World Keeper-Chapter 1261: Monster Deterrent

There was an almost immediate change as soon as Blank made his update to the system for the SCRU combatants. On its own, this change would have only given them the stats associated with the new class. However, Ashley had granted Blank permission to activate this class, and had opened it up in the main world’s systems. Otherwise, even Blank would face some backlash forcibly integrating something with the system’s firewall in place.

Of course, that did not mean that everyone was able to enjoy this new class. Recognizing how powerful it was, Blank had set a hidden condition to obtain the class within its structure. Although it could level up via killing monsters, the only way to obtain the class was to have it granted by the system itself.

Thessa grit her teeth as she appeared within her room, knowing that she had just died. Without hesitation, she activated an emergency portal that all agents were given to take them back to the battle. Thessa didn’t know what had killed her, but that didn’t matter. If it was something that was strong enough to bring her down, that meant that she needed to immediately rejoin the fight.

Stepping through the portal, she found herself floating in the vacuum of space, witnessing a cluster of meteors in the distance. These meteors moved in incomprehensible patterns, as if they were alive, swatting at mages and fighters alike. Each strike surpassed the conventional limits of speed, and radiated an intense mana.

Taking a quick headcount, Thessa realized that there were six other agents missing from her team. They’ll be here soon. She thought to herself, manifesting a bow of radiant, golden energy along her left arm. From the appearance of the monster, she couldn’t immediately identify a weak spot. Even when a meteor was shattered, it would quickly reform itself.

Drawing the string of light from her bow, a golden arrow formed. Thessa was determined to buy time for the rest of her team to return. In a battle like this, their main hope was to stall for time until they found the enemy’s weakness.

Thessa fired off her arrow, which split into five, each targeting a separate meteor. Her targets were those that were the closest to dealing fatal damage to her team. Even though it wouldn’t do much to harm the monster, it would pull her teammates out of danger long enough to regroup.

The arrows sailed through the empty space in an instant, blasting into the five large meteors. With an explosive eruption of energy, the meteors shattered. Not only the five that were hit, but the entire swarm. Thessa froze, looking at the creature in shock. That shouldn’t have happened, right? She asked herself, unable to comprehend what she had just done.

She waited, thinking that it might be a trick of the monster, that it might reform. However, the discarded fragments of the meteor simply began to dissolve, as if there had never been such a horrifying monster to begin with. Thessa was confused, wondering if maybe this wasn’t the same monster that had killed her?

Maybe her team had already eliminated the main threat, and this was just a random monster that showed up while she was respawning? That certainly made more sense than… well, that. However, looking around, she saw that her teammates seemed just as surprised as Thessa herself. Some were even looking at her with wide, questioning eyes.

Don’t ask me! If you do, who am I supposed to ask!? She thought to herself, looking at the nearby planet and hurriedly descending to it. Once she was down on the ground, she opened her status window, thinking that there must have been some problem with her last respawn.

Thessa’s eyes went wide, seeing the drastically enhanced stats, as well as the new advanced class that appeared in her class list. She was familiar with the Monster Tamer class, but had never heard of a Monster Hunter class. However, there was no information about this class that she could easily retrieve, and even a quick look online told her nothing.

That was when her badge lit up again, warning her of another emergency. Gritting her teeth, Thessa decided to save her questions for later. For now, she activated the beacon, teleporting her and her team to the target region of space. This time, they were facing a humanoid creature made of flame, standing thousands of kilometers tall. It was racing through space at an immense speed, and would reach the nearest planet in a matter of minutes.

As the team leader, it was up to Thessa to begin the fight. These monsters were unpredictable, and could have any number of special abilities. Thus, she would attack first, while the logistics officers in her group analyzed the monster’s patterns to determine its weaknesses. Preferably without being killed first. That was usually important.

Steadying herself, Thessa manifested an arrow with the concept of ‘destroying fire’. At the very least, this would be able to attract the monster’s attention. When she let the arrow fly, she also caused it to grow massively, piercing through the creature’s torso. Just as she was celebrating getting its attention, its health bar plummeted, and its flames were snuffed out all at once.

…Someone tell me what’s going on!? She thought in a panic, eyes wide.

The new Monster Hunter class quickly spread amongst SCRU. Once Thelsa had a chance to inform everyone about the class, those who had not already respawned quickly logged into the game to update their profile. Thanks to this, teams that had originally been composed of fifty members were split up into groups of five, allowing for increased coverage.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

When I heard about this change, I was rather surprised. I hadn’t considered creating a class that specifically targets monsters. Then again, such a thing was becoming less and less necessary the more we developed. With Julia establishing protection against plant-type monsters, and Lyrica protecting against animal-type ones, our burden was already eased considerably.

Such a thing could not be said for the Origins of Hal Tua, unfortunately. There were still many that refused Lyrica’s offer, unwilling to open their borders to a Master that defected. There were even those that refused protection from the resident Masters of Hal Tua itself.

I lowered my head, letting out a deep sigh. Sanction had never taken any steps to create unity amongst his people. Instead, with the leaderboards, the guilds, and the dungeon system, he was promoting competition and hostility. Every guild considered themselves a sovereign entity, only loosely bound by the overall rule of Hal Tua. Whether it was a regular outsider or another guild, they couldn’t easily see them as someone trustworthy.

This led to every guild wanting to isolate themselves, only relying on others when absolutely necessary. With these guilds having entire universes as territory, they had nothing to worry about when it came to resources. Their only difficulty was their top fighting force, but they were still confident that they could destroy a few space monsters.

Hitting a button on the remote, the television screen shifted to show a giant serpent shuttling through space. Its scales were shifting in a myriad of colors, its tail a wide blade. When this serpent came across a planet, its tongue flicked out in excitement. Without delay, it wrapped its body around the entirety of the planet three times over, crushing it with ease.

Afterwards, the serpent began to devour the fragments of the planet that broke apart from the force of its constriction. I closed my eyes at the sight, knowing that hundreds of millions of people would have just died. However, I had to force myself not to act. Such monsters were attacking countless planets at the same time, throughout all of Hal Tua’s various affiliated universes.

It was impossible for me to protect all of them with what I currently had available. If I did have the power, and used it, I could imagine how they would criticize me for ‘infringing on their sovereignty’. On the other hand, if I only saved some, I would be criticized for not saving others instead.

This was a lesson that Hal Tua’s guilds needed to learn. At the moment, they were unwilling to accept the help being offered to them. If this refusal continued, it was only a matter of time before some guilds began to collapse. Meanwhile, those that accepted the aid were facing far less trouble, with most of their monsters taken care of for them effortlessly.

That comparison was the best motivator I could think of to get the stubborn guilds to open up. Forcing our help on them would only push them into a more hostile stance. Even though there were billions dying every minute, I didn’t have a good way to stop it.

Tsubaki had a small smile on her face as she looked at the contract that she had written. This was still only a rudimentary protection agreement, but it was better than nothing. Without hesitation, she used Hal Tua’s system to file for it as a phenomenon within her inner universe. With the financial account of the Administration Tower, she easily paid the astronomical fee.

Once that fee was paid, she simply left Hal Tua, rushing through the void towards Deckan. Lady Udona, I would like to meet with you briefly in person. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Hmm? Sure, I’ll be in my palace. Udona replied curiously, and Tsubaki nodded. She rushed into the Deckan universe, and teleported to the Ashtanu palace gates. Once there, she saw a group of knights, who all saluted upon recognizing Tsubaki.

The kitsune maid entered the palace with calm steps, a small smile on her face when she saw the God-Empress of Deckan sitting on her throne. “What brings you all the way here, Tsubaki?” Udona asked kindly, and Tsubaki bowed.

“I have created a contract of protection, which I plan to implement with every planet that will accept it. However, to do so, I must receive the agreement of the highest authority of the planet itself.” Tsubaki explained, and Udona’s eyebrow raised.

“In other words, the contract is not specifically for a planet, but rather for the territory owned by the contracted individual.” Udona clarified, and Tsubaki nodded her head.

“Indeed. I thought of several ways to do this contract. However, this was the only way which I found feasible. I will turn the ‘authority’ of the contracted party into an aura that repels monsters above a certain level. The stronger the person’s authority, the more effective the aura. Among all rulers of the mortal realm, you naturally have the highest authority. Thus, I wish to establish this first contract with you.”

Udona blinked as she listened to Tsubaki’s explanation. “Interesting… show me the contract.” She said, and Tsubaki held out her hand. A hexagonal, blue crystal appeared, which she sent to Udona.

“Channel your mana into the crystal, and the contract will appear in your mind. You will be able to choose whether or not to accept it.” She said, and Udona nodded, following Tsubaki’s instructions.

Indeed, as Tsubaki had said, this contract outlines the holder’s territory, as well as their level of authority, and defines it as the ‘Sovereign Force’. Then, it claims to use the power of the contract itself to convert this Sovereign Force into an intangible barrier that covers their territory.

Once she reached the end, Udona happily signed the agreement, not seeing any glaring flaws in its logic. “If I may ask, why did you choose this method? Couldn’t you have created a far more simply contract to prevent monsters from approaching a planet, and enforce that contract on the planet itself?”

Tsubaki shook her head. “When I tested the power of my enforced contracts in my battle against Lyrica, I noticed that the energy required to enforce them was equivalent to the strain that the contracted item was under. If I were to spread this contract out to thousands of planets, I would need to bear all of those costs simultaneously, which could eventually be enough to deplete my inner universe.”

“That’s why I established this contract in a way that the burden falls on the authority of the contract holder. All that my power does is convert that authority, which consumes far less energy.” She explained with a smile. “You do not need to keep that token on you, but please ensure that it remains in a safe place, as it is the key to the contract. If it were to break, the contract would be cancelled until you sign a new one.”

Udona blinked, nodding her head. She had been planning to destroy the stone to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, thinking that the contract had been imprinted on her, but it was a good thing that she had not done that.