Chapter 941: Miscalculated, Priority
It took a few seconds for Bladed Conscious, Love Mist, and the other members of their assault group to shake the effects of the Dazing Talisman.
Upon doing so, they immediately started their pursuit of Ranazera. However, besides Heartless Jade, who possessed a rogue-type class, the others were simply too slow to ever dream of catching up with Ranazera. Though even Heartless Jade somehow managed to catch up to Ranazera, he did not have the confidence nor strength to suppress her alone.
"They chose the worst possible time to let their guard down," Niflheim said to himself as he let out a small sigh.
Ranazera was too valuable of a target to let slip away. Niflheim wanted to personally make a move; however, his main priority was protecting Bellum while she bypassed the magic formation.
Capturing a Tempest princess would indeed be a huge accomplishment for them, but Niflheim understood that the elimination of the mages held greater importance. Still, if there was even the slightest chance of achieving both objectives, then...
Niflheim quickly switched over to voice chat.
Niflheim, "The Tempest princess is escaping. If you're done over there, I'd like you to capture her—alive, if possible."
Although Niflheim did not mention a specific name, everyone in the 9th Division knew precisely at who his words were directed.
Menerva, "I see. So she was indeed a member of the Tempest royal family."
Even though she was far away from the battlefield, Menerva's eyesight was nothing to scoff at, considering her class. Naturally, she also witnessed the transformation to Ranazera and recognized the trademark azure hair and typhoon birthmark of the Tempest royal family.
Menerva, "Based on her physical appearance and weapon preference, I presume she is the sixth princess of Tempest?"
Niflheim, "Yeah, it's the sixth princess, alright."
Menerva, "Then, it is all the more reason that her capture is a necessity. We cannot permit this opportunity to pass us by."
Niflheim, "Hm? From the way you're speaking, it sounds like there's more to her than just being a member of the Tempest royal family."
Menerva, "That is an understatement. Among the members of the royal family, to my current knowledge, it is the sixth princess who carries the most influence with the noble families of Tempest. During my time with... the previous company I kept, there were even rumors of the sixth princess having a close relationship with the Council. In addition, due to her many achievements on the battlefield, her popularity with the people of Tempest and many prominent members of the Senate is particularly high. Her capture holds the key to providing us invaluable insight into not just the Tempest royal family, but the Council and Senate as well."
Niflheim, "Well, when you put it that way... Why didn't you bring it up sooner?"
Menerva, "At the time, I did not believe her capture to be a feasible possibility. Also, I had no desire to distract from the task at hand. That being said, I regret to say I miscalculated."
Menerva saw Izroth's strength firsthand back when it confronted the Headhunter Syndicate. Not to mention, he was a part of several great achievements that ranged from clearing the first dungeon to overcoming the first hardcore raid. Therefore, in her mind, Menerva had already ranked Izroth as possessing monstrous combat prowess.
Of course, Menerva accounted for the fact that Izroth had likely not shown all his cards. It was to the point that Menerva believed that she had overestimated his true potential strength. But, after seeing how one-sided the fight was against Aloysius, Menerva found that she had actually underestimated Izroth's strength!
Niflheim, "I know exactly what you mean."
Niflheim had long stopped trying to gauge Izroth's exact strength long ago.
Every time Niflheim thought he saw the pinnacle of Izroth's strength, he would turn around and do something that completely blew his previous outlook out the door. Attempting to keep up with it would only cause one to wallow in their own self inadequacies.
Out of nowhere, a blinding streak of purple lightning shot past the battlefield and went in the direction that Ranazera escaped.
...Crrrckle! Boom!
A few seconds after the streak of purple lightning soared by the battlefield, the sound finally managed to catch up as the space it passed on the way distorted.
By the time the sound caught up, several of the Tempest elite troops abruptly fell over motionlessly as an overbearing aura swept by them.
In the blink of an eye, besides Guard Commander Fulgencio and the carriage, all the Tempest forces on the battlefield had been cleaned out!
The members of the 9th Division, who were just clashing against the Tempest elite troops, found themselves suddenly swinging or targeting thin air.
The person behind all of this was, of course, none other than Izroth.
His thoughts were the same as Niflheim and Menerva's in that Ranazera's apprehension could not be neglected.
As for Centurion Aloysius, he was left in critical condition by Izroth and hung on to his life by a thread.
However, it was not as if Izroth suddenly decided to be merciful and spare Aloysius.
Instead, just as Izroth went in to deliver the final blow to the Centurion, a fearsome black frost rushed out of his body and encased him in what appeared to be dark ice.
Izroth tried breaking this ice using brute force; however, he quickly discovered that approach would consume too much time.
He also attempted to use his Ninth Sword Form: World Quelling Ripple to disrupt the dark ice, but there were no changes or signs of it deteriorating under the effects of the quelling ripples.
Izroth had a few more skills that he could have tested against the dark ice; however, upon hearing Niflheim's request and realizing Ranazera wanted to escape, he made a swift judgment call.
Eliminating Aloysius would bring about some benefits. But, the worth of his life paled in comparison to Ranazera's capture. Not to mention...
Without halting his movement, Izroth glanced down at his right arm.
'Is this that woman's doing?'
Covering Izroth's right hand and part of his forearm was a black frost that sunk deep into his skin with a bone-piercing chill.
Despite his speed, Izroth found that he could not avoid the black frost. There was something strange about the black frost that seemed to slow his movements the instant it emerged and grabbed ahold of him.
If not for Izroth's timely response and Soul Sense, it was possible that his entire body would have been affected by the black frost!
'That attack was meant to kill its target. Not only that, but it was also hidden deep enough that it went undetected by my Energy Vision Sense. I can feel a unique mana signature emanating from the black frost on my arm, so it's definitely a form of magic but... As for why my ninth sword form was ineffective in dispelling it—it remains a mystery. Though the fact that even the recovery effect from my Might stat seems to be stagnating is a little troublesome.'
Izroth could feel the black frost receding from the depths of his bones; however, it was agonizingly slow compared to his typical recovery rate.
Nonetheless, even with one arm temporarily out of use, Izroth was still confident in capturing someone like Ranazera.
'Strange... She shouldn't have made it this far.'
Each individual burst of movement speed from his Compressed Lightning Movement was capable of traversing a distance of up to nearly 450 meters.
Of course, Izroth did not "jump" the entire 450 meters for fear of overshooting Ranazera's position. Rather he traveled forward roughly 100 meters as he figured that was the farthest Ranazera could have gotten within such a short frame of time. But, there was no sign of the sixth princess.
The moment Izroth realized this, he activated his Energy Vision Sense and extended it to its maximum range for a brief moment.
'Oh? She's farther ahead than I thought. Did she use some kind of magic treasure?'
Izroth was able to lock onto Ranazera's position with his Energy Vision Sense; however, forget 100 meters—she was approximately 500 meters from where the battlefield was located!
Without a doubt, Izroth knew that she must have used some sort of treasure to transverse that distance. After all, if she were naturally that fast, her speed would surpass that of his Compressed Lightning Movement with Flickering Steps active.
Izroth, "Those of you pursuing Ranazera are to return to where the rest of the 9th Division is located. I will take care of the rest."
Since there was no chance of the Assault Groups catching up to Ranazera, Izroth decided to send them back to where Niflheim and the others were gathered.
In the end, they were still behind enemy lines, and the unexpected could happen at any moment. Therefore, it was best that they did not stray too far from the main group.
'Even with the reduced hp loss rate, I can't maintain Full Mantle for much longer. I'll have to end it fast.'
The moment this thought crossed Izroth's mind, the space around him became distorted and bent as his flickering figure vanished without a trace.