Hunters Mainland.
In an unknown place.
The Vulture was looking at the unconscious mortal on the ground.
Then it looked at the guardian token in its claw,
"Unbelievable, even my full power can't affect this token.
World law, while only like a program, is indeed above all."
A certain guardian token, which went through the Vulture pressure a moment ago to be tested,
[-_-]
It didn't even know how it resisted the pressure.
It could break at any moment, but an invisible force was keeping it together.
Its new master was indeed something.
The Vulture chuckled,
"I know you are loyal to another master,
But let me take a look at your guardian law."
And a certain power tried to scan the information inside the token.
But the guardian token, in its unbreakable mode,
Was fearless!
It didn't let this unknown entity that suddenly appeared invade its privacy.
The Vulture nodded,
"Fair enough,
With world law supporting it, I can't see the information specific to the guardian.
But,
What about things that can affect me?"
And the same power tried to invade the guardian token again, but in a different way.
This time, some information was leaked.
"Oh, interesting.
So, if the mainland has a guardian,
The guardian can challenge other mainlands, and the opponent can't refuse it?"
The guardian token was shocked.
Who is this Vulture?
How could it bypass its 'security'?
The reason Guardian Mortal didn't let it be connected to any other birth treasures was this vulture?
The vulture suddenly laughed,
"And there are two ways to challenge other mainlands,
One is a best-of-5, and the other is total annihilation.
It seems even if there was a mainland guardian there, it wouldn't be a problem for me.
In that case, they are far weaker than us.
I can even annihilate all of them and win the challenge to become the new guardian myself!
This guardian token will soon be mine. Hahaha..."
The guardian token was utterly speechless.
This bird actually saw the information just because it could be affected by it?
Then it could easily see through it if it was connected to 'external objects', such as the other birth treasures.
But the Vulture wasn't done.
"Alright, now let me see if that mainland's manager knows as much as I know.
From the looks of it, that so-called 'Guardian God' was hiding everything about his enhanced birth treasure from others."
And then the Vulture's eyes started shining.
Some visible lines started coming out of the guardian token, moving towards outer space.
Even one line with a different color connected to Little Mortal on the ground.
The Vulture checked the lines and said,
"Now that's a surprise.
Until now, no other manager has been in contact with this token except me.
So that manager from the speedy mainland is completely in the dark,
And probably the only thing it knows is what was shown in the 'Guardian announcement' that those idiots caused.
Well, they were at least smart enough to send the token to us."
The Vulture threw the token away, and a passage opened for it to go in.
Then it looked at Little Nortal, who was kept turning visible and invisible.
"Even in my domain, he can turn invisible.
Such a fascinating ability.
The only reason I was on his shoulder and he couldn't see me was surely because of our levels being far apart.
A creature at level 6 can't see a creature with four levels higher.
But even so,
I can't feel his presence at all, and I can't take control over him or manipulate his mind.
If I want to use him,
With his personality, I need to be careful,
Or I will lose him before he brings me any benefits...
He might even make lots of trouble for me."
The Vulture then became silent.
It started thinking about how to treat him so that he would be completely in its claws.
This newborn's invisibility was extremely useful, and it could be utilized for many purposes.
He was the best soldier to be sent behind enemy lines.
After a while,
The vulture devised a plan.
Little mortal, who was tired of being 'unconscious', finally heard the vulture saying.
"Mortal... Wake up."
Little mortal, though, didn't react.
The sound became louder,
"Mortal... Wake up."
And an invisible aura passed through Little Mortal's body.
This time, he slowly opened his eyes, looked around, and said,
"Can you shut up?
Don't you see someone sleeping here?"
And looked around with a sleepy face.
Then his eyes locked onto a vulture.
But this Vulture didn't have any majestic aura, any crown, or a fierce look.
This version was looking miserable, weak, and on the verge of death.
Little mortal gasped,
"Who are you, dying ugly vulture?"
The Vulture in disguise almost broke character after hearing him say 'shut up' and then 'ugly' to it.
When was the last time someone talked to it like that?
Never!
But for the sake of the future, it controlled itself and said,
"It's me, don't you remember me?"
Little Mortal furrowed at first, and then said,
"Oh, it's you... Little vulture!"
The Vulture smiled when it heard the response.
The word 'lie' appeared above Little Mortal's head.
All level 10 managers were like this in their realm.
They could tell if someone lied to them.
"Yes, it's me.
The mainland spirit."
Little Mortal nodded,
"Yes, yes, I know you, little spirit."
The word 'truth' appeared above his head this time.
The Vulture was speechless.
It just introduced itself, and this newborn had already added it to his 'friend list', and his 'lie' had changed to 'truth'...
He was indeed fast to adapt!
"But why are you looking so miserable?" Asked Little Mortal.
The Vulture sighed,
"Because you failed..."
Little Mortal snorted,
"I am Mortal, the strongest! I never fail!"
Seeing the word 'truth' again,
The Vulture was at a loss.
He actually believed his own nonsense?
That he is the strongest and never fails?
"If you didn't fail, then where is Lubo?"
Little Mortal scratched his head,
"I threw it away after it ate my heart."
The Vulture, who didn't expect to receive the answer about that uncontrollable evil birth treasure's whereabouts right away, nodded,
"See, you failed to complete the Lord's mission.
And now, everyone, including me, is suffering."
Little Mortal was shocked,
"Who is Lord?
And what mission?
I don't remember anything!
And who is suffering because of me?
I didn't do anything!"
The Vulture shook its head in disappointment,
"Lord told you to unseal Lubo, so he ends the torture of your kind.
But you just threw it away?
Now look at our land.
The grassland is gone, the happy newborns are taken, and the creatures inside the universes above are all suffering... All because of you!"
Little Mortal turned paler and paler after each sentence,
"How is that possible?
You are lying!"
The Vulture smiled inside.
The newborn's weakness was starting to show itself.
So it shook its head and said with a sad tone,
"Then watch it with your own eyes."
It then waved its wing, and a scene appeared.
A beautiful garden, with small fairies flying around.
But who could see any beauty there?
From each tree, a cocoon was hanging,
And under each one, a container was placed.
At least 6 thousand of them were in this one scene.
From the cocoon, every second, a drop of blue liquid would fall into the container.
Lord was currently there too, just looking at the scene without saying or doing anything.
The fairies flying around were all avoiding him.
Their faces were pale, and they looked distressed and sad.
While Little Mortal was looking at the scene in disbelief, the Vulture said,
"See?
This is what Lord did to your kind, the newborns, after you failed your mission.
He is using them to produce liquid law.
Why do you think you thought the blue liquid in Tyrant's Tavern was sinful?
This is the reason..."
Little Mortal's face lost color!
His body started shaking, and he shouted in panic,
"W-we must save them!
We must save them now, ugly spirit!"
The Vulture smiled coldly inside.
These newborns were too easy to fool.
Just show them someone's suffering, and say they were the one who caused it, and they would do anything to compensate for the mistake that they never made.
The Vulture shook its head,
"You can see how weak I am now.
And you didn't even see what's happening inside the universes above.
Those places are even worse, and I can't stop this tragedy he is causing anymore..."
Then it looked at Little Mortal,
"But maybe you can stop his madness..."
Little Mortal jumped in front of it,
"Yes, yes!
I will do anything to stop him!"
The Vulture, who felt the 'fooling' part was done,
Was going to say something, but,
Little Mortal suddenly pointed at it and shouted,
"Wait a minute, you are lying!
I saw the garden with the fairies, but it wasn't like this at all!
And there wasn't even a single newborn there!"
The Vulture was puzzled for a moment, but then understood that he was referring to the garden from the speedy mainland, which God of Thievery controlled.
It sighed in frustration and said,
"Mortal...
You think you are still in that mainland with the grassy land?
Look around you..."
Little Mortal became puzzled.
He looked around, and the only thing he saw was rocky land.
"Where am I then? I thought the ground changed because we are in a new season..."
The Vulture sighed,
"Lords 'insiders' from the other mainland sent you back here, to your motherland.
You are in a completely different mainland now, where you were born..."
Little Mortal's eyes widened in shock,
"What are you talking about!
How could this ugly mainland be where I was born?
I didn't even see my name in the pillar here!
But I saw mine in the grassland's pillar!"
Then he pointed at the Vulture and shouted,
"You, ugly vulture, are a liar!"
The vulture that saw this silly brat suddenly start acting smart made its move.
These newborns, which were supposed to be food for Lubo, weren't registered in the hunter's mainland.
There was no point to it.
So the Vulture sent a message to the mainland, asking for Mortal to be registered.
In a moment, Mortal's name appeared at the bottom of the pillar.
Then it waved its wing, and a scene from the pillar appeared,
"I am a liar?
Then why is your name on our pillar too?"
Little Mortal frowned, looked at the top of the pillar,
And snorted,
"Where?
I can't see it!"
The Vulture that saw him looking at the top ranking of contribution, gritted its beak,
"Why are you looking at the top?
Your name is at the bottom!"
But Little Mortal puffed his cheeks and looked away,
"I am the strongest!
My name should be at the top of any pillar!
If it's not, then the pillar is fake!"
The Vulture momentarily didn't know what to do.
It knew he was lying.
The pillar in the normal mainland was based on power,
And the ones in the evil mainland are based on contribution.
So, how could he be at the top of any pillar with zero law and contribution?
But it suddenly thought of something and smiled mysteriously.
The next moment, the tall pillar suddenly moved up,
Then it rotated 180 degrees.
The creatures who saw the now-upside-down pillar were stunned.
The rumors of 'senior mortal's awakening' were now spread among everyone.
Many even saw his provocation in the sky,
Or even participated in it.
And now this?
He brought his name forcefully to first place with zero contributions?
What is he trying to prove?
We already know you are the strongest!
Can you stop it?
Now, Mortal with 0 law and 0 contribution, while upside-down, was rank first.
The Vulture pointed at the pillar with its wing,
"Look, your name is at the top.
I didn't lie, did I?"
Little Mortal looked at the pillar again,
And then tilted his head as much as he could to read his upside-down name.
Then said with surprise,
"Oh, look!
What did I tell you, stupid ugly vulture?
My name is in first place."
The stupid ugly vulture almost made a hole in his forehead out of anger!
But once again, it tried to control itself for the greater cause.
"Yes, yes, as the strongest on this mainland,
Your name should be in first place..."
Little Mortal snorted,
"Now, tell me about this 'Lord'.
Is he the same lazy brat from before?
Bring me to him, or anyone responsible for my kind's suffering, and I will splash them on the wall like paint with one move!
Problem solved!"
The Vulture shook its head while speechless.
What does he even mean by splash him on the wall?
What wall?
And the vulture itself was behind all of this,
Was he going to splash it on this nonexistent wall, too?
"No, Little Mortal, you should listen to me.
He has hostages!
He will kill them if you do that.
We need to act smart."
Little Mortal gasped,
"You are right!
I forgot about those newborns in cocoons!
We should save them first.
Do you have any plans?"
The Vulture nodded,
"After billions of years of observation, I know and have seen many things.
To save everyone, we need to act secretly!"
Little Mortal jumped up and down, shouting,
"I'm the best at acting secretly!
I'm the best at acting secretly!"
The vulture nodded; he indeed was the best.
"Yes, I know you are the best.
That's why I'm only telling 'you' about this secret plan!
You can't talk to anyone about it, or all of your kind will die!"
Little Mortal stopped jumping around and said while lowering his voice,
"Yes, yes!
I tell nobody about our secret mission!"
The Vulture nodded.
It finally fooled him and indirectly threatened him with the lives of innocent creatures.
Now he was 100% under its control!
"Listen to me, Little Mortal.
For my plan to succeed, we need a big distraction!"
Little Mortal nodded.
"And for a big distraction, we need help from another mainland."
Little Mortal nodded again.
"And there is another mainland close to us."
Little Mortal nodded for the third time,
"Yes!
The snowy mainland!"
"Exactly.
That's the 'Undeads mainland'.
An extremely dangerous place.
Until now, I didn't know how to involve them in my plan.
But now, with you here, it's possible!
You just need to do one thing for me."
"Alright, tell me about it!"
The vulture waved its wing, and thousands of small objects appeared.
They were similar, but not exactly the same as the chips from the science-based mainland that infiltrated the god of meteorites' body and main planet, trying to leak information about Little Mortal and the speedy mainland.
Little Mortal looked at them and asked,
"What are these?"
Because they weren't exactly similar,
When he asked, 'What are these?',
The word truth appeared above his head.
And the vulture answered,
"These are bombs that Lord creates to explode his enemies with!"
Little Mortal figured said excitedly,
"I know your plan!"
The Vulture acted as if it didn't expect him to be so smart and saw through its plan this easily,
"Oh really?"
Little Mortal nodded and said confidently,
"You want me to sneak into the other mainland,
And then, BOOM!
Activate the bombs,
So they think Lord attacked them!
And when they come here for revenge,
We take the hostages and run away with them!"
The Vulture 'gasped' in surprise,
"You are so smart!
That's exactly my plan.
But to activate the bomb, you need to place them in a specific formation."
Little Mortal patted his chest,
"Leave it to me!
I am a formation expert!"
"Good.
But how are you going to take them with you?"
Little Mortal scratched his head,
"In a bag?"
"You can turn yourself invisible, but what about the bag?"
Little Mortal snorted,
"You silly vulture.
My power knows no bounds!"
And then picked up one of the chips, and turned it invisible.
The silly vulture, while trying to calm its anger, asked,
"For how long?"
"More than 10 days!"
The vulture nodded.
That was more than enough for him to make the formation in a deserted place.
These chips were undetectable,
Even the Vulture found out about their existence indirectly.
After a while explaining what he needed to do there, the vulture gave him two of its feathers.
"Point the feather in the direction you want to go.
And say 'I want to go there',
It will take you to the location you are pointing at.
However, remember that it will only be activated by your voice.
Use one to get there, and use one to come back."
Little Mortal nodded.
Then the vulture waved its wings, and a silver ring appeared.
"Put this around your neck.
It helps you stay warm in that cold mainland."
Little Mortal received the silver ring happily,
"So considerate?"
And tried to put it on.
When the big ring reached around his neck,
It tightened.
Now he couldn't take it off anymore.
The vulture nodded.
Everything was done perfectly.
Even if he ran away for whatever reason, it could detonate the ring and blow him up for good.
The explosion would be big enough too, so it could later locate his remains using the special signal.
But it didn't risk activating its tracking device.
Morthyxis, the undead manager from the other mainland, could sense it in a moment.
After a while, Little Mortal, while pointing with one of his two feathers at the other mainland, said as his figure disappeared,
"Alright, silly stupid ugly vulture,
I'm leaving!"
The vulture almost kicked him to the afterlife,
But it controlled itself for one last time!
Then it heard his voice coming from where he had disappeared,
"I want to go there."
And that was it.
No more sound, no presence, and nothing after that.
Even now, the vulture was amazed at how good his ability was.
But while anticipating the future, it was indeed annoyed.
It could see him lying or telling the truth the whole time.
So it knew he was lying when he pretended not to know he was on another mainland.
However, it played along with his ridiculous act, as it was necessary to achieve its goal, because he didn't lie about important things.
Like the current location of Lubo, which he said was thrown away after it ate his heart.
So, Lubo's fate was clear to it.
It knew Lubo ate his heart, and he threw it away in fear before hiding from it.
After that, Lubo lost the ability to absorb any law, and later, in the process of sacrificing his universe, Mortal sacrificed Lubo without his own knowledge alongside the universe.
And most importantly, the secret mission he had accepted, he would now do honestly, based on the promise he had given.
The vulture went into deep thought.
With the Undead Mainland beside them,
There was no way to devour that speedy mainland.
And even worse, the 'level 2 civilization' was after them, too.
If they got into a fight, they would also catch up with them.
What could they do in a three-way fight?
It was hard to predict the outcome.
But with those chips, if this troublemaker didn't mess up, a portal would be open from the undead's side to the level 2 civilization mainland, causing chaos there and allowing them to shake them off their tail.
The Vulture turned back to its original magnificent form, its crown appeared on its head, and it muttered,
"Should I thank that stupid 'Lord' for the chips?"
Then he laughed mockingly,
"The fate of level 2 civilization mainlands is the exact reason why higher beings don't want their universe to be too advanced when it comes to science.
It's possible for the creatures of any advanced universe to even take over their mainland...
After so many years, I still can't figure out how normal creatures can infiltrate mainlands that they aren't supposed to have the ability to enter, with a level lower than 6!"
Then, as if it felt something, its head turned towards the sky, and its eyes zoomed in.
On the surface of the Undead Mainland, a big hole appeared.
As if a meteorite just crashed over there.
A group of skeleton creatures was surrounding the place, looking around in puzzlement.
The vulture chuckled,
"Don't disappoint me, little one."
And its figure disappeared.
.....
Undead Mainland.
In deep snow and the cold weather, Little Mortal was sitting in a random place, writing something in his notebook with trembling hands.
[ Behind the enemy line quests. ]
- Prove to the vulture that I'm weak but useful ✓
- Force the vulture to threaten me with the newborns ✓
- Find the fairy's land ( hidden quest unlocked )
- Find the newborns ( hidden quest unlocked )
- Rescue the newborns
- Transfer the fairy's land. (If I don't do this, everybody dies.)
- Reach our side in time to start the script
- become the mainland guardian before the hunter mainland arrives
------
[ 50% extra mission reward ]
1. Covering up the operation without being exposed
2. Become the mainland guardian without anyone's notice ( promote to mainland secret guardian. )
-------
Hidden quests unlocked :
1. Follow the lazy guy to find the garden and the hostages.
2. Make the formation with the chips for the stupid vulture.
3. Investigate the Undead Mainland.
4. Investigate how these chips ended up with the stupid vulture.]
When he was done changing the quests based on the new developments, he put the notebook away.
His handwriting was a mess due to his trembling hand.
From his gritted teeth and cold eyes,
It was evident that he wasn't trembling because it was cold, but because he was angry.
He looked at his small, shivering hands and muttered,
"What's the point of being the strongest with such a weakness that everyone knows and abuses as they like?"
After a deep breath, he picked up the big bag beside him and left while mumbling,
"My fellow living beings,
Bear with it just a while longer,
Soon I will end your suffering...
Soon I will change everything..."
The crystal and notebook showed no reaction.
It was their first time seeing him being threatened like this, and they didn't know if he was acting when dealing with that vulture,
Or if that ugly vulture was abusing the newborn's weakness, and he didn't have any other choice but to obey whatever it ordered him to do.
Even they, who were with him most of the time, didn't know when he was acting and when he was serious...
Either way, their journey in the Undead Mainland had begun.
Little Mortal, on his way to find a deserted place, occasionally saw skeleton creatures passing by.
Most of them were going towards his landing place.
It seemed that when he tried to show the vulture that he was really left and arrived here, he alerted the undead.
But he didn't have any other way to bring the vulture's guard down except by letting it know he was already gone.
Examining the skeletons, Little Mortal noticed that some of them were unique.
They had ice armor, an ice sword, a halberd, or other weapons, with a blue, flickering light in their eyes, and they seemed to be a lot more impressive than the others.
And there was even a skeleton of an enormous creature that seemed to be a phoenix before turning to its current form,
flying around a big castle far away that suddenly flew towards Little Mortal's landing site as if it received an order.
Little Mortal, though, didn't care about any of them.
He just walked farther and farther away to find a suitable place without anyone around.
After 2 days, he finally found a good spot.
And a day after that, with all of his clumsiness,
He accomplished the vulture's task.
He then pointed at the chips,
"Look, that's how scary those science-based creatures are!
I'm not trying to hide those chips, but even so,
No one on this mainland can detect them."
Seeing him finally back to normal,
The crystal vibrated.
"Yeah, it was the mainland manager.
But that stupid vulture seems to be in trouble.
The last time I came here, this snowy mainland wasn't around.
I wonder what happened that allowed these undead to catch up with the Hunters."
The crystal vibrated,
Little Mortal gritted his teeth in anger,
"Little crystal!
I am the messenger of luck!
What do you mean by bad luck?
I even have a lucky coin!
Oh, by the way,
Can you send the law you are recording here back to your main crystal?"
Little Mortal nodded,
"One week here is around 17 hours on our side.
Big sister will be surprised to feel the emotion of so many level 7s.
By the way, how long have we been here?"
"Alright, we have another 156 days left before the Outsiders are ready.
We should do another secret quest while we are here."
I mean the same way as the Lord.>
It was referring to the time lord used a private message to find him.
Little Mortal rolled his eyes,
"Little crystal, don't be silly.
That's my divine technique, Judgment by Communication ability.
I used it so that the stupid vulture thinks there is a way to find me.
Would it ever trust me to lurk around its mainland if there was no way for it to find me?
These level 10 creatures can even tell if you lie to them.
So I used its lie-detector to deceive it even more.
And let me tell you,
If I weren't there, you couldn't even see it.
Like that Lord guy,
The vulture is most of the time on his shoulder,
But I'm pretty sure he never saw it even once,
And only the feeling of it being on his shoulder is there."
The crystal and notebook were speechless.
Why is he more like a judge than the god of judgment when it comes to using judgment techniques?
And is he smart or not?
His seemingly silly acts and mistakes always turn out to be actions with hidden goals to mislead others.
And those level 10 creatures should be really scary if this little monster wasn't around, right?
The crystal asked curiously,
If you weren't at the door, no one could see that underworld lady on fire with scary horns?>
"Exactly!
And she is my partner now, you can call her Queen Lilith."
The crystal felt better.
That scary lady was in their team now!
It knew that even if she denied that Little Mortal was her partner, she would eventually be forced to accept it.
The journey continued.
While discussing the new development that happened in their 'behind the enemy line' mission,
Little Mortal and his two companions walked towards the place with the black castle that a phoenix was circling.
On his way, Little Mortal took out the second feather the vulture gave him and placed it on the ground with its tip targeting the Hunters mainland,
"Little crystal, leave my recorded voice here with the feather so that you can activate it later."
< Done.>
After another 2 days, they reached the big castle,
With walls hundreds of meters tall.
It seemed the castle had moved from its former location and was now in a new place.
Seeing the castle, Little Mortal went to the gate and sat down there before saying,
"Radio silence."
The crystal and notebook knew they were close to a place with a level 10 boss, and they needed to be quiet.
After hours of waiting,
Little Mortal suddenly looked towards the sky.
A figure appeared on the horizon that he was the only one who could see.
No one, not even the big skeleton phoenix, felt the arrival of the newcomer.
Little Mortal looked at the other party with interest.
She was a woman.
Or at least in the past she was.
Now she was a skeleton, but different from other undead.
Her bones were made of ice, and from the delicate form, it was clear that it had once been a woman's skeleton.
On her head was an ice crown, and in her hand was an ice staff with a crystal skull at its top.
A black and ominous aura surrounded her, creating a robe-like effect that covered her body.
But you could clearly see a glowing ice heart beating inside her chest with a crack across it.
Her eyes were exactly like those of special skeletons with armor and weapons,
A blue, flickering light, like fire, was emitting a ghastly glow inside them.
The lady landed gently in front of the gate, just a step away from Little Mortal, who was looking at her curiously.
It was at this moment that the crystal and notebook suddenly saw her appear.
The gate slightly opened, and the two walked in.
The crystal was speechless.
It seemed the task to investigate the Undead Mainland had begun with following its level 10 final boss.
The crystal was at a loss for words.
They just arrived here one week ago, and it has already recorded so many unbelievable things.
Little Mortal started his castle tour with the level 10 undead boss as his tour guide.
The skeleton lady walked slowly in a specific direction.
The ground under her feet kept freezing, leaving a blue ice trail behind.
On her path, Little Mortal saw many frozen skeletons in different places in the castle.
No one could tell how long they had been frozen.
But either way, not a single living creature could be found here.
Only silence and coldness.
The skeleton lady continued until she arrived at a big open area filled with trees.
But even the trees were covered in ice, as though frozen in time.
At the center of this frozen garden was a simple rocking chair.
The skeleton lady walked to the chair and sat down, then gently leaned back.
As if this were the most comfortable chair that she had ever sat on.
Little Mortal stood beside her in silence.
The flickering blue light in the skeleton's eyes turned dimmer and dimmer as time passed, until with a sound of *sigh*, it was completely gone.
It was as though the *sigh* was a breeze to put out the cold fire in her eyes.
The atmosphere and the world around them suddenly changed.
Little Mortal's eyes widened in shock when he saw the changes!
The frozen trees came to life!
The sound of birds singing echoed through the garden.
A family with five children, and the sound of their laughter and happy conversations appeared not far away.
And finally,
The skeleton lady on the rocking chair changed to an old lady with a warm smile and kind face,
Watching the scene of a happy family unfolding before her, while swaying on her chair gently...
Little Mortal's Group,
"O_O"