Chapter 53: An S-rank Enemy is an S-rank Ally!

Chapter 53: An S-rank Enemy is an S-rank Ally! "Ken." Darek called out, and Ken turned with the 3 task scrolls in hand; he didn’t have to remove them from the table, as just touching them made a copy straight away. "Made up your mind?" Still amazed by the cultivation world’s tech, Ken looked at Darek. Just from his eyes he could still see some caution, but the young man reached out with his hand. "To a successful cooperation." He said. Ken looked at his hand and then at him for a second, not reaching out. But he was just teasing, as the second Darek was wondering if Ken even had plans of taking him as his ally. Ken smiled and shook his hand. "To a successful cooperation." He replied as Darek looked at their hands and then straight at Ken’s face. Some frustration that was difficult to hide appeared on his face, but the young man quickly regained his composure. "I’ve got us 3 tasks, the best the sect can offer. Choose one." Ken then handed the papers to Darek, who couldn’t understand how Ken quickly found them. ’I’ve been here since dawn and I had a hard time comparing them... and he was here for 3 minutes and already found 3?’ He took them and wondered to himself. He first looked at the rewards. ’300 low-spirit stones, 20 fasting pills and 20 qi-gathering pills to each member.’ He thought as he looked at a specific mission. This one was the best in terms of reward; as for the dangers, he knew, as he had already read through the missions. Then he looked at the required number of disciples. ’4 disciples are required.’ He thought about how and where they would get the 2 disciples. "Do you know any 2 disciples we could add?" Darek handed Ken the mission he had chosen and asked. "I don’t; I’d prefer you take care of this. Otherwise, we’ll seek the receptionists." Ken replied. Then he took the other missions and placed them back, making them disappear in the wooden mission board. They then made space for the other disciples to look for themselves as Ken checked the mission Darek had chosen. It was a devil subjugation mission; some kind of demon had appeared in one of the villages in the human territory. And if not taken care of quickly, the demon would slowly kill all the villagers and steal the land from humanity’s hands. Devils... they were a vast subspecies under the demon race. Their females were either succubuses or warriors, and their males, likewise, were either strong warriors or incubuses. Thus, they either had to deal with hypnosis or an enemy strong enough to potentially be able to kill Ken in a one-on-one battle, even with his strong physique. This was supposing they didn’t take care of the contracted human. Devils were also a rule-based species; they get significantly weakened if their contractor dies, and they also wouldn’t be able to escape if they met an enemy strong enough. All in all, it was a mission that required a lot of steps and planning. From the very moment they set foot in the village, they had to be extra careful, wary of everybody and doing their very best to spot the contractor. Once they did, they had to trap the devil, get it out of the village, and then subjugate it once and for all. Darek, hearing that Ken didn’t know anyone worth taking on the mission, thought to himself for a while. "Is anyone from the top 100 good enough?" He asked. "That should be better than what the receptionists get us." Ken nodded and said. "Then give me a day; tomorrow we will apply for the mission and get going." Darek spoke as he walked out. Ken, with the mission in hand, nodded to him and headed towards the receptionist. After a bit of waiting, he was face-to-face with a senior. "How can I help you, Junior Ken?" The senior called him by name, and Ken didn’t seem to be bothered. There was hardly anyone who didn’t know about him anymore. "I’d like to apply for this mission. Tomorrow I’ll bring the teammates." Ken spoke. He couldn’t really apply for the mission without the teammates, but he also didn’t want to go through the hassle of coming and finding out that someone picked it up already. "I’ll write your name on it." The receptionist agreed. It wasn’t the first time someone did something like this, and as long as he, the receptionist, thought that they were someone worth the hassle, he could give them the favor. Though, they rarely disagreed with anyone. They were their juniors after all. After getting his name on the mission, Ken was about to leave when a familiar face appeared in front of him. Max... and his teammates. They were all battered beyond words, and Ken, without thinking much, headed towards them. "Take this." He threw a blood pill for each of them before saying anything. "Thank you, Ken." Max, who was usually cheerful, was looking more depressed than a dog. "What happened?" Ken asked, but he did so because his eyes caught something amiss. "We failed... terribly." Max’s face twisted into a painful expression. Behind him, Lux was lifting his girlfriend, Lana, on his back, and Diana was carrying her brother, Danny. All of them were tired beyond belief, and pain couldn’t be traced out of their faces. But one person was missing... and Ken knew that it was the very reason they were so in pain, as her sole presence would have uplifted the group’s mood to the sky, and even if they failed the mission, they wouldn’t be as sad. "Did you give her a proper burial?" He asked. "Yes..." With these words, Ken nodded and, without speaking another word, helped the group get their matters done fast and sent them back to rest. Max, the one who was the most injured of the bunch, even fell unconscious at some point; even with the help of the blood pill, his injuries were far too dangerous. If this went on, he would die. But they were on the sect, and here, as long as he didn’t die, he was safe. Indeed, this world was brutal beyond words. -----End-----