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.”

“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.”

“Huh? Ah!” Kevin looked into the skies; dozens of stars were shining brightly, even in the middle of the day, which meant Constellations were watching us.

And, of course, everyone was making a fuss.

[The Cosmic Throne {Butterfly That Flies Across the Universe} feels disgusted by the presence of the despicable Death Apostles; they’re ruining the fun.]

[The Cosmic Throne {Monkey that Dances in Chaos} smiles, finding the entire development interesting; however, he cannot hide his hostility against the Death Apostles.]

[The Cosmic Throne {Warrior That Seeks Calamity} wants them dead!]

[The Cosmic Throne {Divine Judge of Flames} desires judgment upon the Apostles of Death, who dare get in the way of humans' lives with their selfish desires.]

[The Cosmic Throne {Ancient King that Sits On A Throne of Gold} smiles, offering you his treasures in exchange for your aid.]

[The Cosmic Throne {Black Jackal that Judges the Death} cannot decide between wanting you dead or wanting the apostles dead.]

[The Cosmic Throne {Lady that Soothes the Souls of the Death} is concerned. She feels like the Apostle might be up to no good!]

[The Cosmic Throne {Drama Loving King of Wine} would rather die than let a nasty Apostle get in the way of his binge-watching.]

[The Cosmic Throne {Giantess Queen of the Frost Throne} has realized this is a good opportunity to hasten Dan Baihe’s growth.]

[The Cosmic Throne {Emperor of the Blood Throne} glares in the distance. He knows something, but he’s not telling it. However, he cannot hide his concern.]

[The Cosmic Throne {One Eyed King of the Aesir} desires judgment upon the Apostles of Death for emerging on Earth ahead of their designated time!]

[The Cosmic Historical Figure {Breaker of the Chains of Slavery} is shocked to see so many big shots angered at the same time, all unified against a single enemy.]

They’re really angry.

And of course, they’ll do this.

[The {Higher Ups} have gathered, and the leaders of several {Nebulas} have agreed together.]

[The [Administrators] seem to be trying to apologize, but it is not working; their negligence knows no bounds.]

[The Constellations have taken a decision.]

[A New {Emergency Quest} has been created!]

[You have been offered an {Emergency Quest}: [Stop the Manifestation of the Seventh Apostle of Death from Materializing!]

[Conditions]: [Destroy all Purple Crystal Towers empowering the Manifestation from materializing.]

[Rewards]: [A Special Privilege, Items, Plot Points.]

[Failure]: [The disappointment of all Constellations, and the successful Manifestation of the Seventh Apostle of Death.]

[All Hunters within the [Danger Zone] have been offered a similar quest; however, yours contains special rewards.]

[Due to all of your accomplishments so far, the Constellations have high expectations of you.]

“A Quest…” I sighed. “Did everyone see the same thing?”

“I did see it." Kevin was shocked. “All Constellations sent us a telepathic message, something... They want us to stop the manifestation of an apostle of death! What is that even?”

“Oooh! Sounds fun!” Annabelle celebrated. “Hehehe, let’s go then!”

“Lady Skadi has put her trust in me once more." Baihe said, clenching her fists. “I cannot disappoint her.”

“Alright then, let’s go.” I nodded. “I’ll explain to you a bit what we need to do, but for now, follow me. I know where to go, so we can start big.”

“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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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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