Chapter 61: Emergency Quest

Chapter 61: Emergency Quest

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RUMBLE!

Not only did one pillar of purple crystal emerge amidst the endless ruins of the wasteland, but a second, and then a third. My augmented senses could already tell me these crystals were growing everywhere.

And the Eye of Truth seemed to have detected something perhaps even more dangerous.

[The Mysterious Darkness is expanding.]

[The Manifestation of the Seventh is slowly coming together.]

A Manifestation of the Seventh! Already? And the Seventh Apostle of Death is... Why him among all the others?! At least the others are way more relaxed in their ways of approaching this world, but...

The Seventh Apostle is nobody else than Beelzebub, a fallen archdemon that used to be the archdemon of gluttony before he was defeated by the Fallen Constellation, Ouroboros, and had his throne taken away.

He fell and became one of the Apostles of Death, and since then he has been approaching not only Earth, but many other worlds connected to our own with his domineering and endless greed for power. He loves to brew chaos and destruction the most and has a gigantic grudge against the archdemons.

Worst of all, amongst the apostles, he’s the one that hates humanity the most as well, and unlike the others that prefer, well, to use us more than kill us, he loves to massacre the most. He’s probably attempting to manifest this hard because he wants to destroy Stronghold and gain even more power from all the lives and souls he’ll consume.

Ugh, I somehow feel like this is my luck’s fault; it is as if I bring misfortune everywhere I go, and whatever I do, it will always become something even worse.

Saving Dan Baihe and defeating the two Archdemons first provoked this bastard to show up much sooner, and I fear he might be working with an equally malicious human.

“So many crystals... Is this normal around here?” Kevin wondered. “I’ve never explored these areas that well before.”

“I don’t think this is normal.” Baihe sighed. “Those crystals emanate a powerful, evil energy, something similar to the power the Demonic Humans hold but different at the same time.”Rêạd new chapters at novelhall.com

“Scary... But interesting! Let's go check them out!” Annabelle was excited.

“Anna...” Sepa suddenly whispered to me. “I can feel it; it is one of the Apostles of Death... Why is a bastard like this manifesting so soon? I am fairly sure the other Constellations aren’t happy about him ruining the fun.”

“I can tell,” I said to her through telepathy. “For now, we have to do everything we can to stop his manifestation, though. I also fear that the other hunters we came with might be in danger as well.”

“Make sure to report this to Henrietta and your brother, though!” She said. “Don’t be so reckless again! I am here to support you, but I can’t do everything either."

“Yeah, I was about to do that,” I answered her. “Kevin, call your sister and tell her that this is happening; she’ll probably mobilize her guild to come and see what’s going on.”

“Huh? And who are you to give me orders about that?!” He asked angrily. “And-”

“Stop being a dumbass and do something smart for once, Kevin!” I told him. “You know this is weird, right?! These crystals power up monsters, and there might be something even darker manifesting around... We can’t let this slide and have casualties like it happened in the Frost Dungeon, you know?!”

“Eeep! O-Okay! Stop screaming at my face!” Kevin stepped back a bit. “Ugh...”

I quickly grabbed my phone as well, calling my brother; however, he didn’t answer. It seems he was already exploring another Dungeon, trying to grow stronger. He told me he was going to stay here, but it seems he couldn’t resist the urge. Sigh.

I’ll leave him a message at the very least.

“Yes, yeah! These huge crystals are showing up everywhere, big sis!” Kevin said. “What?! No, I am not lying! Can’t you see them?!”

Kevin continued talking with Henrietta and finally convinced her—well, that’s another problem out of the way. Now, we just need to start working and not waste any more time.

“Alright, she said she’s mobilizing a squadron of guild members; also, other guilds are participating in this event, so they’ll give us a hand,” Kevin explained. “Though, what should we do?”

“Running away would be boring~,” Annabelle said. “Let’s go hunt monsters for now!”

“What? Are you crazy?!” Kevin asked. “The monsters might be even stronger and-”

“I agree with Annabelle.” I smiled at her. “We also need to help. The Constellations also seem concerned... Can’t you feel it? Several of them are watching this; they don’t like it one bit.”

“Start big? What does that even mean? And- Hey! Where are you going?! Wait for me!” Kevin cried, angrily following my lead.

On the way to our destination, I explained to them what the Apostle was, using the Constellations as an excuse for my knowledge. They had mixed reactions, but Kevin was the most afraid. Annabelle and Baihe simply seemed more excited as they learned.

“We’re here.” We reached our destination, and we landed behind a large pile of rubble. Right in front of it was a massive settlement of Goblins, one of the three large settlements in this entire Danger Zone.

Each one is close to these large concentrations of Crystals and seems to draw power directly from them. The closer they are to these crystals, the faster they mutate and evolve too.

“We’ll crush the entire settlement, kill as many monsters as possible, and destroy the crystals; I do have a way to purify them,” I commanded. “There’s not much to plan other than not letting them escape, so once we arrive, make sure to kill everything on sight.”

“Okay~!” Annabelle was excited; eight spider-like legs surged from her back.

“Very well.” Baihe summoned a spear made of ice and a large shield.

“Fine.” Kevin nodded, summoning his golden spear, and his eyes began glowing brightly.

“Then, let’s begin.”

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.

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Henrietta glanced in the distance from above a ruined building. Being closer to the city and the outpost made here to prevent any random person from entering the Danger Zone, she seemed filled with concern over the safety of the Hunters sent to this area.

Seconds after being called by her brother about strange purple crystals and monsters being stronger than normal, she received the divine message of her own constellation and felt the presence of many others atop the sky.

The hunters of other guilds that were with her right now felt the same things; even those without any sponsors could hear the will of the constellations and the new Emergency Quest that had suddenly appeared.

“The Seventh... Apostle of Death? What is that?”

“The Constellations seem really alarmed."

“I don’t even remember them warning us about Dungeon Breaks before, except on a few occasions, but this might be really dangerous if they’re so worried.”

“Lady Henrietta! What should we do? Is it okay to trust them? Sometimes Constellations... well.”

Henrietta’s eyes glowed with bright golden light.

“I can at least trust my Constellation, he is my friend and partner, my protector, even,” Henrietta said. “They’re not lying or playing around with us... They’re very concerned; some are even panicking. Whatever is brewing in the farther lands is something too dangerous to be left alone any longer. Everyone, we’re mobilizing. I’ve also contacted the other major guilds of the city; they’re coming.”

Henrietta quickly faced the group of roughly twenty Hunters, from C Rank to B+ Rank.

“This might be a threat more dangerous than anything all of you have faced in this city... And I am also very concerned about the young hunters; our priority is to find them and bring them back here at all costs.” Said Henrietta. “Be prepared for the worst.”

All the Hunters rushed into the ruined city, jumping over the many ruined buildings and piles of rubble. Henrietta led her own small group of guild members, while her eyes shone with bright golden light.

Through these powerful eyes, she was able to sense the presence of the entity lurking within the Danger Zone. She saw several concentrations of black and purple fog gathering around several separate areas, but all interconnected in an area underground.

“This much demonic power...” She muttered, gritting her teeth. “Dammit, and Jack is not here either! I know he’s desperate to grow stronger, but did he have to leave now from all times?”

Henrietta clenched her fists, though a smile surged on her lips quickly after.

“Well, not like Anna isn’t someone reliable either."

After all the feats that Anna had accomplished, she had earned the respect of Henrietta the most, and she saw her as someone reliable, comparable to her own brother.

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