The 31st Piece Turns the Tables

Chapter 96

All of Seol’s viewers got chills from Karen’s courageous actions.

[‘Sacred Fire’ has donated 700 Madness!]

[Sorry, I just went crazy for a second…]

- Damn it! I can’t believe he took my Karen! I won’t forgive him!

- Now I’ll have to take Snowman so I can take Karen too!

- Sunset Draw… 😭 😭 😭

- Excuse me, do you have any room for more summons? I’m potty trained, and I can eat anything.

[‘I can hear it’ has donated 500 Madness!]

[The sounds of your screams… I might get addicted to your donations.]

- Krgh… I can’t hold back… (donating more)

- Karen looks much better with red hair… It’s like she got younger.

- Exceptional Skill! Everyone, look at that Exceptional Skill! It’s so exceptional!

- Seriously, there’s finally a skill that would continue the legacy left behind by Rasengan and Rokuogan for little kids to shout… Sunset Draw is so scary, too…

Words weren’t enough to describe how powerful Karen’s Sunset Draw was.

Sizzle…

The power was neither explosive nor destructive. Its heat alone had simply destroyed half of the altar.

“Cough… Cough…”

Magra coughed.

‘He survived?’

Despite taking that attack directly, Magra was alive.

‘No… this can’t be considered ‘alive’.’

Magra was completely burned to a crisp, and his body was charred.

His quick regeneration wasn’t enough. His lips, hair, clothes, and many other parts of his body were missing. Magra’s intestines and flesh were burnt as well, it was incredible that he was still breathing.

“...Look, Jamad,” said Magra.

Seol didn’t know how Magra could still speak, but he allowed Jamad to talk to him.

“This is crazy, you old crone. When will you finally kick the bucket?”

“Hahaha… I’m no different from dead anyway, so don’t fret too much. I just wanted to ask you something before I died.”

“What is it?”

“Do you… still have the same thoughts?”

“I’ve heard that I don’t change much, so I don’t know which thoughts you’re referring to, specifically.”

Magra weakly continued.

“That nonsense about becoming the king of everything… Do you still plan on becoming it?”

“I was wondering what you were talking about, so it was that… Well, I made a mistake and died once already, but…”

Jamad smiled while baring his teeth.

“I do.”

“...You really are strange.”

“I hear that a lot as well.”

“Regardless, has… Zando left?”

“He has.”

“That’s a relief… It’s a relief, but I do have one regret. I shouldn’t have told him to remember it…”

Magra could no longer make any expressions.

His eyes were drifting away, barely managing to focus in Seol’s direction.

“I should have told him to forget the shadow.”

Seol and Jamad approached Magra slowly. Even in his final moments, Magra still made sure to say everything he needed to say.

“Human, I will not serve you. I, Magra, will not… and have not served anyone.”

Thud.

And like that, Magra, the Scorching, was extinguished.

[You have defeated Magra, the Scorching.]

[You have defeated an Elder of the Troll Tribe Alliance.]

[You have earned the special achievement 'Expedited Era'.]

[You have earned the special title 'The One Who Opened the New Era'.]

[Great Match! Karen awakens a new skill.]

[Karen awakens ‘Passive: Fire Control’.]

[Karen has earned the achievement ‘Engulfed Fire’.]

[Karen has earned the title ‘Flames of Purification’.]

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Jamad slowly walked toward Magra’s corpse.

He mocked Magra’s final words.

“No, you will serve me, Magra.”

Jamad gave an ominous laugh.

“Welcome your new master, me.”

Frssss…

Jamad extended his hand out toward Magra’s shadow.

[Jamad used Shamanic Absorption to absorb Magra’s shamanic spells.]

[The target is higher ranked than the caster. Shamanic Absorption could fail.]

“Haha! You’re quite tenacious, old man! It’s pointless to resist. Give me everything you’ve got!”

And then…

Surge…

Suuurge…

Jamad’s muscles rippled as if he had been struck by a truck.

[Jamad has failed to absorb Magra’s shamanic spells.]

[Jamad receives recoil damage.]

“Guaaaaargh!”

Jamad appeared noticeably different from usual, indicating that the situation was dire.

Flaaare!

A red flame slithered through his shadow.

Jamad was lit on fire as if oil had been poured all over himself.

“Krgh… Krgh… Th-that’s hot! My entire body… is so fucking hooooot!”

The smell of burning flesh filled the air.

The fire continued to burn, and it ate away at Jamad’s sanity.

[Jamad has failed to absorb Magra’s shamanic spells.]

[Jamad receives recoil damage.]

“Guaaaaaaaargh!”

The fire completely consumed Jamad.

Seol remembered hearing that the most painful death was to be burned alive.

Jamad lost focus in his eyes because of the pain.

“Hahaha… Did you… Did you think that I, Jamad, would give up?! Jamad is the mountain! I will not waver, old troll! G-Grraaah! Let’s see who will win in the end! In the end, I will win.”

As it went on, Seol only became growingly worried.

‘It’s dangerous!’

Even simple matters could go awry if one tries to force it.

So, it was obvious that problems would happen if Jamad tried to forcibly absorb the spells of a powerful shaman like Magra.

Flare…

“Jamad…”

Thud…

Jamad took a knee.

Crackle… Crackle…

The only thing that resembled Jamad now were his hazy eyes.

“...on me.”

Seol believed that Jamad had lost consciousness after enduring pain for so long. However, Jamad continued to mutter, under his breath.

“Don’t look down… on me.”

[Jamad has failed to absorb Magra’s shamanic spells.]

[Jamad receives recoil damage.]

Flaaaaare!

Who was he saying those words to?

Who was the troll, taking a knee from the pain of being burned alive, speaking to with such difficulty?

Seol believed that Jamad was either talking to himself, his ancestor, or to Magra who had turned to flames.

“I told you… to not look down on me. I, Jamad, did not become a mountain overnight. I gathered rocks and sand to become a mountain…”

Sizzle….

The flames grew stronger.

It was almost like it rejected what Jamad said.

[Jamad has failed to absorb Magra’s shamanic spells.]

[Jamad receives recoil damage.]

Seol patiently waited for Jamad.

“All of my ancestors were idiots. They sold off their intelligence… and trust because they were charmed by the old gods’ strength.”

It was now clear that Jamad was talking to Magra. Magra had turned into flames and rejected Jamad’s Shamanic Absorption.

It seemed like he was asking Jamad if he had the right to take his powers, if he had the qualifications to succeed his strength.

“I, Jamad, am different. I am different from those idiots! I… I shall become king through my powers alone!”

Thud.

Jamad fell to both knees from the pain.

However, his closed eyes made it look like he had reached peace instead.

Jamad quietly spoke on his knees like a priest, like a monk.

“Therefore… I, Jamad, shall reach the truth… for why the stars were born… and for why I was born.”

Jamad’s hazy eyes started glowing.

Sizzle…

He stood up.

“And to do that, I need the power you left behind, Magra.”

Flaaaaaare!

A massive fire completely consumed Jamad’s body.

“Jamad!”

But this time, there were no cries of pain. The flames engulfing Jamad now were embracing him.

“Haha… you old troll… if you were going to come around like this in the end…”

The countless messages that followed after that made Seol dizzy.

[Jamad absorbed Magra’s shamanic spells.]

[Jamad, the Tyrant, has improved to Jamad, the Volcanic.]

[Jamad’s rank is improved to Legendary.]

[Your summon can now use all of its original strength.]

[Rock Armor has improved to Volcano Armor.]

[Earthquake Stance has improved to Volcano Stance.]

[Jamad awakens Passive: Moving Flames.]

[Jamad awakens Passive: Heat and Warmth.]

‘Oh my god…’

In the first place, Seol never expected to use Magra as his summon.

Even if Seol’s Wisdom was high, there was no way he could turn Magra into his shadow without the support of something else.

Furthermore, Magra used his final words to refuse becoming a summon. Even if Seol did have another dish he could use, like the time with Karen, he would have hesitated in reviving Magra.

However, Jamad was able to solve his problem.

It was by devouring Magra’s powers himself.

Though Jamad went through tremendous pain from the recoil, in the end, he managed to absorb Magra’s powers.

But the result was more surprising.

‘I can’t believe the summon penalty is gone now…’

Shadow Summoners had to invest a lot of skill points into their main skill, Shadow Summon.

They had to invest two, then four, then eight skill points to enhance it.

Since the skill was difficult to enhance, it was also, therefore, difficult for summons to recover their original strength.

But through absorbing Magra, Jamad was freed from those restrictions entirely.

Not only that, his stats had likely improved from the improvement in rank too.

‘I should look at it all once we’re back.’

Not only Jamad, but Karen and Karuna too.

His summons had all gotten stronger.

But this wasn’t the right place to inspect it all.

‘Fuu… Regardless, there’s a lot of things to do now.’

As Jamad savored the feeling of using Shamanic Absorption, someone approached Seol.

“Snowman… it’s over now.”

The person who approached Seol was Mira.

Seol glanced at her before approaching the cart carrying Kibo.

“We plan on heading back to Gulia. Since it seems like most of the trolls left, we probably won’t be tracked down.”

“I’ll follow you soon after, too.”

“This would have been impossible without you… all of the other survivors think so, as well.”

Seol nodded before hurriedly interjecting like he had realized something.

“Kibo… No, I have something to request from all of the survivors.”

“Anything. We’ll do anything for you, tell us.”

“Could you… leave my name out of this?”

“Wh-what do you mean? How else would it make sense without you?”

“Didn’t you say you’d do anything?”

“Urgh… Are you perhaps worried about receiving attention from Nevenia?”

Seol simply smiled in response.

Kibo’s intuition was correct.

Snowman had nothing to gain from spreading his name in Gulia. Not only that, interest from Nevenia’s military authorities afterward would cause trouble for his future Adventures.

‘I could get dragged into the military or forced to take on a mission. And if that happens… it’s all over.’

Seol could not refuse orders from a kingdom, especially since he didn’t have the ability to do so right now.

In the early stages of one's Adventures, it was always better to avoid entanglements with the affairs of a kingdom.

“...Everyone heard that, right?”

“But how…”

“I-Isn’t… that impossible? No one in Gulia would believe us.”

“Then is what Snowman did for us believable?”

“Uh…”

“See? It’s unbelievable either way, so let’s just do as he wants. It wouldn’t be too hard to come up with a story if we all work together. It doesn’t have to be believable, either. Nevenia doesn’t want things to escalate anyway, so we just have to give them a story that they could believe.”

The freed captives nodded and approached Seol, thanking him.

“Th-thank you so much. I can’t believe you came here to save us when Nevenia abandoned us, too…”

“Let’s get this straight though! He came here for Hamun, hahaha!”

“Still, we were saved, weren’t we?”

“We were.”

“I will be thankful to you for the rest of my life. My family thinks the same as well.”

Seol felt incredibly awkward from this situation.

Mira approached Seol for a few words as well.

“Thank you…”

“You don’t have to thank me. You've achieved simply as much as the effort you've put into it. The thing about Kibo, though… is a shame.”

“I shouldn’t be sad when he’s alive and laughing. If it wasn’t for you, Snowman… wait, what’s your name?”

“Kang Seol.”

“Kang Seol… I’ll remember it. Rather, it might be harder to forget it. Seol, I’ll see you in Gulia.”

“What? See me?”

“Do you not want to? It’s not that important, but I have something you must see.”

“...I understand.”

Seol and the survivors agreed to move separately.

Now that Seol knew Hamun was safe too, Seol told Hamun that he wanted him to go to Gulia with the other survivors.

Seol planned on traveling back to Gulia through the secret tunnel made near the border by the Sulfur Skull Tribe.

He chose to take the tunnel back as he had to destroy it regardless, and crossing the border normally could raise suspicion.

And if he wanted to arrive at Gulia with a comparable arrival speed as the survivors, he had to move quickly.

“Master, how was it?” asked Karen, laughing.

Since it had been long since she and Karuna were reunited, she had been talking with Karuna for a while before finally returning to Seol.

“It’s a nice view.”

“Yeah, an abomination like this doesn’t belong here.”

“Let’s go back.”

Karen smiled.

“Yes, Master.”

Seol then saw messages.

[The dreadful scheme that was nearly set in motion at Yognatun Volcano has been stopped.]

[Secret Labyrinth ‘Ruined Fire Altar’ has opened.]

[Secret Labyrinth ‘Yognatun Sulfur Area’ has opened.]

[Snowman's great achievements have caused changes in the world.]

[Large and small changes happen in Pandea, The World of Eternity.]

[The residents of Kongory, the Free City, sleep peacefully after hearing this news.]

[The residents of Fortress Gulia sleep peacefully after hearing this news.]

[Pandea’s power balance braces for change.]

[Faction: Sulfur Skull Tribe shrinks away.]

[Faction: Troll Tribe Alliance shrinks away.]

[All players can now select the ‘Investigating the Details’ Adventure from the base.]

[All players can now select the ‘Border Defense’ Adventure from the base.]

[You have acquired Adventurer Points.]

[You have completely destroyed the Fire Altar.]

[You have received additional rewards.]

[You have discovered treasure that Zando left behind in a hurry during his escape.]

[You have received additional rewards.]

[Rumors about the Sulfur Skull Tribe’s defeat spread through the neighboring kingdoms.]

[The Nevenia Kingdom shows interest in this incident.]

[The Setenia Kingdom shows no reaction to this incident.]

And the final message…

[You have defeated the leader of the Sulfur Skull Tribe.]

[Sulfur Skull Loot has been generated.]

[If the Remaining Time runs out or if you choose to take your reward, you may choose to finish your Adventure here.]

As Karen was about to open the treasures like she always did, Seol shouted.

“No!”

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