Journey to Planar World

Under their gazes, the book floating in the air began to transform.

Slowly, its form became more menacing—a horrifying face formed along its spine and cover, with sharp teeth, a long protruding tongue, and bulging eyes that seemed to be alive.

"Fresh blood, huh..." The book spoke in a raspy voice, full of mockery, and glanced at each of the Saviors present.

Among the Saviors, only Claire, Thomas, and Elena felt intimidated at the sight of the creepy book. On the other hand, Charlie and the others had experienced things ordinary people would never encounter, so their mental fortitude kept them calm.

"Don't worry, this is just a copy of the artifact called Apocalypse from the Undead Unluck series. Its purpose is to provide Quests, as well as set rewards and penalties for you."

Assessing everyone's reaction, Gaia smiled brightly. At least, there were only three scaredy-cats among them, and both were Alaya's chosen Saviors.

Alaya: "😐"

Sensing Gaia's thoughts, she stared at the three of them coldly.

Thomas, who still looked gloomy, looked up slightly.

"Rewards?" He asked with sparkling eyes, hope implied in his voice.

Although there were extraordinary martial arts and magic in the Overlord World, Thomas knew that threats could come at any time with the presence of Ainz Ooal Gown. With the Kirigaya Kazuto template, he had recently been practicing swordsmanship and found he was very talented. He suspected his swordsmanship talent was inherent in his template.

Even so, Thomas was an ordinary high school student in his previous life, how could he possibly endure such strenuous training?

Now that there was a shortcut to becoming strong, he wouldn't miss it!

"..."

Gaia smiled widely while patting her chest.

"Of course there are rewards! We're not a black company, you know? The three people with the best performance will be given additional items or abilities as they wish, while the rest will receive random rewards."

However, her smile disappeared as she continued.

"As for penalties, it depends on the Quest itself. If you fail, the consequences can be very serious."

Before Thomas could ask further, Alaya's cold voice interrupted.

"Enough talk, Gaia. Apocalypse, begin."

Apocalypse chuckled with a voice that made one's hair stand on end.

"With pleasure, Master Alaya."

Then, Apocalypse opened, and four pages of paper detached from it, floating in the air. The writing on each page seemed to glow, emitting a terrifying aura that made everyone hold their breath.

Apocalypse grinned as it read the Quest description in a dramatic tone.

"Quest 1: Protect the protagonist and heroine from the Aho Girl world.

Abyssal Devourer: Parasite Type.

Penalty: Loss of one random organ.

Recommended participants: 3."

"Quest 2: Protect the protagonist and heroine from the Gotoubun no Hanayome world.

Abyssal Devourer: Summoner Type.

Penalty: Reduction of five years of life.

Recommended participants: 7."

"Quest 3: Protect the protagonist and heroine from the Gimai Seikatsu world.

Abyssal Devourer: Parasite Type.

Penalty: Removal of one random passive ability.

Recommended participants: 3."

"Quest 4: Protect the protagonist and heroine from the Golden Time world.

Abyssal Devourer: Shapeshifter Type.

Penalty: Reduction of five years of life.

Recommended participants: 5."

Apocalypse spoke in a deafening voice, then grinned wickedly.

"Now, choose! I can't wait to see how many people come back alive."

"..."

A chilling aura enveloped the room. The Saviors looked at each other, trying to assess which option made the most sense. However, they all knew: Quest 2 and Quest 4 were the most dangerous. The number of recommended participants indicated the threat level of the Abyssal Devourer present.

'Most likely I will run Quest 2 or 4. After all, I am the strongest right now. So, it's normal for me to take the difficult Quest.'

Even without turning around, Charlie could already feel the faint stares of those around him, as if they were implying something.

"Gaia, tell us more about the Abyssal Devourer." Wang Jian boldly asked.

Information was always an important aspect of war. He knew that very well.

"Sure, Wang Jian. Abyssal Devourers are divided into several types. Understanding this classification is key to your survival, especially when facing stronger enemies."

Looking at them one by one, Gaia made sure all attention was focused on her, before continuing.

"First, the Summoner Type. Their ability is to summon replicas of characters from anime. Usually, they summon villains that match their destructive nature. However, there are limitations: they can only summon up to five characters, each summoning has a three-day cooldown, and after the five summoned creatures are defeated, their location will be automatically revealed. Normally, the Summoner's location will not be known before defeating their five summoned creatures."

"Second, the Parasite Type. Their ability is to control others. They can enter human bodies and use their host bodies as puppets. They can control a maximum of five hosts at once, as long as you kill all their hosts, then the Parasite Type Abyssal Devourer will also die."

"Third, the Shapeshifter Type. These creatures are masters of perfect disguise. They can imitate anyone, from appearance, gender, to aura and scent. They can even imitate the personality and memories of their target. In many cases, they often roam among humans undetected, even by experienced Saviors."

Oscar raised an eyebrow and said with a frown, "Doesn't that mean we don't know who we can trust?"

"Exactly. Therefore, you must be careful." Gaia smiled thinly.

The Saviors began to feel uneasy, especially those who felt they didn't have strong detection abilities.

Gaia continued in a more serious tone.

"Fourth, the Assassin Type. This type of Abyssal Devourer is a pure killer. They are able to completely hide their presence, making them almost impossible to detect. If they fail to launch an attack, they are very good at escaping, so it is often difficult to completely eliminate them. In the first and second cycle, the majority of Saviors failed to protect their targets when facing the Assassin Type Abyssal Devourer."

"Fifth, the Concept Type...."

Pausing for a moment, her voice became heavier.

"This type of Abyssal Devourer is one of the most abstract and difficult to deal with. They can manifest abstract concepts. For example, the Concept Type Abyssal Devourer that manifests the season of Autumn. The power of Autumn to turn people into books."

"Finally, the Phenomenon Type. Their ability is to manifest physical phenomena. I'll give another example, the Abyssal Devourer that manifests the phenomenon of decay has the power to cause any organic material that enters its radius to rot at will."

Finishing her explanation, Gaia folded her arms across her chest and looked at the Saviors.

"Now you know the types of Abyssal Devourer that you might face. Use this information wisely to make the right choices. Ignoring it will only bring destruction to you all."

Apocalypse laughed eerily, interrupting the serious moment.

"What good is knowledge if you're all going to die in the end? Even the Saviors in the first and second cycle failed. Especially since you're only ten people. HA HA HA..."

"..."

Ignoring Apocalypse's mockery, everyone's expressions seemed heavy.

'There isn't a single type that is easy to deal with. Especially the Concept Type and the Phenomenon Type, that's outrageous.'

Even Charlie wasn't confident. It was imaginable what the other Saviors' moods were like, especially those whose templates were just ordinary people.