I planted a sacred tree in Tokyo.

Chapter 685: Tasks and Rewards

"Don't be surprised,"

Seeing that the group of four instinctively adopted a guarded posture, the middle-aged nun in the purple monastic robe smiled and spoke.
Her appearance wasn't exactly beautiful, but her serene and peaceful demeanor gave people a sense of comfort, like a gentle breeze; in particular, her voice was especially warm and soft, which made the four heroes relax without them even realizing it.

“I am Akara, a priestess of the Sisters of the Blind Eyes. The ‘temporary’ administrator of this camp, and also—”

The nun introduced herself, revealing that her eyes were unfocused, indicating that she was blind.

"Also a follower of the 'Angel of Fate' Yserael."

The Order of the Blind Eyes was founded under the secret guidance of the 'Angel of Fate'; Akara, who lost her eyesight, can 'see' even more.

“I foresaw the arrival of you warriors from another world,”

"And I have also witnessed, with everyone's help, the day when we finally defeat the demons and justice triumphs over evil!"

Ah this?

The other party's words sounded nice, but the four of them, including Yuuto, were also 'worldly-wise'. Three wolf-level and one strong dog-level, asking them to save the world?
That's making things too difficult for me!
"Please do not underestimate yourselves, warriors from another world."

Clearly, regardless of Akara's combat prowess, his ability to read people is absolutely top-notch.

The middle-aged nun in purple robes continued in a gentle voice, saying that since she wanted to ask for help, she should be frank with the other party.

"Your arrival has made up for the shortage of combat power in the Rogue Encampment."

"Please allow me to first introduce the current situation of the three major armed forces of the Kingdom of Kanduras."

It was clear that the leader of the 'Blind Eyes' monastic order could sense the four people's confusion without needing to see, and took the initiative to introduce them to the background of this world.

"The warriors should already know that the king of this land has lost his sanity due to the corruption of some ancient evil."

Leoric the Great.

This king was not actually from this continent, but came from another continent.

Many years ago, the young king led a group of knights and priests to establish a city here, gather the people, eliminate monsters, and fight bandits. He was wise and powerful, and people from all directions came to join him.

A new human kingdom was rising, but the good times didn't last long. First, a large number of people mysteriously disappeared under the leadership of the archbishop, and then the little prince also went missing. The wise king became irritable and easily angered, often executing opponents and even drawing his sword to kill indiscriminately at the slightest provocation!

Later, he went even more mad and declared war on the Holy Knights' Kingdom of Westmarch in the west.
They dispatched Prince Aidan and Lakhdenan, the Grand Master of the Knights of Light, to lead troops to attack the enemy.

However, Westmarch was a city founded by the strongest paladin in the past, and an old empire that had been in operation for hundreds of years. How could the newly emerging 'Kanduras Kingdom' possibly defeat it?

The knights, having suffered heavy losses, returned to the capital, only to be prepared to be executed by the king on charges of 'treason' and 'assassinating the young prince'. Unable to bear it any longer, the knight's commander drew his sword and killed the king to whom he had sworn allegiance, but also died under the mad king's curse.

When Prince Aidan, the eldest prince from the other front, returned, he was met with a terrible situation: the king had been assassinated, the knightly order had been wiped out, and the entire kingdom was in chaos.

Desperate to turn the tide, the prince began a relentless investigation into the reasons behind it all, and soon—

They also disappeared from people's sight, most likely because they were poisoned.

This time it was completely over.

"Since the eldest prince disappeared, countless demons have poured forth from the capital's underground;"

"The adventurers and people of Tristram rose up in resistance, but ultimately could not change the fate of the city's fall."

The purple-robed nun sighed softly; she could only see a blurry 'fate', yet she was powerless to stop it, which only made her more desperate.

"At the same time, our 'Blind Eyes Cult' also encountered the invasion of the Demon King 'Andariel'."

"Many sisters fell into depravity as a result, including the former captain of the guard, 'Blood Crow'."

The remaining members, under Akara's leadership, established the 'Rogue Encampment' here to gather refugees from the kingdom while awaiting aid from other nations: such a major event as the demon invasion is not a problem for any one country and will inevitably attract many powerful adventurers.

"What about the third force?"

Saki raised her hand and asked: "The Kingdom Knights and the Blind Monks have both suffered heavy losses from demons. Could it be that the third armed force has also—"

"No, they didn't suffer huge losses, but..."

"They are nobles."

A helpless, bitter smile appeared on the middle-aged nun's face.

"When disaster struck, the kingdom's nobles were the first to flee the capital with their treasures, heading to the Tower of Oblivion in the Stone Wilderness."

"That is the territory of Countess Bathory. This wealthy countess's territory consistently produces 'runewords' and is very powerful, attracting many nobles to come and join her."

In this world where extraordinary beings abound, and even angels and demons truly exist, all nobles are extraordinary! Or rather, they are descendants of extraordinary adventurers: without strength, one cannot protect one's wealth.

Of course, this only applies to protecting one's own treasure!

As for the fate of ordinary people?

What does it have to do with them!
Adventurers certainly include heroes who protect the people, eliminate demons, and drive away bandits; but there are also scoundrels who rob, cheat, and plunder.

As long as all those who know the truth are slaughtered, who will know where their treasure came from?

This is the pattern by which many nobles rose to power.

Killing monsters is nowhere as easy as killing people.
Why bother completing tasks? Why not just steal the rewards from the person who posted them?

Understood,
After listening to the nun's explanation,
The group of four finally gained a general understanding of this demiplane and this 'country'.

In short, demons are rampaging here; the king's entire family is dead, and the core force, the Knights, is almost entirely wiped out; the religious order, the monastery, has been driven out of the monastery by the demon king and is busy gathering people around, barely able to protect itself, and has no power to reclaim its homeland.

As for the noble class, they all rallied under the countess's banner and showed no intention of helping at all.

In their view, ordinary people are like leeks in the field; once one crop dies, another will grow back in no time.

"We can only hold the Rogue Encampment for now; we don't have enough manpower to deal with those powerful demon leaders and the fallen ones. So—"

After explaining the background of this world, the nun looked at the group of four.

"May I entrust you with the task of going to the Burial Grounds and bringing peace to the fallen 'Blood Crow'?"

"Of course, the path of cultivation will not be rewarded with empty promises—with the help of the power of fate, I can grant one of you an enhancement of your 'ability'."

?

“Sister, Your Excellency,”

Saki raised her hand to ask the question again.
"We are from another world, after all. What about your reward?"

Incompatible?

"Regarding this question, may I have your hand?"

Facing the middle-aged nun's outstretched right hand, Saki stepped forward and placed her palm on it.

A very warm hand?!
"Hey, what's this—"

A visible look of surprise appeared on the girl's face, which had a side ponytail.

"Saki"

"what happened?"

"Are you OK--"

The three people behind her stepped forward at the same time, surrounding Saki in the middle, and all placed their hands on their weapons.

"I'm fine, everyone please don't get agitated, okay?"

After calming her three nervous friends, Saki closed her eyes and sensed the surroundings; then she turned around, raised her hand, and made a 'shooting' gesture with her five fingers, pointing it at the sky outside the door.

call out----

The next second, a beam of light shot out from her fingertips, shooting hundreds of meters away in the blink of an eye.

"You've got it very quickly, little girl."

The middle-aged nun stepped back and smiled, gesturing, "This is the 'magic arrow' ability I taught you. Even though we are not from the same world, we are still human."

If they can grant Saki abilities, then enhancing someone else's abilities is not impossible.

"We accept this mission!"

Yuuto's eyes lit up. Whether it was Ryuji's "Immovable King Dharma Form" or Yukino's "Controlling the Netherworld Slave", if they could be improved, they should be able to enter the Tiger level, right?

However, they were not the first to begin hunting powerful enemies.

Although the other team was not of his own volition.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Summon Special Forces x3!"

In a dark, enormous cave, a girl in black robes raised her hand and waved her hand, and three huge stone slabs floated out to block her way.

On the stone slab are depictions of fully armed modern special forces soldiers, rendered in the style of ancient Egypt.

brush,

As three special forces soldiers emerged from the stone slabs, the light from their gun barrels immediately illuminated the cave in a blinding white.

Da da da da da! !

The assault rifles flashed continuously, and the dense bullets formed a barrage of fire, causing the red-skinned little monsters wielding scimitars and shields that charged forward to stagger backward.

The 'leather armor' and shields on these little monsters could withstand rifle bullets; however, their heads and limbs were clearly not able to withstand bullets, and they were quickly mowed down.

"Gibberish~~"

Strange sounds echoed from the back of the dark cave.

At the same time, a flame lit up.

"what--!"

However, before the fireball the size of a human head could even fly out, it was extinguished with a scream.

"Brother Amir succeeded,"

"Kill these 'Fallen Demons,' and without 'Fallen Demon Wizards,' they are nothing!"

The remaining two black-robed youths were greatly encouraged and immediately commanded a fighter wielding a dagger and wearing a beret, as well as another prisoner covered in bandages, to rush forward.

These two 'people' are their 'cards,' summoned creatures just like those special forces soldiers, perfect for pushing forward: they are noble priests, who can charge in from behind with cards.

Smoke, lights, fireballs.
Amidst the chaos of the battlefield, the cave overhead was writhing imperceptibly.

After reaching the top of the three people, it landed silently.

brush----

A cloud of yellow sand surged in, flying close to the heads of the three young men and women in black robes.

"Squeak squeak!"

? !
The unusual movement overhead finally brought the three black-robed priests back to their senses.

Looking up, they were all terrified and broke out in a cold sweat.

Suddenly, several spiders the size of washbasins fell from above, each with a black silk thread hanging from its rear end. If they hadn't been stopped by the surging yellow sand, they would have pounced on the three of them.

Look at these spiders' dull, long legs and sharp mouthparts; if you were bitten, you'd be seriously injured even if you didn't die.

"Be careful,"

Amir's voice came from the other side of the cave.

As the three young black-robed priests scrambled to their feet, the battle on the other side had already ended.

Without the 'Fallen Wizard' constantly resurrecting and throwing fireballs, the remaining Fallen—the red-skinned monsters—immediately lost their fearless courage and scattered as they fled, being defeated one by one.

“These monsters are ‘Aurak Spiders’,”

On the other side of the cave, Amir, also dressed in a black priest's robe but with gold patterns on it, walked over.

Beside him stood a woman in a black robe and a black veil covering her face. As her gaze swept over him, she immediately whispered something to Amir.

Tomb scouts

It was this 'card' with reconnaissance capabilities that told Amir the information and name of Monster Star.

"They have a paralyzing poison; don't get attacked!"

As he loudly reminded his three companions, a figure in black robes rushed out.

This is a man whose eyes are the only visible feature. He holds a snake-shaped dagger and has a 'death' symbol on his hood. The snake-shaped dagger in his hand traces a series of silver, winding paths, like a rattlesnake in the desert: fast, accurate, and ruthless!

Pfft, pfft, pfft~~
However, after a few twists and turns, the giant spiders that were caught in the yellow sand were killed.

Gravekeeper Assassin

He summoned two wolf-level 'Gravekeeper' series cards in one go to assist him in battle, and as Amir walked, yellow sand continued to surge around him.

"Don't rely too much on the combat power of 'cards',"

With a slate of books hanging from his waist, Amir solemnly gave instructions to his three friends.

"One must not neglect one's own observation, reaction, and the study of 'desert magic'."

These ancient Egyptian priests relied heavily on their "cards" for combat, making their physical bodies a significant weakness: even wild beasts and monsters knew how to flank and attack their main bodies, let alone more intelligent humanoid units.

Therefore, High Priest Imhotep also granted them the right to learn 'desert magic,' but so far, only Amir has mastered it to a basic level.

With the yellow sand protecting us, we can play cards with peace of mind.

"Yes, Brother Amir!" ×3
The three boys and girls answered respectfully in unison.

Without this man's help, they would still be living in tents in Cairo's Old City, waiting for relief food to survive.

“Fatima,”

After reminding his friends not to forget their own training, Amir looked at the girl among the three.

"Have your special forces squads split up and scout ahead."

"Yes!"

Under the control of the priestess, the three special forces soldiers immediately split up and headed deeper into the cave.

These special forces soldiers, who were created using ancient Egyptian secret methods to form 'cards,' are all at the standard dog-level strength: fully armed modern soldiers who are no weaker than low-level superhuman beings.

Unless caught off guard and instantly killed at point-blank range, most canine-level superhumans would find it difficult to withstand bullets.

Besides, Amir didn't expect these 'one-star cards' to be of much use, as long as—

"Brother Amir, over there."

The young priestess pointed to something dark and reported.

"My special forces soldier was killed instantly at a distance of about fifty meters."

At the same time, a stone slab in front of her shrank and flew back into her hand, entering a 'cooldown period': she could not summon it again for a day.

"Okay, let's go!"

Having just arrived in this pitch-black cave, Amir could only lead his three companions in an attempt to find an exit.

Or you could just kill all the monsters blocking your way in this area!
(End of this chapter)