The time flew since Eren was first introduced to the world of Gilaahan. It had already been a month on Earth. Today in Gilaahan, he was gearing up for his first mandatory team mission.
The open space outside the southern gates of the City of Ludan. A group of rankers was seen waiting for something or someone to arrive.
“Team missions are nothing like solo adventures, Eren. It’s all chaos and mayhem on the field.
We do have people to watch our backs. But there’s only so much your teammates can do when they are dealing with the problems at hand. You need to keep this in mind.”
As she looked ahead, Rhea Reaver said to Eren. The latter was standing amid a group that was waiting for their captain to arrive. Miranda had successfully entered the Awakened rank within these days, giving her more power over her team. Her status in the guild had also increased.
The members of the group were busy talking with each other. It was a group of 30 rankers. Eren could recognize some of the rankers that he had seen on Earth. But he couldn’t recognize most of them since half of them were native to the world of Gilaahan.
Rhea Reaver was the same girl who had bet against Eren in his first mock duel with Miranda. She had lost what Eren had thought to be a significant amount at that time.
Ekay Mayne and Rhea Reaver became close with Eren with time. They would often spar with each other. Eren was already close with Reece. So Eren was surrounded by his mini squad within the team.
Eren listened to Rhea’s warning with a smile on his face. He chuckled before responding.
“Heh! You won’t care for my well-being, Rhea. How much did you bet with Ekay?”
Reece laughed when she heard Eren’s statement. She kept her eyes on Miranda who had just come out to address the team while adding up.
“Eren, they were betting whether or not you’d call it quits and fall back from the frontline when the battle starts. Ekay voted in your favor saying you’d perform well on the battlefield while Rhea voted for the option of you falling back.”
Eren raised his eyebrows and looked at Rhea when he heard Reece’s words. Rhea pursed her lips and smiled mirthlessly before explaining her point.
“Hey! This is your first team mission, Eren. And a mission like this is not going to be an ordinary one.
I don’t want to underestimate you. But you would realize what I’m talking about when the mission starts. Even though you think you have seen everything right now, Gilaahan has a way of surprising everybody.”
Rhea said while shrugging her shoulders. She then recalled the first team mission she was part of and thought that she had placed her money on the right side of the bet.
Before Eren could criticize Rhea for always betting against him, Ekay appeared behind Eren. The blonde hunk adjusted his hair and warned the group against discussing things casually any further.
“You might want to keep things to yourself for now. The captain is about to speak.”
Eren could see that Miranda was with another Awakened ranker as she came forward in front of the group. He realized that the other ranker was also an Awakened.
Miranda stared intently at the crowd before speaking up.
“I hope you are all well prepared for this task. We have been given a kingdom-level mission to tackle. That’s why I and Kiara have joined forces and created a combined team.”
Only now did Eren understand why he couldn’t recognize most of the rankers in the team he was about to join. He looked at the Awakened ranker who was used to leading the majority of team members who were part of the current joint team.
Kiara Croft was a fire-element mage. She had vermilion hair and emerald eyes. Her clear skin had a tinge of red that made her look like she had just taken a hot bath. With an ample bust and a shapely posterior, it could be said that her feminine features were prominent and eye-catching.
She had worn a very seductive attire that was not very mage-like. Her vermillion-colored armor only covered the most intimate regions of her breasts, leaving them almost entirely exposed to the elements.
Kiara was wearing arm guards the same color as her hair with intricate golden markings serving as the runic details. The armor she was wearing changed into a dress with frills below her waist. The golden runic details were placed at crucial places over her attire, giving it a unique visual appeal.
‘This mage is… fine!’
Eren couldn’t help but comment on Kiara’s beauty in his mind. He then focused on what Miranda was saying.
“This mission is related to demonic rankers. They are a bloodthirsty and crazy group of rankers. So we are told there will be no survivors. So remember to finish your opponents for good when you clash with them.”
‘Demonic rankers! That’s why Rhea was betting against me.’
Eren had another eureka moment when he heard his captain’s words. He had heard about demonic rankers by scrolling through the missions. But it would be his first time going on such a huge mission with them.
The demonic rankers were indeed a crazy bunch of rankers that participated in all types of heinous crimes. They were often linked with blood and gore rituals that would sometimes take place in various parts of the kingdom.
Demonic rankers knew no bounds. To continue their ranking journeys, they did not care what rules they would have to break or how many lives they would have to sacrifice. Their ranking techniques required them to kill and plunder ordinary rankers and mortals.
The demonic rankers were not a particular kingdom’s problem. They were the dark side of Gilaahan which could be found in every corner of the world.
The kingdoms would often use the forces at their disposal as well as the guilds within their territories to fight off the demonic rankers. However, the demonic rankers were known for their strike-and-hide tactics. As such, it was almost impossible for any kingdom to completely eradicate the demonic rankers’ presence from within their territories.