This was the last place Izroth expected to see the two who appeared before him. The rest of the party was stunned because to them, it seemed like two strangers had suddenly teleported out of nowhere as the massive arm was going on a rampage! How could they not be frightened by the aspect of dealing with an additional two enemies?
However, after the initial shock passed, everyone let out a small sigh of relief. This was due to the fact that it was not enemies who arrived, but people that could be considered reinforcements.
"I recognize him from that time in the palace, however, the woman with him is a new face." Mariposa said.
"Young man, it seems that you always find a way to get yourself into troublesome commitments. On should spend their youthful days enjoying life instead of worrying about such things. Then again, I would have never chosen you if that were the case." A man said as he held a woman in his arms. He gently put her down and allowed her feet to touch the ground before standing up straight.
"You sure gave us a bit of extra work to do last time we met, old man." Izroth said with a carefree smile on his face.
"I can only travel so far in my old age. I'm sure you understand." The man who spoke was the first powerful individual he had met within RML, the Combat Master Gear. At the moment, he was in his more youthful form. The woman along with him whose feet had just touched the ground was none other than the Seer Tererestiaa!
"Last time I checked, the dangerous mountain regions are much closer to Amaharpe than this place." Izroth said.
"Ah, it looks like I've been caught. You've grown much stronger since we've last met. That's a nice Source you've managed to get your hands on." Gear spoke with a large smile on his face. However, he was secretly shocked inside. How did Izroth get his hands on a Source? Even if it was in its infancy stage, it was still an incredible feat!
'Source?'
Gear then turned his attention towards the massive arm. From the moment he arrived on the scene, that mysterious arm had grown cautious due to his presence. It was no longer rampaging about and it almost seemed as if the deathly energy around it was building up and becoming more concentrated.
Izroth had no idea what Gear was talking about when he mentioned the word Source. However, after seeing how focused Gear was on that mysterious arm, Izroth chose to hold off on his questions for now.
Right now, Gear and the massive arm were both looking for an opening to exploit. However, neither of them were the first to make a move and simply observed one another for the time being. But, both sides knew that even though a single blow had not yet been exchanged, the fight had already begun.
Tererestiaa approached Izroth with a small smile on her face as she said, "It is unfortunate that we continue to meet under dire circumstances."
"I never expected to see you roaming outside the Lake of Tears. I assume the situation is becoming increasingly unstable if even you were willing to leave the seal to the Shadahi Realm unguarded." Izroth stated.
"The path that the all-seeing goddess has laid out before me is one that I must follow until the very end. This is my duty." Tererestiaa turned around as she spoke and stepped in front of Luna.
At the moment, Luna's skin had lost all its color and she was extremely pale. The ancient symbol on her face emitted a faint green light and it was pulsating like a heartbeat. Luna had a difficult time lifting her head as she felt as though she was completely frozen from head to toe. However, she still managed to lift her head and see Tererestiaa, even though the image was blurry.
She had lost her ability to speak and all Luna could hear was faint whispers and echoes going on around here. Luna believed that she was slipping into a world of pure isolation.
"Do you know what's wrong with her?" Zi Yi asked in a concerned manner.
"Her body is in a state of turmoil and internal conflict. Entering into a place that contains such a heavy amount of deathly energy while being a member of the Trephasia race only sped up a process that was ultimately inevitable." Tererestiaa explained as she placed her index finger onto the symbol upon Luna's forehead.
"It seems that we were only partially correct. However, we still missed the mark by quite a bit." Mariposa said.
"Indeed, we would have never thought about conflicting powers. But, how is that even possible?" Zi Yi questioned.
"Human blood, Trephasia blood, deathly energy, the Seer Sigil, and this is... a Source...?! I see, no wonder she's in this state..." Tererestiaa said as she furrowed her brows.
Seer Sigil? Source? These were things that no one within Izroth's party had even heard of before today. However, they understood that things were not looking too positive at the moment.
"Will you be able to fix it?" Izroth asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
Tererestiaa stayed silent at first, however, a few moments later she responded, "Since both her Seer Sigil and Source are in their infancy stages, I should have no problem curing her. However, it will take some time that we might not have."
"We'll buy you all the time you need." Izroth said as he accepted the quest Halt The Invasion. After reading over that quest, Izroth could more or less guess why Gear had traveled to this place.
Quest Name: Halt The Invasion
Recommended Level: 40
Recommended Party Size: 6
Quest Rank: S
Quest Objective: A powerful entity is attempting to break through the portal with its massive army. Once the portal to the Netherworld is completely opened, closing it will take a herculean effort and there is no guarantee that it can ever be closed again. Stop the opening of the portals from the Netherworld and halt the invasion of the Legion of the Nether Realm! «Empress Brooch».
Time Limit: 30 Minutes
0/11 Assist Seer Tererestiaa in sealing all portals that appear within the underground chambers.
0/1 Halt the invasion of the Legion of the Nether Realm.
0/1 Assist Gear in forcing the mysterious entity to retreat back into the Netherworld.
0/1 Obtain and contain the mysterious «Lost Page».
Quest Item:
-x2 Half Mark Sealing Totem
Reward:
-x1 Lost Page
-Prevent an invasion from the Netherworld.
Failure:
-Lose 3 levels
-Fail world quest «The Beginning of Beginnings»
-Invasion from the Netherworld
Item Name: Half Mark Sealing Totem(Quest Item)
Usage: Channels a powerful sealing spell for 15 seconds when used together with another Half Mark Sealing Totem within 20 meters of the target. After 15 seconds of uninterrupted channeling, the Half Mark Sealing Totem will seal off and close the targeted area of space. The space affected must link two realms to one another.
Special Note: This item can only be traded to players with the world quest «The Beginning of Beginnings». This item will be destroyed after the quest «Halt the Invasion» is a success or failure.
As soon as Izroth accepted the quest, a small green portal around 3 meters in height appeared on the side of the room inside of the underground chambers. It was not nearly as big as the portal that massive arm was trying to force itself through, however, it was still a threat in its own way.
Not too long after that portal appeared, nine small green circles no bigger than the size of a fist, formed within different areas of the chambers.
"The Half Mark Sealing Totems working together should be more than enough to seal any portals that open within the underground chamber. As for the main portal, for now, we will have to leave that within more suitable hands until we complete our task. Go, do not allow the forces of the Netherworld to reach this place. I will take care of this." Tererestiaa said as she turned her full attention towards Luna.
While Izroth was unaware of it, if he never possessed such high world fame, as well as, some fame with the all-seeing goddess Helilatiaa, then there was no way that Tererestiaa would have trusted him alone with the Half Mark Sealing Totems and such an important task as sealing the portals in this place.
Izroth handed one of the Half Mark Sealing Totems to Zi Yi and the other to Guan Yu. Since players could not move while channeling a skill or else it would be interrupted, he decided that these two were the best choices to entrust the items to.
Halls needed to focus on pulling the aggro of the creatures that would pour in from the portals. Given that they were currently down a healer due to Luna being unable to act at the moment, Izroth needed someone who could control the battlefield and could change places in a matter of moments.
At the same time, that person would also act as their only damage dealer with range. This was something that was well within Mariposa's comfort zone. As for himself, Izroth was their highest damage dealer. Therefore, it would be foolish to keep him out of commission to channel the Half Mark Sealing Totems.
Although Guan Yu was reluctant to miss out on any of the fighting to stand still for fifteen seconds, he knew that Izroth must have had a good reason for choosing him, therefore, he accepted his fate. As for the others, there were no disagreements about Izroth's arrangement.
Suuuuuuuuuo!
It only took them a matter of seconds to decide everything and just as Izroth finished handing over the Half Mark Sealing Totems, a skeletal creature with the bones of a beast crawled out of the portal that had just opened moments ago. A few moments later, that skeletal creature was followed by around one dozen Undead Netherworld Skeletons.
Name: Undead Netherworld Skeletal Beast(Elite)
Level: 40
HP: 49,222 (100%)
Halls was the first to charge forward to intercept the Undead Netherworld Skeletal Beast, as well as, the dozen skeletons that had appeared along with it. He immediately used Battle Focus to increase his threat level and turn their attention towards him.
"Try not to get scratch that battle crazed itch of yours while we're channeling." Zi Yi reminded Guan Yu as she began to make her way towards the portal to get within channeling range.
"Ugh, don't remind that I can't fight." Guan Yu said with a sigh as he also moved into position.
As Izroth and Mariposa went to engage the creatures crawling out of the portal, a flask appeared within Gear's hand as he chugged down the contents of the flask. However, no matter how much he consumed from the flask, it seemed to never end.
"Ah, that was refreshing..." Gear said with a large grin on his face as he wiped his mouth off using his forearm.
"This isn't a place that you can visit as you please, old man. You'll have to choose another location to take a vacation." Gear seemed to be speaking to himself as no one around was older than him. However, a spine chilling voice creeped out of the portal where the massive arm had originally come from.
"Hmph, the arrogance of youth. You are strong for a human, however, you are not capable of stopping me. You should be aware of the difference in our strength, human. Do not delay the inevitable." The voice on the other side of the portal said.
As the creature behind the portal spoke, violent tremors spread throughout the entire underground chambers and even outside of their current location. Even a simple task such as speaking invoked a powerful response from its surroundings!
"Thay may be true, however, you seem to be forgetting one very important detail. If we were face to face on the same level playing field, there's no doubt that you would have an obvious advantage. However, do you really think you're my watch with a single arm? If there's one thing I hate, it's being looked down on." Gear said as the playful grin on his face vanished.