Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

"It's better to do it sooner rather than later, to avoid any complaints."

Justin decided to follow Zachary's advice after observing the atmosphere in the territory over the past two days.

"From now on, I'll stop speaking politely. Is that alright?"

"Of course, my lord," Zachary replied with a smile, as if this response felt more refreshing.

"It seems there's something else I need to address regarding the power structure. I'll call the other pioneers right away."

"Please do."

Watching Zachary quickly head outside, Justin let out a small chuckle. He was truly becoming a medieval lord now, and the feeling wasn't entirely unpleasant.

Zachary was right. Even after Justin changed to speaking informally, there were no complaints. Not only Rachel and the other pioneers, but also Zachary and his companions accepted the change without objection. Even Ethan, who had always been addressed respectfully, had no complaints.

"I feel much more comfortable now. Honestly, I was uncomfortable being the only one addressed formally."

"Uncomfortable? Why?"

"People often mistook me for the real leader."

Because Justin treated others bluntly while being respectful only to him, many people assumed Ethan was the leader. Although Ethan denied it each time, he seemed uncomfortable with the situation. There was a risk of being isolated from his teammates if his companions misunderstood.

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As a result, Ethan welcomed the change, rather than being angry about the shift in Justin's tone. After this incident, the other pioneers became even more cautious in Justin's presence, reaffirming his authority.

"Not bad."

If this atmosphere continued, new pioneers would naturally fall in line. It was a perfect change in terms of preventing conflicts in advance. Personally, Justin also found it quite satisfying.

With the issue of titles resolved, they continued their hunt for gnolls. However, this time, their team had an additional member.

"Hyaah!"

With a fierce shout, Rachel struck a gnoll. The gnoll screamed and was knocked back but did not die instantly.

"Stay alert! Don't get greedy for finishing strikes!" Justin ordered.

"I know!" Rachel replied.

The conversation had barely ended when another gnoll rushed at her. Having already anticipated it, Rachel easily blocked with her shield. Meanwhile, two other gnolls tried to attack her from behind. Justin pointed a finger at one of them.

"Black Missile."

With a thud, one gnoll's head flew off without a sound, while the other was pierced by an arrow shot from the side. The final gnoll, which had been waiting for an opportunity, was already sent flying by Derek.

Rachel finished off the gnoll she had blocked with her shield, then dealt with the struggling one before letting out a sigh.

"Whew! I'm getting quite used to this hunt now."

"Your movements are getting better. But your firepower still needs work."

"That's because of my level. At this rate, I should be leveling up soon," Rachel replied with a smile.

In just two weeks, Rachel had gone from level 9 to level 16. If they had focused solely on leveling up, she could have reached level 19, but they hunted more slowly to adjust to the new team dynamics.

"I'm glad Rachel is here. With three in the front and two in the back, we've got a perfectly balanced small party," Ethan said.

"True enough," Justin nodded.

After all, he had deliberately chosen Rachel as a companion, despite her lower level, to complete this balanced party. Even though her current level limited her firepower, her combat sense was impeccable. Once her level matched theirs, she would undoubtedly become a crucial part of their fighting force.

"Speaking of levels, when are we going to level up?" Derek grumbled while shaking off his mace. It had been a week since their levels had stagnated.

"This is getting ridiculous. Even though our recent hunts haven't been very intense, we've still taken down so many!"

"Enough, I'm at level 21 now. Be content with having reached level 20," Justin replied.

Thanks to their relentless hunt of gnolls, everyone except Rachel had reached level 20. Back then, they had all been overjoyed—especially with the new skills and the sense of increased strength.

The problem was that there had been no progress since then. Even Justin himself had only managed to gain one level after taking down the gnoll warrior.

"We want to move to a new hunting ground, but there's nowhere to go!" Derek complained.

"Exactly! Why is there no path leading elsewhere?" Nathan chimed in.

They had once spent considerable time searching for another hunting ground, but despite wandering until nearly sunset, they found nothing. Other than their territory, the previous territory, and the circular gnoll habitat, everything else was dense forest that was impossible to enter.

"Maybe it's because we're too far ahead."

"Too far ahead?" Nathan asked.

"You saw the gnoll warrior, right? Honestly, if I hadn't been there, who could have taken it down? It's the kind of monster that would need a much higher level and a group effort to defeat."

The system probably intended to grow the pioneers through a series of step-by-step trials. If everything were left open, people might wander into dangerous areas without realizing the risks and end up dead. When enough people had defeated the field boss, the system would have likely opened a new area with a new quest.

The problem was that they had taken down the field boss too early.

"Maybe the system was caught off guard. It probably expected it to take much longer, but we took it down before it even had a chance to appear properly. It couldn't have opened a quest just for us either."

This was merely Justin's speculation, but it wasn't far from the truth. So far, quests had always been given to everyone simultaneously once a certain time had been reached. This time was likely no different, which is why they couldn't get the next quest in advance.

"But it's been over two weeks now. Shouldn't it be opening soon?" Derek asked.

"True. By now, they should have had enough time to reach the level to challenge the field boss."

By now, those willing to take on the quest would have at least tried hunting once. Since it wasn't a quest that could be retried after failure, the results should be in by now.

Just then, as they were talking, a system message reached their ears.

"Ding ! It has been two weeks since the field boss appeared."

"Ding ! The sub-quest 'Field Boss Hunt' is being removed due to time expiration."

"Ding ! The main quest 'Dungeon Conquest' has been newly added."