Aelaza had a cautious expression on her face. This was the first time she witnessed anything like the spectacle currently before her. It all started with a brilliant light that originated from Izroth's position, therefore, whatever was going on most likely had something to do with him.
But, what was even more shocking to her was the streak of purple lightning that collided head-on with the floating object. Although she had never seen that kind of attack before, it still felt vaguely familiar to something she had caught sight in the past. However, compared to what she witnessed in the past, that streak of purple lightning was countless times more powerful and domineering.
Izroth noticed that Aelaza's attention seemed to be focused on the clash going on that was collapsing the surrounding space. From the questioning and cautious look on her face, as well as, the words she had just recently spoken, Izroth understood that she had no knowledge of what was going on. This time, it was not her simply acting either. That cautious expression was definitely genuine.
The dark energy being emitted from that streak of purple lightning reminded Izroth of the corrupted energy that belonged to the Shadahi. However, there was a very distinct difference between the two energies that set them apart from one another.
If the corrupted Shadahi energy could be described as wretched and tainted, then the dark energy fighting off Zhi's Medallion could be considered as being domineering and soaked in death.
'Whatever's going on, it appears to be working in my favor.'
By that Izroth meant the destruction of the surrounding space. At the current rate of decay, he predicted that in less than one minute, he would no longer be trapped in this place. But, he still did not know where he would end up after that happened. After all, spatial magic could become very unpredictable and unstable when influenced too much by an outside force.
Izroth pressed on with his attack as he closed in on Aelaza's location. Once he arrived within attack range, a rain of palms descended down upon Aelaza.
Aelaza reacted without hesitation and the moment Izroth's palms descended upon her body, she turned into a cloud of black smoke. Her technique was very similar to the skill Azalea's used to avoid his attacks during their original fight, therefore, if Aelaza followed the same attack pattern as her sister then...
Woosh!
An overbearing aura appeared around the palm of Izroth's right hand. If one looked closely, they could see the faint silhouette of a deadly sword waiting to cut through its enemies with a single swing.
Without even turning around, Izroth swiftly moved his right arm behind his back and thrust his right hand, that was in the shape of a formless sword, down towards his own shadow. He was using the skill First Baneful Sword: Destruction without a sword!
Almost instantly after Izroth's attack shot towards his very own shadow, a figure appeared wielding a dagger in its hand. Of course, that dagger belonged to Aelaza! As soon as her head left the shadows, the first thing that came into her sight was a sharp blade aimed directly at the space in between her eyes! It was a frightening thing to see the moment she left the shadow.
"That's..!" At the last moment, Aelaza could see that it was not a sword being aimed at her, but rather, it was simply Izroth's hand. However, there was a dangerous aura lingering around it. Surprisingly, she did not close her eyes as she watched the attack close in. She knew that no matter what she did, she would be unable to react in time. Aelaza realized at that moment, she had lost.
Ooooooooooom!
The brilliant light grew brighter as the streak of purple lightning faded away and was completely devoured by Zhi's Medallion! Soon enough, the entire space was filled with a blinding white light that drowned out everything it passed by.
...
A few moments ago, Mariposa had managed to break through the black sphere holding Guan Yu. But, even though she was able to get through, Guan Yu still insisted on fighting the battle alone.
Mariposa was speechless. After everything she had done to get him out of that place, he still wanted to face Grim alone? Was he an idiot or something? However, after seeing that Zi Yi had miraculously dealt with the two Puppet Chained Assassin NPCs, Mariposa decided to respect Guan Yu's wishes.
But, she made it clear that if they ran into any further trouble, then she would not hesitate to interfere even if it was against his will.
Even though the black sphere was destroyed, Guan Yu was still incapable of killing Grim. When the others witnessed the battle, they were all dumbfounded. Why was it that Grim would not die? After all, Guan Yu was not by any means dealing a small amount of damage with his attacks.
Of course, Grim was shocked when he realized that not only was the two Puppet Chained Assassins missing, but even Aelaza Ghost was nowhere to be found! But, it should have been impossible for the group before him to defeat those three! What the heck happened while he was within the Nether Realm?
However, even though the odds were stacked against him, Grim did not panic. He still possessed a trump card that made him invincible in the Roaming Village of the Netherworld. As long as he remained in this place, he could not die! Therefore, no matter how much Guan Yu or the others struggled, it was all futile in the end.
Oooooooooom!
"What's that?" Halls said in a surprised tone of voice as he saw cracks forming at random locations throughout the village. It looked as if the atmosphere itself was falling apart!
"The surrounding space is-" Mariposa was speaking, however, her words were soon put on hold by what occurred next.
A brilliant and blinding light swept throughout the entire village causing everyone to instinctively shut their eyes.
"Where's that light coming from?" Zi Yi said as she tried to open her eyes to take a peek, however, all she could see was a neverending stream of white light no matter where she turned.
The light also caused Guan Yu and Grim to temporarily put their fight on hold since neither of them was able to see with such an intense level of brightness.
A few seconds later, the brightness finally died down and the cracks that had just formed just moments ago were no longer there.
Woosh!
"Don't leave yourself open you fool!" Grim shouted as he took advantage of the shocking situation and launched an attack on Guan Yu as soon as the light faded away. The crimson scythe in his hand released a strong wave of bloodlust as it sliced down in an arc towards Guan Yu.
"Despicable!" Guan Yu roared as his guandao that was encompassed in a blue aura, swept right through Grim's body. This time, however, Grim had a look of disbelief on his face. That was because he had actually been harmed by that attack just now!
Grim quickly retreated and the shock on his face was apparent. Not too long after, he had a dumbfounded expression on his face.
"It's not there...!" Grim shook slightly as his previous confidence had flown out the window. He received a shocking alert from the system, however, he did not dare believe his eyes.
But, after double checking to confirm that it was true, Grim's facial expression became gloomy. The passive skill that granted him his invincibility while within the Roaming Village of the Netherworld had disappeared from his skill list! What was going on?
"Where are you looking?!" Guan Yu said as he had already appeared before Grim with his guandao raised over his head.
Grim's eyes widened as the guandao descended towards him. His body seemed to freeze up and he became unable to react to the attack in time. With his current confused and scrambled thoughts, as well as, with the loss of his invincibility skill, he had become temporarily disoriented and his mind drew a blank in the middle of the fight.
Woosh! Boom!
Guan Yu's guandao crashed into the ground with a perplexed look on his face. Grim was no longer anywhere to be found.
"The village!" Halls exclaimed.
When Guan Yu looked towards the direction of the village, he saw that it was gone! Grim, along with the entire village, had suddenly ceased to exist! Now, they were surrounded by some kind of massive graveyard with tombstones located as far as the eye could see.
As everyone was still trying to take in the sudden shift in events, they looked over at the small area of brilliant light that still remained even after the village disappeared. There was a faint silhouette that could be seen standing in the middle of the light with its back turned to them. Everyone immediately went on guard, at least, everyone except Luna.
"That's..." Luna was the first to recognize who that back belonged to. After all, how much time had she spent staring at that same back? However, as that thought crossed Luna's mind, a light shade of pink found its way onto her cheeks. What was she thinking at a time like this? She shook her head a bit and quickly regained her composure.
Izroth appeared from the bright light as Zhi's Medallion was resting in the palm of his hand. A few seconds later, it disappeared and entered back into his inventory.
'She escaped.'
Izroth's attack was mere millimeters away from Aelaza's face, however, he did not feel his attack connect with anything.
'That streak of purple lightning that appeared and attacked the medallion, I wonder where it came from?'
As he took in his new surroundings, Izroth realized that the village had been replaced by a graveyard.
'This looks like the place Azalea described. However, how did I arrive at this location?'
"Brother!" Both Halls and Guan Yu shouted at the same time as they released their guard after seeing that it was Izroth.
Everyone was relieved to see that Izroth was alright.
"Welcome back." Luna said as she greeted Izroth as he walked over.
Izroth gave a small nod to show his thanks as he said, "I see things have changed quite a bit during my brief absence. What happened while I was gone?"
When Izroth asked that question, a weary look found its way onto Zi Yi's face as she replied, "It's a long story."
...
As Izroth became caught up with the current set of events and he explained what happened on his end, Aelaza and Grim were at the center of the Roaming Village of the Netherworld.
At the last second when the bright light consumed everything, it forcibly knocked the entire village to a random location located far away from the Netherworld Mist! In fact, it was unclear if they were even in the same kingdom any longer!
Grim slammed his fist against the ground with a furious look on his face.
"What just happened?!" Grim shouted in an upset tone of voice.
However, Aelaza simply glared at him without responding to his question. After all, even she had no idea what just took place so how was she supposed to explain something she herself did not understand?
Swoosh!
A gentle breeze drifted past Aelaza and Grim and in the blink of an eye, a figure clad in purple scholar robes with black stripes appeared before them. The figure had a hood pulled over their head which hid their appearance floating around each wrist and ankle of the figure were five violet colored rings made out of pure energy.
"Oh? Was I mistaken?" A lovely and alluring voice of a woman floated beside Aelaza's and Grim's ears.
When the two of them saw who the figure was, they were in complete shock. This was because they had never seen this mysterious figure only spoken of in legends before today!
"Hm, this village should not be here... You two, did you see an old man somewhere around here?" The figure said with as a small smile formed on her lips. However, that smile felt terrifying to those viewing it from the outside and sent shivers down one's spine.
NPC Name: ???(???)
NPC Level: ???
NPC Faction: League of The Eidolon(Leader)
HP: ??? (100%)
...
'This graveyard is definitely the correct place. However, I no longer see the village anywhere.'
Izroth was looking over the Realm Chart in his hands to confirm their whereabouts and found that everything was in order besides the missing Roaming Village of the Netherworld.
'So this is where a lost page from the Book of Beginnings is potentially hiding?'
Izroth and his party had finally arrived at the true destination of their journey!