New Quest: Defeat the Profane Sun God.
Employer: Emperor Jicniv Rune Farlord El-Nix.
Quest Rank: SSS+
Minimum Rank Required: Gold Rank.
Quest Location: City State of Calissa's city gates.
Specifications: The throne of the Baharut Empire has been challenged by a self-proclaimed Pagan God called Osiris, two weeks from the moment this quest is issued in the local guild, forces are to assemble to fight a decisive war alongside the Empire's Royal Army.
Reward: 3000 gold coins and ten grams of Armatista mana Catalyst (upon completion).
...
The pamphlet was distributed by gazelles all over the Empire and even beyond, it was the job of the adventurer's guild to post quests in all their branches for all independent adventurers in the world. The moment they saw an SSS+ Rank quest being posted, crowds assembled in awe contemplating their odds and discussing the topic.
"I-Is this for real...?"
"Three thousand gold coins!? I could live peacefully for the rest of my life with that!"
"But you have to be at least Silver Rank... that's an insane requirement".
"What is Armatista?"
Questions abounded. The Empire's branches were among the weakest of the continent but in a particular city on the north border of the Slane Theocracy, a crowd of powerful adventurers assembled with thrill in their eyes. The request was put by the Emperor himself, it couldn't be fake.
Three thousand gold coins tempted even the laziest of adventurers, and ten grams of armatista fired up the hearts of powerful sorcerers; the prospect of defeating a self-proclaimed pagan god filled their religious hearts with glee. Enough to blur their mind off the possible dangers of this request.
"Do you think Hellooth is going to take the quest? He's Orialchum rank and his party are gold ranks at least!" A weaker silver-rank group whispered when they saw a massive man wearing bulky pitch-black armour. In his group, there were nothing but tanks.
In the centre of the rectangular table, a man wearing a bulky dragon armour watched the pamphlet, clenching it, of strong faith, he couldn't tolerate the existence of a pagan god.
"What do you want to do, Hellooth?" A lady asked next to him, she had the garments of a sorceress and an orialchum plate on her chest, just like him. The members of the party expressed undying loyalty.
"We'd have to leave now, Elis. And we'd barely make it to Calissa by horse, it may all have finished by then, it is not worth it" Hellooth stated, a bit discouraged that such a nice quest happened to be located so far away, usually quests had no time limit which meant that even if it was located at the other side of the world, they'd still be able to reach. Not this time.
Amidst the lousiness, somebody burst through the door, and he wasn't by himself. The man was wearing the black clothes of a sorcerer and behind him were what looked like priests, his attire was pitch-black. Silence immediately took upon the hall.
"A herald of the Black Scripture!"
Gossiping started, the black scripture was the most powerful force of the Sloane Theocracy, based in the capital but spread across the land with each city having at least one major church.
Their appearances were scarce, but their authority was absolute.
"Black Tooth's master Hellooth Belforth and master of the Five Saintesses, Alana Clay... you have been summoned".
Silence reigned the hall. The two individuals walked forward. Hellooth noticed a woman, beyond gorgeous, who didn't even bother to leave her seat, in her chest she had an Adamantite plate.
The Five Saintesses was a famous adventurer group that operated mainly in the Slane Theocracy's south border and the Re-Estize Kingdom. It was formed by five dark-skinned beauties who were quite mysterious, they always stuck together and the least powerful of them was in the Platinum rank, with the most powerful, their leader Alana having recently climbed up to the Adamantite rank.
"What are we being summoned for?" Alana asked with a lazy voice, she wasn't here for the quest, she didn't even pay attention to it, but she knew it was related to it.
As high-ranked adventurers, they were not forced to attend any of the scriptures' summoning.
"It is related to the new SSS+ rank quest–"
"I don't plan to take the quest" Alana answered and went back to what she was doing together with another four ladies who were also sitting at that table. One could tell just by looking they were a very diverse group. An archer, two sorceresses, a swordsman and a spear user.
The man in dark robes clenched his fist, he knew he couldn't force her, but Adventurers were famous for one thing and one thing only.
"What about you, Mr Hellooth? Since Lady Alana doesn't intend to attend, then the extra rewards which were to be split in two, should now be only yours were you to accept".
"..."
Those were different words that shook the whole room, all adventures stared at Alana as if expecting something from her.
"How much are we talking about?" The Saintess asked, the herald smirked evily.
They were famous for their greed, if one didn't have that, one couldn't be a successful adventurer.
"Ten thousand".
!!!
"Impossible... t-ten thousand gold coins? that's more than the quest itself!" The gossiping started once again, mostly mumbles of jealousy and ramblings of selfishness. Ten thousand gold coins was an amount of money they wouldn't make even by taking and completing requests successfully for ten years in a row.
Nevertheless, such wealth could only be seen in the hands of high-ranked adventurers, as such only those two were qualified for this invitation, at least in this city.
"I can at least hear you out" The woman giggled, she said some things to her fellow saintesses amidst whispers and stood up, following Hellooth out of the adventures guild and into the nearest church.
Her act was prideful, but she was considering the proposal, ten thousand gold coins plus the three thousand of the Emperor's request was not something they could ignore. Let alone the Emperor's request was three thousand per head...
...
They were led into a church and into a massive hall. The escorts retreated leaving only Helloth, Alana and the Herald. Several shadows manifested in one place, forcing both Alana and Hellooth to kneel at the sight of them.
They were the seats of the Black Scripture, the most powerful individuals in the country, and possibly the world, each being an Adamantite-ranked adventurer, a status that failed to foreshadow their whole might, as the difference between regular Adamantite-ranked adventurers and members of the black scripture was just too vast.
The one who spoke was the one they recognised as the captain of the group.
"More than a clean execution request, this is more of an intel recollection mission. As you may know, the theocracy doesn't have enough strategically placed adventurers on the border of the Baharut Empire to be in position before the time is due for this request. As such, both your five saintesses and black tooth groups are the most efficient forces available in the region. Naturally, your participation in this quest is voluntary and you will be given preliminary information not available to the public"
The terms were simple, a lot of transparency.
Alana stared at the silhouettes in front with a poker face but if one looked closely, there was hatred concealed in there. Hatred they ignored as not all adventurers were exactly surveillent to their religious government.
"Are we allowed to access this information now? what can you tell us about this Sun God?" Hellooth asked.
"Little is known about the Sun God... but we have reasons to believe his existence is tied to the abnormal astronomical events recently occurring... as well as the existence of the armatista".
"I thought the existence of the Armatista was only a rumour" Hellooth commented.
"As you know now, Emperor Jicniv himself is offering Armatista as a reward for completion. Hence, it is no longer just a rumour. Its appearance was first documented on the border between the Baharut Empire and the Re-Estize Kingdom, around the Arzisa Mountain Range. Our intel has gotten their hands on a small portion in the city border of Calisto at the south of the Empire, from which we can confirm the catalyst is genuine and its effects miraculous. It is a mineral that is bound to change the whole economic spectrum of the world were it to be widespread".
"What are its effects?"
"An increase of at least fifty thousand per cent in the efficiency of a spell. In simple terms... when used it can upscale the rank of a spell without any consumption of mana whatsoever, although it creates an increased mental tax... lower ranked sorcerers would faint after using it".
!!!!
"F-Fifty per cent... no mana consumption" Alana's eyes quivered, she immediately thought about the myriad uses she could have for that type of mineral.
"The armatista works as a catalyst and as a fuel simultaneously, it is still unknown to us how it forms, however. Back to the quest, as to not delay further: You will be paid ten thousand gold coins per head with a maximum of five members for each group so long as you accomplish two conditions".
'T-Ten thousand per head, plus three thousand' Alana clenched her fist, staring sideways only to find Hellooth was also watching her.
They could no longer refuse this mission.
"One is to fight, survive and return with a detailed report regarding the strength of the Sun God. The other one is... to find information about the Armatista's formation method or alchemy production".
"The way you say it... it is as if you expect the Baharut Empire to be defeated in this fight against the Pagan Sun God" Hellooth mocked, he didn't get an answer.
"I have one question," Alana asked.
"State it".
"If we were to find Armatista. Would we be allowed to keep it?"
"You will be paid for every gram of armatista you can find at a rate of a hundred gold coins per gram" the answer was solemn and absolute, "additionally you will be scouted on your way forth and back".
'So we're not allowed to keep it, they will be watching' Alana grit her teeth but nodded nonetheless, there had to be plenty of ways around it, especially in the middle of the battle.
"We still won't be able to make it to Calissa in two weeks by horse"
"No one said anything about horses".
*GROWL!!*
*GROWL!!*
Two creatures growled inside the room together with the resonating of binding chains. They stared behind them and there they were, wyverns.
Hellooth smiled and so did Alana, with this, they would be able to reach and once everything was done, ten thousand gold coins assured.
What could go wrong?
**
**
Slane Theocracy's Capital.
A gigantic mausoleum served as the lonesome house of a single individual who held a sheet of paper with her hands, a quest.
She had long hair, half white and half black. Also, one black eye and one white eye, and her long ears were covered by her voluminous hair.
"This is so interesting... a god~ I'm looking forward to the report. I wonder... would he be strong enough to impregnate me? Let's see... if he survives, perhaps I will chase after him and put the war against the Elf Country at ease, it all depends".
Her hands trailed around her body, a smile and endless expectations. A world a bit more fun and less dull than what it currently was.
At least a bit of entertainment.
**
**
Re-Estize Kingdom, E-Rantel.
The city of E-Rantel was massive, with bright buildings and dark corners... but that didn't stop him from spreading his influence ever so slowly, corroding this world with undead species.
For those outside the city, nothing was going on here, it was just another day. The guards standing alert in their respective gates stared outside with a dull smile, if one looked closely, one would be able to see their eyes were lifeless, like puppets and every so often they licked their lips, seeking the slightest of moisture. Eagerly awaiting any visitors they could devour.
Soon their ploy would be exposed, but before that happened, E-Rantel would transform into an impenetrable undead fortress, the new Nazarick.
Deep inside the city, the apocalypse still reigned. Destruction, death blood split until they were reborn as skeleton soldiers at the service of Ains Ooal Gown.
All over the citizens ran for their lives, but they knew there was nowhere to run, death was certain, it was only a matter of when and how. There was no mercy for anyone; Men, women, children... he wouldn't show mercy for anyone... not when mercy was not shown for Nazarick.
Little by little the city was consumed by a dark cloud, and staring at everything from above were a group of individuals. Albedo clenched the paper the scouts of the Adventurer's guild had brought just recently.
"The Sun God is in the Baharut Empire" Her desire for blood was evident, she wanted to travel there, regardless of distance, to fight him... but she no longer had the leisure of making decisions, not after her deadly mistake.
"Osiris, no... Ray Lux" Ains Ooal Gown held the paper as well.
"Not yet, we are not strong enough yet... not until I have attained a decent army" He claimed, but even that 'decent army' didn't fill him with confidence. The desire for blood was evident, perhaps this was the right time. How many would participate in this raid? thousands would likely die, but at what cost?
Would it weaken the Sun God at all, he begged to differ.
'If Yasaka, that gigantic fox, is going to participate, that Empire is as good as gone'.
"Ains-sama, I believe... if we are not to participate we should at least know the outcome and recollect information" Solution Epsilon stepped forward and knelt, "Please allow me to go, as per your orders I have maintained the status quo towards the nearby cities".
"Solution, your evolution as a Black Elder Gooze has been crucial. It wasn't for you, our conquer of E-Rantel would have already been exposed, if there is anyone among us who can successfully infiltrate this raid, it would be you".
"I'm happy to be of use to my supreme being" The slime smiled broadly.
"But sending you, one of my major assets, would be too much of a risk".
"Ains-sama~" The woman rejoiced, visually portraying how happy she was her lord cared about her wellbeing... while inwardly cursing at the refusal.
'Let me go! Let me go to Ray-sama!'
"As such, I will allow you to go together with Shaltear".
"Ains-sama, what is our objective?" The vampires knelt with genuine joy at being chosen for the mission while Solution twitched her tongue in annoyance.
'I can't act freely if she's with me'.
"Involve yourselves not in the battle. Instead, travel across the Slane Theocracy, watching what their move against this issue is going to be while simultaneously obtaining information about Ray Lux's forces and how he plans to deal with this situation... if my prediction is correct, the Baharut Empire will belong to him in two weeks, but at the same time, he will become this world's number one enemy".
"Ains-sama is wise".
"Stay out of the scope of view, don't get involved in useless fights and communicate everything to me through the slime".
"Yes, Ains-sama, we will not fail you!"
Solution and Shaltear jumped from building to building, out of the city, into the forest heading north until he couldn't see them anymore.
"Ains-sama, sending Solution..." Albedo didn't dare suggest anything, but even she was worried.
"That's why I sent Shaltear with her... if there is anything out of order, Shaltear will take care of Solution. As for us, let's finish this... the Dwarf Kingdom is next before we take the Re-Estize Kingdom in its entirety".
Albedo, Aura and Mare followed Ains deeper into the city, to the last settlement of humans.
The rebirth of Nazarick was starting.