rest of them could gain by entering was at most one day, and even that was only if they were lucky.

I might not even be able to last an hour.

That was when.

One person said.

“Let’s go in.”

Without any worries.

“I’ll have to go in sometime anyway, so worrying about it here won’t give me any new answers, right?”

At those words, everyone looked at the adventurer who had spoken.

“And you were all prepared to make sacrifices, right?”

Everyone nodded at the following words.

At that moment, there was no longer any hesitation in everyone’s eyes.

Even in the worst case scenario, what they have to do remains the same.

“Okay, then let’s get ready.”

That’s why they entered the Mystic Gate without hesitation.

Everyone at the same time.

Without exception.

A silence and stillness settled over the area surrounding the Mystic Gate of that purple grade.

There are five left.

Their role was one.

Remembering and recording this historic moment.

Of course, it wasn’t easy.

Because they had to stay here.

until the death.

That’s why there wasn’t much conversation between them. The silence began to grow thicker.

“uh?”

And then, amidst the silence, a party emerged.

“Boss, over there!”