Izroth stood there with a fearless expression on his face as he listened to the rage of Nekrostalmenos. After taking the Two Solar Extremities Pill, Izroth used the skill Tempest Strikes that was attached to his Sword of The Storm. With that skill, he used the First Baneful Sword: Destruction and aimed it directly at the center area of Nekrostalmenos' palm. That was his first attack.
However, the truly terrifying part was what happened after that first strike. The second sword strike was Izroth's Second Baneful Sword: Kill, however, it was not as simple as that. Due to using the First Baneful Sword: Destruction beforehand, it activated the special effect of his Second Baneful Sword: Kill and doubled its base damage. So, instead of dealing 1,000% of his attack as damage, it soared to 2,000%!
After his first strike was successful, Izroth was also able to use his First Sword Form: Converging Paths which made his second sword strike a guaranteed critical hit.
But, that was not all he did to reach such an insane level of damage. He also poured in practically every single drop of his Essence into the attack and targeted the middle of Nekrostalmenos' arm where he was the weakest. Add on to that the 10,000% damage increase from the holy aura and you were left with an attack that was devastating enough to severe the arm of a powerful creature like Nekrostalmenos.
"That... Is that even allowed?" Halls said in disbelief. However, there was no one to answer him. Why? It was due to the fact that everyone was speechless!
"Twenty-six million damage to a creature with such high defense... Honestly, how ridiculous." Mariposa said quietly to herself as she felt cold sweats run down her back. If one ignored the defenses of Nekrostalmenos and calculated the damage before the reduction phase, then Izroth's attack dealt over 130 million damage!
If that was not ridiculous, then Mariposa did not believe that anything else could ever be defined as absurd.
Even Luna, Zi Yi, Guan Yu, and Halls who had gained a great deal of resistance against being shocked by Izroth were dumbfounded. They thought that whatever Izroth did after the Chaotic Dogma Realm would no longer surprise them, however, it seemed that he had other plans in mind.
Halls let out a helpless sigh and shook his head as he said, "Brother, you're truly full of surprises."
"Ahahaha! Who in all of RML can challenge my brother now? What Sage Falls? What Netherworld creature? Before my brother, hmph, they're nothing much." Guan Yu said as he finally snapped out of his state of disbelief. He was overcome with a rush of excitement and his blood boiled.
Izroth had become his goal and just when he thought he would reach that goal, it suddenly soared far away from him. This was the kind of exhilarating and impossible challenge he lived for! While most people would be discouraged, this only made Guan Yu even more motivated than he was before. After all, how could he go around calling Izroth his brother if he himself was too weak?
"You- Is common sense a joke to you?" Zi Yi questioned as she had a hard time accepting the facts laid out before her. Just like Guan Yu, Zi Yi was naturally competitive when it came to things like RML.
She decided that from now on, she would limit her time in the library and not get too caught up so that she does not fall even further behind Izroth. She found that the gap between them was not small by any means, it was colossal! That created a feeling of pressure for her to improve herself so that she could keep up.
Zi Yi and Guan Yu were not the only two with those thoughts. Luna and Halls had the same exact thoughts cross their minds as well. If Izroth continued to grow at this pace, he would leave them all in the dust! Then, what use would he have inviting them to a party? Pity? The last thing they wanted was a pity invite! Therefore, there was a look of determination in everyone's eyes.
Mariposa, on the other hand, was now one-hundred percent certain that she made the correct call back then. If there was any doubt left before now, it had completely vanished into thin air. She was still a bit skeptical about engaging in a direct confrontation with Sage Falls. After all, even though they were weakened, they were still a top guild and held a lot of influence both inside and outside of RML.
However, she had already secretly decided that she would support Izroth. Having him as an enemy was simply out of the question and having him as an ally would be endlessly beneficial for her Sleeping Gardenia. Therefore, if he wanted to eradicate Sage Falls, she would use the full force of Sleeping Gardenia to assist him!
Although everyone within Izroth's party was shocked, there were two others who were even more baffled than them. The first was Tererestiaa who currently had a fatigued appearance about her. The second was, of course, Gear.
"That young man... Does he realize what he's just done?" Gear said to himself. After Nekrostalmenos' arm was cut off, Gear took advantage of that open window of opportunity to break free of his imprisonment. But now, there was a hint of worry in his eyes. While Izroth's feat was incredible, the consequences behind it were not light by any means.
As for Tererestiaa, she had finally run out of strength and the holy aura that was around Izroth and his party members disappeared as they returned to their normal strength. At least, everyone but Izroth who was experiencing Soul Weakness due to the over usage of his Essence.
"What frightening potential. To wield such strength with an infant stage Source... What would the results be if his Source was fully developed? The all-seeing goddess has truly chosen well." Tererestiaa said quietly to herself.
As for Nekrostalmenos, although the black liquid had stopped flowing from his now half of an arm, it was still clearly infuriated. It had been humiliated by a human! Not a human of great power, no, but by a human who was barely old enough to walk on his own two feet! Disgraceful! How would it explain this to the Netherworld Monarch? How would he ever be able to show his face before the others again?
"Human! I curse you! You will forever be an enemy of my Netherworld! For now, until the end of time!" Nekrostalmenos roared in blinding rage.
〈System Alert: 1/1 Assist Gear in forcing the mysterious entity to retreat back into the Netherworld.〉
〈System Alert: You have gained the passive «Curse of The Netherworld»!〉
〈System Alert: You have gained the passive «Curse of The Netherworld»!〉
〈System Alert: Your fame with the Netherworld has decreased by 10,000 points!〉
〈System Alert: Your reputation with the Netherworld has become Irredeemable! You can no longer gain fame with the Netherworld!〉
Irredeemable! That meant that no matter what Izroth did from now on, there was nothing he could do to change the fact that he was enemies of the Netherworld. However, they already were not on good terms, therefore, it made little difference to him.
Skill Name: Curse of The Netherworld
Skill Level: MAXED
Skill Rank: Unique*
Cursed By: Nekrostalmenos, Envoy of The Netherworld
Passive: The user of this skill is marked for death and eternally cursed by the power of the Netherworld. The user will experience the following effect(s):
-Creatures of the Netherworld will always prioritize you as a target.
-The Netherworld will actively send creatures out to hunt you.
-Allies of the Netherworld may attack you.
-Enemies of the Netherworld will welcome you with open arms.
-You deal +100% bonus damage holy damage to creatures of the Netherworld.
-You receive -50% damage from the creatures of the Netherworld.
Special Note: The only way to remove this curse is to vanquish the creature who is behind the curse.
As Nekrostalmenos cursed Izroth, the portal began to lose its stability as that massive arm was now being sucked back through to the other side along with the half that was cut off by Izroth. Even the black liquid that rained down was being drawn back into the Netherworld where it originally belonged.
But, just as Nekrostalmenos arm was being pulled into the portal, five huge fingers grabbed onto the edge of the portal.
Everyone was shaken the moment they saw that second hand suddenly grip onto the portal and their hearts sunk. Their facial expressions instantly darkened when they witnessed that sight. Would they have to face a second arm? The holy aura had already run out and they were back to their normal level of strength, how could they fight against that monstrosity?
"You can't be serious..." Zi Yi said with furrowed brows.
"We can't catch a break, can we?" Guan Yu said with a grin on his face. But, even he knew that if that second arm came through, they would all be annihilated!
Izroth narrowed his eyes as he set his gaze upon the portal.
However, just as everyone was at a loss, they heard Tererestiaa's voice carry throughout the underground chambers.
"Use the Half Mark Sealing Totems to close the portal before it's too late!" Tererestiaa shouted in a hastily.
Of course! The Half Mark Sealing Totems! In all the excitement, confusion, and shock, they had completely forgotten about it!
"Guan Yu!" Zi Yi shouted as she quickly moved into position with the Half Mark Sealing Totem now in her hands.
"I got it!" Guan Yu replied as he removed the Half Mark Sealing Totem from his inventory and began to seal the portal with Zi Yi.
However, after a few seconds, they noticed that the portal was not shrinking! The hand actually started to widen the portal slightly and tear through it!
"It's not closing!" Guan Yu yelled.
"Could we have waited too long?" Zi Yi said with a gloomy expression on her face.
Woosh! Bang!
Just as the everyone was on edge, a silhouette flickered in front of the portal and, in the next moment, the hand that was gripping tightly onto the portal was separated and knocked back inside!
"You've already overstayed your welcome, old man. Go back and rest in the Netherworld for a while." Gear said with a bit of blood trickling from the side of his mouth. He had put his everything into that final attack and had pushed passed his limits.
"Noooooooooooo!" Nekrostalmenos roared as it saw the portal slowly shrinking between its eyes into nothingness. Fifteen seconds later, the portal vanished and there was nothing but silence that remained within the underground chambers.
It was at that moment Izroth and his party received an alert from the system.
〈System Alert: 11/11 Assist Seer Tererestiaa in sealing all portals that appear within the underground chambers.〉
Hsssssssssssst! Ooooooom!
All of a sudden, the three tombstones that Izroth and his party had come across when they first arrived in this area began to emit a strange hissing sound. Everyone immediately went on guard, however, Vozrak's Gift which had previously retreated back into Izroth's inventory had reappeared and shot towards the three tombstones!
The moment it made contact with one of the tombstones, a boundless and vast power spilled out as a blank piece of ancient-looking parchment paper floated into midair with Vozrak's Gift hovering right above it. A stream of writing began to appear on the parchment as it was then sucked into Vozrak's Gift.
Vozrak's Gift then flew back towards Izroth's and stopped right before him as if it was waiting for him to take hold on it.
'It almost seems to have a will of its own. An interesting item...'
Izroth reached out and took Vozrak's Gift into the palm of his hand as he was immediately bombarded by alerts from the system.
〈System Alert: 1/1 Obtain and contain the mysterious «Lost Page».〉
〈System Alert: Congratulations, you have completed the quest «Halt The Invasion».〉
〈System Alert: You have acquired x1 «Lost Page».〉
〈System Alert: 1/1 Find the lost page belonging to the «Book of Beginnings».〉
〈System Alert: Congratulations, you have completed part 1 of the world quest «The Beginning of Beginnings».〉
As Izroth glanced over the system alerts that were still pouring in, Gear appeared before him.
At the moment, Gear had mixed emotions about everything that had just taken place.
"Young man, you are truly fearless. However, I'm afraid that the Netherworld will not let you off so easily after severing the arms of one of its envoy's." Gear spoke in a solemn tone of voice.