Chapter 195 Territory Control
After leaving the room, Leo and Lia left the building and entered the streets of Tethoris.
It only took a glance for Leo to notice the difference between Stellar City and the City of Tethoris. Their atmospheres were vastly different from each other, not to mention the building structures and the peoples' fashion were also different.
'Despite being another world, Stellar City actually looked not much different than the city I knew, but this place… It's completely different. It actually feels like I have come to another world here.' Leo thought to himself.
They took a taxi to the city walls shortly after.
When they arrived at the city walls, the guards there stopped them.
"What is your purpose outside the city?"
"We're here to partake in the territory control mission." Leo said before showing the guards his Adventurer ID.
"C-Rank Adventurer… Are you aware that there could be B-Rank and even A-Rank monsters out there?" The guard asked him.
"Yes, I am well aware." He nodded.
"Alright then. Good luck out there." The guards allowed them through the gates a moment later.
Once they were in the Wilderness, Leo took a deep breath and sighed out loud, "I can't believe I am saying this, but I miss this desolate atmosphere and dry air."
A few moments later, Lia asked, "How far away is the location of the mission?"
Leo looked at his phone and said, "According to the direction given to me, it's about 150 miles from this direction."
"We'll have to get a motorcycle then."
"Motorcycle? I don't know how to drive them…" Leo quickly said.
"It's okay, I do." Lia calmly said.
"..."
Sometime later, they arrived at the vehicle vendor and Lia rented out their best motorcycle.
Lia got on the motorcycle first and sat behind her.
'Damn, I really need to learn how to ride a motorcycle. I cannot continue sitting behind a girl in situations like this!' He cried inwardly, as he felt somewhat embarrassed by his situation.
"Hold on." Lia said to him as she revved the engine.
Due to Lia's petite body, when Leo held onto her body, it felt like he was hugging her.
Sometime later, Leo said, "Wait, can you stop here for a minute?"
"What are you trying to do?" She asked him.
Leo looked around to make sure they were alone, and he said, "There's a new magic spell that I want to try out. It won't take long."
Lia silently nodded and proceeded to watch him.
"Are you going to use the Ancient Magic?" Lilith asked him, as it was kind of obvious.
"That's right."
There was even an E-Rank monster in the distance for his testing.
After taking a deep breath, Leo began casting the ancient magic.
Despite having a complex magic circle that rivaled Tier 9 magic spells, it didn't actually take him that long to cast it.
Suddenly, the sky turned black, and a pitch black magic circle appeared on the ground in front of Leo.
'What is this chilly feeling…?' Lia's body trembled when she sensed a dreadful feeling coming from the magic circle and the atmosphere, and for the first time ever, she was feeling intense fear.
A moment later, a black substance that resembled slime began oozing out of the magic circle.
This black slime grew bigger and bigger until it was the size of an adult human head.
Leo narrowed his eyes at this black slime, and upon closer inspection, he could see multiple flickering within the slime, almost as if there were stars living inside.
"What the hell is this?" Leo asked Lilith.
"It is the Devourer of Gods. Go ahead and command it to attack the monster." Lilith said.
Leo did just that and pointed at the E-Rank monster in the distance and said, "Go."
The black slime trembled a little before it shot itself towards the monster like a rocket.
Once it reached the monster, the black slime attached itself to the monster.
When that happened, the black slime began growing bigger and bigger, quickly consuming the monster's figure.
The monster panicked and tried to struggle, but such effort was in vain, and within seconds, it stopped moving.
A few more seconds later, the black slime returned to its original size, but if one looked closely, it was slightly larger than before.
"The Devourer of Gods is a mythical entity that will consume its prey to gain strength. The more it consumes the stronger it gets, and there is no limit to its strength. If it is strong enough, it could even consume gods, hence its nickname."
Leo swallowed nervously after hearing Lilith's words. An unknown entity with limitless strength and could even consume gods? Why does such a powerful magic spell exist? And for what purpose?
"Leo… What is that… black glob of slime?" Lia asked him a moment later.
"Hm? Oh, it's my new summoning spell." Leo said.
"What tier of magic is it?"
"It's uh…"
"You can tell her." Lilith suddenly said.
"Ancient magic." Leo said.
"Ancient magic…" Lia was dumbfounded to hear this.
Ancient magic is considered even more valuable than Tier 9 magic spells, and there are less than 10 of them in this world. Even the Scarlet Family doesn't own one.
Sometime later, Leo had the Devourer of Gods consume several more E-Rank monsters.
Ding!
Seven monsters later, the Devourer of Gods had doubled its size.
"Alright, let's continue our journey." Leo said to Lia once he was satisfied.
"Okay."
She started up the engine again, and they continued moving towards their destination.
A little over an hour later, Lia came to a stop before a camp that was set up by the Adventurers' Guild.
After parking their vehicle, Leo and Lia approached the camp to notify the people there of their presence.
"We're here to help with the territory control." Leo handed his ID to the worker there.
"Is this your first time doing this kind of mission?" The person asked him.
"Yes."
"Then I will give you a brief explanation about how we operate things."
"First and foremost, you are forbidden from attacking other Adventurers. If a monster is already being attacked by another Adventurer, you cannot attack it unless that Adventurer asks for help."
"You can leave the battlefield whenever you want, but keep in mind that your reward will be based on your contribution. Keep these watches on you. It'll track your contribution." The worker handed them each a watch that resembled the ones the Four Witches Academy used during their Wilderness Training Course.
The worker proceeded to hand them a tablet and continued speaking, "This is our objective. Once all of the monsters in this area are cleared, we will end the territory control."
Leo accepted the tablet and looked over the map.
"300 square miles? This is actually pretty huge…" Leo mumbled after seeing the map, and he understood why it normally takes weeks if not months to complete these missions.
"There are several hundred Adventurers partaking in this mission, and we have already completed half of the objective. At this rate, we will finish in about half a month." The worker said.
"Is there anything I should know about?" Leo then asked.
"Nope. You can go ahead and start."
Leo and Lia left the tent shortly after.
"Monsters will continue spawning even after they are killed, right? I don't understand what this will achieve." Leo asked Lilith as they made their way to the battlefield.
"Actually, there are magic beacons that can prevent monsters from spawning. You have probably seen them in Stellar City. This is how humans regain their territory from monsters. However, since they require a lot of resources and time to set up, they need people to clear out the monsters first." Lilith said.
Sometime later, they arrived at the battlefield, where they could see many Adventurers fighting C-Rank monsters.
"Lia, what are you going to do? You don't need to fight since I only intended for you to follow me around. Moreover, if you use your magic, you will only reveal yourself to the Scarlet Family." Leo said to her.
"I will fight too, but I won't use any magic."
She proceeded to take out a rifle and said, "This is more than enough for me."
"A gun?" Leo raised his eyebrows.
"This is not an ordinary gun. It's a magic rifle. Instead of using live bullets, it uses my mana as bullets. After all, normal guns don't affect monsters," she explained.
"That's pretty neat. Why am I just learning about them now?" Leo mumbled to himself.
"Because very few people use them, as magic rifles are only used by people who cannot use magic, and they require a tremendous amount of mana to use, which limits its user base even more."
"I see…"
Once they were prepared, Leo and Lia entered the battlefield.
"It's about time to let loose!" Leo said out loud as he started casting Black Bullets, killing all of the monsters in a single hit.
The other Adventurers there were shocked when they saw how effortlessly Leo was killing these C-Rank monsters with a Tier 1 magic spell.
"Dark magic? How rare."
"What is his Adventurer Rank? He's treating these C-Rank monsters as though they're ants. Only top B-Rank Adventurers could possibly do that."
"Why would someone that powerful come here?"
"Look at that young lady beside him! She's actually using a magic rifle!"
"Wow, I haven't seen one of those in a while."
Leo and Lia's presence quickly attracted the attention of the Adventurers and the Adventurers' Guild there due to their dominance in the battlefield.
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