"Hidden Task ———— Different Future · Complete"
"Explanation: The linear future has been disrupted, the future of humans and Ghouls has been merged ahead of time, the speed of the world's advancement has been accelerated, and the possibilities of the future have increased"
"Task Reward: World Fragment X1; World's Blessing X1"
When Lancer returned to that familiar line world again, unexpected information appeared before his eyes.
Hidden Task? Different future?
Lancer first reaction was confusion, after all, he didn't see this 'hint' when he left the 'Empire' before.
But thinking about it carefully, it didn't seem strange, after all, when he was in the Empire, at most he only affected the Empire and the surrounding foreign races. As far as Lancer knew, there were several countries around, and according to the 'original world line', although countless people would be sacrificed, the country that reappeared in the end would grow again.
Perhaps it was a massive upheaval for the Empire, but the impact on the whole world was not as great as Lancer imagined. Conversely, the influence in the CCG before was greater, after all, the Ghoul race is spread all over the world.
With this thought, he stopped dwelling on this 'Hidden Task'. After all, according to its description, it seems there is a chance to complete it in every world, but the cost required to complete it is really too much, and he doesn't intend to force it, unless...
After silently clenching his fist, he also took a deep breath before continuing to look down.
"World Fragment: A fragment of the world under the Wheel of Fortune, Method of use ———— ???"
"World's Blessing: Different worlds will grant different blessings. The blessing obtained in this world ———— 'Shrike'."
"'Shrike': The day the shrike circles is the day of death (Easier to discover the enemy's weak points)"
The World Fragment was a strange polyhedron in the 'System', and just like the description full of question marks, Lancer had no idea what it was. However, the other item was a great surprise to Lancer; this 'Blessing' could be said to be very suitable for his fighting style.
However, when he was overjoyed and prepared to start traveling again in search of a way for Ryoko and Akira to stay by his side, he discovered that there was actually a message that had been scrolled away by the hidden task. He naturally clicked on it curiously to read it, and then ——————
"MMP ah!!"
"Received World Recognized Title 'Associate Special Class Investigator · Shrike' Reward: 5000 points"
"Received World Recognized Title 'CCG's Stud' Reward: 2000 points"
——————
Once unfamiliar, twice familiar. This was not the first time Lancer had traveled across worlds. Before entering the 'Task World', he directly activated 'Transfiguration'. After all, he didn't know what world he would appear in. Modern? Middle Ages? Another world? No matter which world it was, a raven would at least not be too abrupt.
"Countdown ends, task starts, main quest announced: Survive in the plot world for 360 days"
The so-called main quest was as usual. However, looking at the forest around him that was clearly not affected by modernization, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. In an environment like this, the raven he turned into would be even less abrupt.
However, he didn't feel completely at ease because of this. After all, he didn't know if it was arranged by the 'System', but every time in order to quickly integrate into the world or the 'plot', he would always encounter some strange things or people after arriving in a new world.
But the strange thing was that even when he turned into a raven and was almost asleep on the treetop, nothing seemed to change around him. Besides the sound of insects and the wind, did it seem like there were no small animals either?
'Could it be that this time I finally had a change of luck?'
With this thought, Lancer flapped his wings and flew into the distance. At first, Lancer was quite excited. After all, he had been shuttling between skyscrapers before, and he hadn't purely tried flying in the woods.
But novelty is fleeting. Soon, he started to feel bored. After all, he wasn't a real raven, and he didn't need to look for food, and unlike when he was in the city before, he could sometimes see a bathroom... cough cough.
In short, Lancer started to get bored while flying, especially when there wasn't even a single person in sight. Lancer even suspected that this world might have suffered a biochemical crisis/world war/Chuunibyou's destruction of the world or something, causing humanity to become extinct.
But just when he was considering whether he should just call Tiger and the others out together, he heard an extremely faint cry for help.
'Someone?!'
Suddenly flapping his wings, Lancer accelerated towards the direction of the cry for help. And the closer he got to the destination, the more strange sounds there were. Among them were not only cries for help but also the sound of weapons clashing.
'Could it be a battlefield?'
With this thought, Lancer finally saw his destination: a very luxurious carriage. However, at this moment, the luxurious carriage was already somewhat broken. A middle-aged man in complicated attire was standing nervously behind a group of guards, and in front of those guards holding katanas were not assassins, but a group of... Youkai?
And based on the Youkai corpses scattered everywhere and the several dead guards, it could be known that the man's identity was definitely not low.
Lancer thought about turning around and leaving for a moment, because he had encountered similar scenes before, and the man who had a good relationship with him later gradually drifted away from him because of his identity, until the two completely broke up, and he didn't even look at the other person again.
But just in the instant Lancer hesitated, another guard was pierced through the heart by one of the Youkai.
Lancer originally conflicted expression froze suddenly, and then he instantly lifted the Transfiguration spell and at the same time opened the black briefcase he was holding in his right hand.
"Zero!"
Lancer didn't need to do it himself. The Quinque in the briefcase immediately activated and transformed into a black spear, which sprang into Lancer hand.
When did saving people require considering so much?
After a self-mocking sigh, the ground under Lancer feet instantly cracked, and he himself disappeared like an arrow shot from a bow. When his figure reappeared, it was already near the destroyed carriage.
"Puchi~!"
The Youkai who had just killed a samurai and was gloating never expected that an attacker would appear behind him. He trembled as he looked at the black spear in his chest, attempting to pull it out. But just as his hand reached halfway, he felt his vision go black, a pain in his back, and then completely lost consciousness.
After noticing the 'points' credited, Lancer stopped paying attention to the Youkai that had been dealt with, but instead held his spear horizontally, indicating his stance. As for the few samurai who were originally a little wary of Lancer, they subconsciously stood behind Lancer.
Although they still couldn't be sure whether Lancer was friend or foe, at least they had time to catch their breath...