Chapter 1042 The Missing Links
Izroth evaded another one of the shadahi's attacks as he slashed down with his sword.
At the same time, a wave of destructive lightning elements exploded from his Sword of the Storm and spread out within a 25-meter radius from his position. This was the result of one of the effects attached to his sword, Destructive Aftermath.
Bzzzt!
As the wave of destruction carried forth, it paralyzed the Lesser Shadahi Patrollers it came into contact with and temporarily sealed their actions.
'Hm?'
Izroth's gaze shifted to an area located not too far away from the coffin.
'Strange, I'm certain that there was nothing there before. Was it affected by Destructive Aftermath?'
Although it was only for a split second, Izroth detected something with his Spatial Awareness and Energy Vision Sense skills. It appeared to be some kind of rupture in space; however, if that were the case, the rupture itself would not have been so stable and well concealed.
Furthermore, there was something else that bothered Izroth.
'The mana and energy in the atmosphere are being pulled into the coffin. That spatial fracture I detected also had a close link to the coffin itself and seems to be a part of it. It's almost as if the coffin and the spatial fracture are feeding off our fight against the shadahis in this place. But, even if that's true, it's not like we can stay our hand under these circumstances.'
So far, there were no signs of an exit inside the chamber. Additionally, the corridor they came through was no longer there. At this point, Izroth believed that it was entirely possible that the only way out was to stop the Night Lord Zarolas' revival.
As for the spatial fracture he detected, Izroth sensed an ominous aura that made him nearly certain that it was not a way out. Unfortunately, it emerged and vanished so fast that he could not get a solid grasp of what it could potentially be. Nonetheless, he did not have a good feeling about it.
'I have to confirm it.'
Just as that thought crossed Izroth's mind, the shadahis paralyzed by his Destructive Aftermath broke free of their status effects.
Suddenly, Izroth felt a force of suppression lock him in place. The next moment, a demonic purple claw of dark energy shot out from the hand of a Lesser Shadahi Patroller and was on a direct collision course with Izroth.
〈Battle Alert: Player Izroth has been targeted by «Lesser Shadahi Patroller»'s «Grasp of the Nether»!〉
«Immune»
Izroth instantly broke free of the Lesser Shadahi Patroller's attempt to pull him toward itself using the Grasp of the Nether as the force of suppression around him disappeared and the demonic claw dispersed.
The Lesser Shadahi Patroller who targeted Izroth looked confused and thrown off by the fact that Izroth had not budged from his spot.
'I thought that skill would still be a little troublesome to handle; however, it looks like the Greater Physique passive of my Heavenly Golden Body is able to resist its pull.'
The Greater Physique passive made it so that Izroth could ignore all crowd control effects from skills B-rank or lower. That, paired with the increased recovery rate of negative effects provided by his Might stat made it difficult for Izroth to fall prey to crowd control skills.
Izroth took advantage of the shadahis fleeting state of confusion. He triggered the active effect of his Light Feather Footwork and gained a large temporary burst of movement speed.
The three shadahis wasted no time giving chase to Izroth as he skillfully leaped several meters over the coffin with a frontal slip.
'If it's destructive lightning element that reveals it, then...'
As he was mid-air over the coffin, Izroth returned his Sword of the Storm to its sheath and tightened his grip on the handle.
'Third Sword Form...'
Bzzzt...! Crcccckle!
As Izroth's body straightened out on his way down, a blinding flash appeared as he unsheathed his sword at a frightening speed in a downward swinging motion.
'Collapsing Thunder.'
...BOOOM! Clap!
The sound of an ear-piercing thunderclap rang throughout the chambers as a bolt of lightning struck down from above, striking the ground that Izroth's sword impacted.
During the small window of time when his sword first hit the ground and the bolt of lightning hit, Izroth noticed tiny ripples in the space right at the area above where he executed his Third Sword Form: Collapsing Thunder.
'There.'
Izroth used the skill Deep Insight the instant the spatial rupture revealed itself through his Spatial Awareness.
〈System Alert: [1] Flaw has been discovered in «Unknown Spatial Rift»!〉
〈System Alert: Flaw [1]: This spatial rift is not yet fully formed, making safe passage through it virtually impossible and will likely result in those who pass through it being forever lost in the (redacted).〉
When the spatial rupture materialized, Izroth could see that the rift was covered by a thick layer of what appeared to be red clouds.
'It's just as I thought... So there really was a spatial rift hidden away deep inside the Night Lord's Crypt. The question is, does it lead to "that" place?'
Out of nowhere, Izroth sensed an overwhelming aura coming from within the spatial rift. At the same time, the red clouds that obstructed the view into the rift began to part.
'That's...'
When Izroth witnessed what was on the other side of the spatial rift, the final pieces started to fall into place.
What came into Izroth's view was a sea of shadahi that easily numbered in the hundreds of thousands! And, at the center of that massive crowd was a terrifying presence.
That presence reminded Izroth of the shadahi he encountered in the Shadahi Realm that was bound to a throne by chains, Syxirius. However, this one was different from Syxirius in that its body was bound by chains to a huge stone-like pillar and it appeared to be in a deep state of rest.
Without warning, the eyes of that existence shot open as its gaze seemed to peer through the realms and stare right at Izroth!
Zeeeut!
In the blink of an eye, the red clouds rushed to obstruct the view as the spatial rift once again concealed itself.
'That's not a force meant to assist—it's an invasion force. Is it the same for the other rift that's in Tempest? If spatial rifts have emerged in Tempest and Malentansium, there's no guarantee that there aren't more out there that we're not aware of. It's no wonder the destruction I saw in the future was so bad. Commander Ekquilore must have been sent here in advance to act as a distraction. If all the attention is drawn to stopping more gateway rituals, there's a good chance these types of concealed spatial rifts will go completely undetected. Then, Robinarzin escaping from Tempest and revealing the information of the rift to the Shadahi Realm there... Did they allow it to happen intentionally to make the allied forces believe that it was the only one?'
The relationship between the kingdoms of Tempest and Malentansium had never been so close and amicable that the two would form an alliance with one another.
Sure, the two had a few trading deals in the past, but nothing so grand that they would be mistaken for close allies.
However, if there was a third party that connected the two kingdoms, it all started to make sense.
'Since the skounae worship the Netherworld Monarch, they would never work with the shadahi without approval from the Netherworld side. However, it still doesn't explain why a being like the Netherworld Monarch is willing to work with the shadahi. Is it simply for the purpose of causing as much chaos in the Mortal Realm as possible?'
For reasons largely unknown, the Netherworld Monarch longed for the destruction of the Mortal Realm, causing the Nether Realm to be life-and-death enemies with the Mortal Realm.
Izroth had to admit that using the shadahi as a weapon to do so was certainly a great way of bringing about destruction on a large scale throughout the Mortal Realm. But, why would the Netherworld Monarch risk the release of the eternal darkness, or rather the eternal chaos, that was sealed away within the Mortal Realm?
The eternal chaos was the first shadahi—an unfathomable creature brought into existence by the Timeless Chaos Pool. It was an entity from which all other shadahi originated. It was also possibly the greatest threat to ever exist beneath the firmament for the undying Netherworld Monarch.
From what Izroth could tell, the main difference between the two was that, while the Netherworld Monarch sought the annihilation of the Mortal Realm, the eternal chaos only desired to consume without reason until there was nothing left.
'Is the Netherworld Monarch that confident in his strength that it doesn't matter whether or not the eternal chaos is freed in his eyes?'
The eternal chaos was an existence that forced those in the Divine Realm to interfere with matters below the firmament. The price for such interference could not have been cheap. This was even more so considering that something as simple as direct communication with those outside the Divine Realm required a hefty price. Otherwise, Tal'Nis would have been able to directly contact her descendants in the Mortal Realm long ago.