The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-89

Thud.

The ruin hunter, who Seol assumed was a member of Mira’s party, died. It was a vain death.

“...It looks like the Sulfur Skull Tribe realized that they were being trailed and tried to lose them.”

Mael shut the man’s eyes with a stiff expression.

“Weren’t there roughly twenty people in Mira’s group? How could they be defeated so easily?”

“Who knows what they’ve been through…”

Jamad then stepped in.

“Hmm… If it’s the Sulfur Skull Tribe, crushing them wouldn’t be difficult at all.”

“What?”

“The Sulfur Skull Tribe are belligerent, and, as expected, their individual combat abilities are high as well. You especially cannot underestimate any of its leaders.”

“Are you saying that they have taken action?”

“Probably. However, not all of them have likely taken action. I feel bad for saying this about him, but the fact that he was still breathing means that only a small portion of the tribe’s forces took action.”

Seol’s face grew dark.

“Regardless, it’s definitely not good news that we have fewer allies now.”

Seol looked at the corpse once more and fell into thought.

‘They’re strong enough to slaughter twenty people… I really can’t underestimate the Sulfur Skull Tribe.’

It was clear that what happened to the corpse could have also happened to everyone in Mira’s party as well.

In the worst-case scenario, the Sulfur Skull Tribe could have already killed them all.

‘Are they all dead? Hm…’

Seol had Mael, Karen, and even Jamad.

However, his opponents were a small army.

The fact that he had to overturn Yognatun with only four people hadn’t changed either.

Seol dusted himself off and stood up.

“Alright, let’s go to Yognatun.”

Karen raised her hand.

“Yeah, let’s not waste any more time. Regardless of the situation now, we can come up with a plan once we’re at Yognatun!”

“It’s nice that you’re so simple.”

“I’m decisive, not simple. I guess a troll like you is too scared though?”

“Hmph, even the Sulfur Skull Tribe is nothing to me. Whenever I showed up to the Great Tribe Meeting…”

“Argh, stop it! I don’t want to hear about your past!”

“It’s not like I necessarily enjoyed hearing you talk about Montra either.”

“Huh? That’s true. Then let’s both be nice to each other and listen to each other’s stories.”

“Is this because you can’t give up on talking about Montra?”

“Yup.”

- Yup.

- I’ll listen to you since I want to talk about myself!

- She can’t give up on Montra LOL

- The summons are all such boomers…

Seol’s party continued their trivial conversation while heading to Yognatun.

They had already come too far to head back. Now, they were much closer to Yognatun than to the border.

Fwooosh…

[Mael used Shamanic Spell: Gentle Breeze Boost.]

[You are protected from the heat.]

Mael played a huge role in making them feel comfortable despite having entered a volcanic region.

“Mael, who did you learn your shamanic spells from?”

“My only master was these old tomes.”

“Incredible. I heard it was difficult to achieve results through books since they are filled with metaphors…”

“It becomes easier to understand them if you read them every day. Did you not read such books, Jamad?”

Jamad then looked to Yognatun.

“There was nothing for me to learn from books. They didn’t contain any secret techniques to kill the previous generation, nor did they provide a solution to solve the tribe’s food shortage.”

“What’s required of a leader and what’s required of a shaman are different, after all. I’m sure you also gave up on a lot of other things in that process.”

“Hahaha… Now that I can solely focus on my life as a shaman, perhaps becoming a shadow wasn't necessarily the worst thing.”

Karen laughed.

“I agree as well! I can eat delicious food whenever I annoy my master and traveling the world is fun.”

- Are we really sure that Snowman is the master?

- Snowman = lunch lady

- Are all high-ranking summons like this?

Conversation flowed back and forth between the party until they arrived at their location.

The Yogantun Volcano.

The party was all in awe at the volcano’s grandeur.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen Yognatun.”

“We’re here now, right? Where are the trolls?”

Mael looked around.

“It seems like they’re gathered around the mouth of the volcano.”

“He’s probably right. All of their plans revolve around the altar at the crater, after all.”

Seol turned around and nodded.

“Then let’s climb the mountain.”

* * *

Yognatun Volcano was so massive that the mountain itself could be considered its own terrain. And climbing a mountain like that, unprepared, was no simple feat.

“Gasp… Gasp…”

“It’s quite a tall mountain.”

“It is Yognatun, after all.”

One of the reasons they were struggling so much was because they were blazing their own path up the mountain. It was obvious that taking the same route that the other trolls took would only result in their capture.

‘We have to be especially careful from this point on.’

If they left tracks, they could be ambushed like what happened to Mira’s party. And they could not make that mistake.

‘We have to make sure that we have the initiative.’

They had to strike when the Sulfur Skull Tribe was the most vulnerable, when they could deal the most critical blow. Seol planned to wait for the moment to strike their heart before making his move.

This was how he planned to offset his lack of allies.

“Finally… we’re… here.”

There was an intense heat radiating from the crater, so much so that Mael’s Gentle Breeze could no longer mitigate it. Everyone, except for Karen, was having a difficult time.

Seol looked at what stood at the edge of the crater.

“So that’s… the altar.”

“It’s my first time seeing it… it’s definitely massive.”

Seol then noticed some unique chains hanging all around the crater.

These very chains were also supporting the altar, resembling a pyramid with a blunt peak.

At a glance, Seol could tell that the massive structure could accommodate a substantial number of soldiers.

As Seol scanned the crater for the scattered sentries of the Sulfur Skull Tribe, messages began to pop up.

[Adventure ‘Sulfur Skull’ is scheduled.]

[This Adventure is very dangerous.]

[Because this Adventure is a 'Linked Adventure' you cannot choose your next Adventure.]

[You have skipped your Rest.]

[You begin your next Adventure.]

[Your 13th Adventure is starting.]

[Adventure 13. Sulfur Skull]

[Aventure 13. ‘Sulfur Skull’

The actions of the Sulfur Skull Tribe in Nobira have left a deep scar on the survivors of the incident.

The entire city was burned down, and a portion of the survivors have been kidnapped by them. After learning about the incident, you have tracked down the Sulfur Skull Tribe and caught up to them.

There is still hope.

You might still be able to recover the kidnapped survivors. The people entrapped in that strange structure all desire one thing.

For someone to save them.

Though Nevenia may have abandoned them, you have not.

Objective: Prevent the Sulfur Skull Tribe’s ceremony or rescue at least half of the survivors.

Caution. This Adventure is very dangerous.

Remaining Time [23:59]]

- My heart’s pounding with anticipation at this description…

- The ‘Though Nevenia may have abandoned them, you have not’ part, right? Right?

- ???: I don’t know about this…

- Look at this increase in scale… It’s insane…

The moment Seol’s party arrived at the crater, they immediately began analyzing the Sulfur Skull Tribe’s forces.

“We were only able to come up here because there were so many holes in their defenses… Are they just that confident?”

“At a glance, this only seems like a portion of the Sulfur Skull Tribe.”

“Yeah, exactly. The Sulfur Skull Tribe is the biggest tribe in this area and has a lot of trolls. The numbers here are impressive, but it’s definitely only a portion of the entire army. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have this many gaps in their defenses.”

“Then, we don’t have time to waste. When it comes to saving people, even a moment of hesitation could lead to failure.”

Seol, keeping Mael’s and Jamad’s words in mind, began the meeting.

“They must have finished their preparations for the Old God Festival, right?”

“They should have. Since they’ve already gained Purga’s attention, they just need to sacrifice the humans at the proper time.”

Jamad scratched his chin.

“Then it’s difficult to know exactly how much time we have left. Also, even though they’re keeping the captives alive, it’s hard to know if they cast mind-type shamanic spells on them or tortured them. Snowman, is there anything you’ve thought of?”

Seol closed his eyes and murmured out loud.

“There is… something.”

“Of course, no one would… Wait, what? You have?”

Jamad looked at Seol, shocked.

How was Seol able to come up with a plan? It hadn’t even been that long since they arrived at Yognatun.

- The Sulfur Skull Tribe plans to use Purga by offering him the sacrifices they’ve captured.

In truth, Seol had been plotting since the moment Jamad told him that the Sulfur Skull Tribe was doing the Old God Festival.

Though Seol already knew about the Old God Festival, he didn’t have much knowledge on Purga. As such, he needed time to verify his assumptions.

“Mael.”

“Yes?”

“They’ve prepared for the festival, right? Then how long would it take for the ceremony itself to conclude?”

“The Old God Festival requires a lot of preparation, but the ceremony itself doesn’t take too long. As the Old Gods are quite whimsical and can’t stand boredom, they simply offer the sacrifices and make a request.”

“And that Old God Festival… could we also do that ourselves?”

“Huh? What do you…”

Jamad’s eyes grew wide at Seol’s question before giving a hearty laugh.

“Hahahaha! What an incredible idea. Yeah, I knew you would think of something like that. But… it won’t be easy.”

“Precisely. Purga wouldn’t mind if the person behind the ceremony changes, but he could be insulted by our lack of offerings and burn us alive.”

“The offering… From what I know, an offering for an old god doesn’t necessarily have to be living sacrifices, right?”

“Yes, that’s true. Normally, humans are offered as they are easy to acquire, but treasures and items could be offered as well if it’s something the old god would like.”

“Then… what about this?”

Seol pulled out something from his inventory.

Mael fixed his glasses, inspected the item, and then gave Seol his answer.

“If it’s this… Even Purga would fall for this.”

After the general direction of their plan was set, they spoke a bit more and after a while, their whole plan was ready.

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

‘It’s over,’ thought Mira.

Did she overestimate her and her party members’ strength?

Even though the Sulfur Skull Tribe only sent two trolls after them, the two trolls slaughtered her party like wolves massacring a flock of sheep.

Her party was now separated and she was unable to tell who was alive and who was dead.

‘That monster… killed them all.’

One of the trolls had a claw-like weapon, and the other troll used a huge axe as his weapon.

The two of them were both extremely skilled.

Mira's party could have had a chance if there was only one of them, but since there were two, and since Mira was the only person in the party who was considerably skilled, it was impossible.

In the end, it resulted in this.

‘Not to mention the fact that their leader didn’t even step in…’

And still, she failed.

This was hopeless.

Even so, this didn’t mean that Mira planned on giving up.

As long as there was a chance for a miracle, Mira planned on walking to the altar despite the dangers to her life.

After all, Kibo was still there, alive.

“What should we do, Mira?”

“Jirmo… you can go back.”

“You plan on killing yourself, aren’t you? You’re trying to go to the altar, no?”

“......”

“Take me with you.”

Jirmo.

He was someone who Mira got along with quite well from Kibo’s faction.

Though her party had been separated, luckily, he was still with her.

The two skirted around the crater for a bit before resolving themselves to approach the altar together.

Methods? Means? Wisdom?

As the two of them had nothing on their side, the only option left for them was a frontal assault.

As the two of them grabbed their weapons and tried to stand up, they felt a presence.

Mira instantly regretted the fact that she didn’t throw her handaxe. She initially hadn’t because a corner of her heart believed that the presence could have been her party member. But there… was a group of trolls.

“Y-You bastards!”

“Mira, no!”

Fwoooosh!

Mira charged at the trolls by herself.

Her charge was definitely logical.

Not only were there few of them, nothing about them was exceptional other than their size.

Since she believed that the trolls were simply scouts, she expected to defeat them easily.

Flash!

However, her assumptions were off.

‘...Huh?’

Before she realized it, she was looking at the sky.

She had been defeated by them before she even realized it.

“Mira!”

“Shh… Are you trying to kill us all?”

“...It knows the human language?”

The trolls Mira had met so far all only made strange, unintelligible sounds, not actual words. However, the troll in front of her was speaking the human language fluently.

Mira was absolutely clueless. As she was thinking to herself, one of the trolls approached her.

“Mira, it’s been a while.”

“...Who are you?”

The troll who approached her had golden eyes and acted as if he knew her.

Mira had seen those eyes before.

“Don’t tell me… Snowman?”

The troll made an awkward expression.

It looked like it was trying to smile.

“So we meet again.”

He was a strange man, and this was a strange meeting.