Chapter 257: Closing The Portals To The Netherworld Part 2
Izroth's First Baneful Sword: Destruction completely obliterated the Undead Netherworld Skeletal Beast with a single blow!
The original HP of the skeletal beast was only 49,222. The reason it spiked up last time was due to the death of the Undead Netherworld Skeletons that was accompanying it. Therefore, Izroth's attack with the Two Solar Extremities Pill and some of his Essence infused into it was enough to take care of a level 40 elite monster like the skeletal beast.
Even though the skeletal beast did not have as much HP as the average elite monster that was around its level and its defensive capabilities were practically nonexistent, in the end, it was still an elite monster that should not be too looked down upon.
After all, how many players within RML could deal over 55,000 damage at this time even with the skeletal beast lacking defenses? Even if there were any others, then they could only be counted on one's fingers.
Izroth's increased damage output from the Two Solar Extremities Pill, as well as, the Holy Blessings enchantment made his damage soar through the roof. On the downside, he was currently a glass cannon. This meant that while he was able to dish out an insane level of damage, he could be taken care of with a single hit thanks to the other side effects of the Two Solar Extremities Pill.
If Izroth had to say what he was lacking at the moment it would be a sturdier defense and more defensive style moves. Even if he as focused more on power and speed, he understood that there would be certain situations where taking damage was inevitable. After all, some bosses or elite monsters possessed skills that could not be avoided no matter what the player did.
'The fifth sword form should temporarily remedy my weak defenses without taking away from my power or speed in the process. There's also the Iron Body Pill, however...'
As Izroth was thinking to himself, in a nonchalant and carefree manner, he sped throughout the battlefield and dashed towards the second skeletal beast. The moment the first skeletal beast was eliminated by Izroth, the second skeletal beast had turned its attention towards the holders of the Half Mark Sealing Totems.
However, before the skeletal beast could even start making its way over, a cold blade descended upon it and just like its companion, its skeletal structure collapsed into a pile of bones. Thanks to the cooldown reset attached to his First Baneful Sword: Destruction, Izroth was able to take out the second Undead Netherworld Skeletal Beast in one shot as well.
Everyone could only let out a helpless sigh in amazement as they witnessed Izroth's strength. Every time they believed the power gap was closing, Izroth would pull something out of his sleeves that showed that his overall power had increased once again.
"Indeed, a good choice..." Mariposa muttered under her breath. The combat master class was far from a sensible choice when compared to other classes. After all, how difficult was it for a combat master to survive within RML without a second class upgrade?
The fact that Izroth was able to pull off such a feat while being a combat master was something that everyone dreamed of, but no one dared to imagine.
It did not take long for Izroth to finish off the normal Undead Netherworld Skeletons and that remained and, in the end, the only monsters left were the two Netherworld Specters. However, Izroth's current attack was at a monstrous level, therefore, the Netherworld Specters did not survive for more a few seconds under Izroth's and his party's assault.
A few moments later, the Half Mark Sealing Totems successfully sealed the second portal and the third portal was rapidly expanding in the near distance.
"Why don't we just seal the portals before they open?" Guan Yu asked. Would it not be easier for them to just seal the portals that had not been opened yet?
"Do you really think the system would give us such an easier S-ranked quest? Besides, it clearly states on the Half Mark Sealing Totems that only space that links two different realms together can be affected by it. In other words, until the portal is stabilized and the first wave of creatures comes out, the two realms are not technically linked rendering the totems useless." Zi Yi explained.
"I was just saying is all..." Guan Yu mumbled under his breath.
As they moved into position and waited for the next portal to open, everyone set their sights on Izroth. At the moment, he was still affected by the Two Solar Extremities Pill which released an overbearing aura.
"You were too hasty in taking that pill." Zi Yi said to Izroth with a sigh as she shook her head. While it was true that their situation was unfavorable, could they afford to have Izroth in a weakened state for 30 seconds after the pill effects ended? After all, who knew what kind of dangers the third portal would hold? They needed every ounce of strength when facing the unknown.
"It won't be a problem." Izroth said as he briefly explained the Lunar Touch effect that the Blessing of the Craft provided.
"You can even create pills like this?" Mariposa spoke in a tone filled with disbelief. If those pills could be mass-produced then...
Izroth, however, shook his head and replied, "The prerequisite for creating a Two Solar Extremities Pill that has the Lunar Touch affect added is miniscule at best. It's not something I have any control over."
Even with his luck stat, out of over 30,000 pills, Izroth had only managed to craft a total of 41 pills that were influenced by the Blessing of the Craft.
Although they knew about the improved version of the Five Cycles Pill, they had no idea about what was behind its sudden enhancement. Of course, their first thought was that Izroth simply found better ingredients to use. But, who would have thought that he actually had something like the Natural Pill Master trait? Though when they really thought about it, it made perfect sense.
The third portal had finally stabilized and the moment the first wave of monsters came through, Zi Yi, as well as, Guan Yu were prepared. The Half Mark Sealing Totems immediately started to work on sealing the portal.
As for the monsters, they were almost the same creatures from the second portal, except there were no Netherworld Specters this time around. Also, the number of Undead Netherworld Skeletal Beast increased from one to two and the normal skeletons doubled in number to two dozen.
Izroth only had around fifteen seconds remaining on the pill effects, therefore, he took action the instant the Netherworld creatures stepped out of the portal.
Halls was grateful that Izroth was able to give him some breathing room. To be honest, he was trying his best to preserve his lifesaving skills for unforeseen events. Therefore, he was only relying on solely on healing potions to regain any lost HP. However, the cooldown timer on healing potions was too long for the constant amount of fighting they were doing.
In the end, potions could not replace a healer. This was even more so when the healer was someone as skilled as Luna. But, after having a chance to regain his footing and having some time to catch his breath, Halls felt like he had just received a second wind.
In less than fifteen seconds, the third portal was sealed. It went much faster than the last two, mostly thanks to Izroth, and the fourth portal was only around a quarter of the way formed. Needless to say, the effects of the Two Solar Extremities Pill ended not too long after they successfully closed the third portal. It put them back into a favorable position and allowed them to rest for a brief moment.
"Can we keep this up seven more times? Something tells me that it's only going to become increasingly difficult as we go forward. It would make me feel more reassured if we had a healer." Mariposa said as she looked over in the direction where Luna should be along with Tererestiaa. However, Luna was not within her line of sight thanks to that massive arm being in the way.
"I'm sure Tererestiaa's doing everything in her power to help Luna. Until then, all we can do is continue to wait." Zi Yi stated. She would have also have liked for Luna to be here with them, but she understood that they had no choice but to simply do their best and push forward.
Izroth furrowed her brows as he set his gaze on that massive arm.
'The deathly energy gathering around that arm is rising by the second.'
Izroth was not worried about Luna's safety since he knew that Gear would not let anything happen to her. Instead, he was more concerned about the deathly energy converging to the location of that massive arm. Izroth understood that if that creature broke through the portal, then only chaos would follow.
A few moments later, the fourth portal opened. They wasted no time to engage the Netherworld creatures.
Soon enough, Izroth and his party fought through the fourth portal, then the fifth portal, and eventually the sixth portal. The difficulty level of each portal varied, however, the overall strength of the creatures did not change much and no more than two elite monsters spawned during the initial wave of each portal.
At least, this was the case until they reached the seventh portal. That is when the difficulty level of this quest suddenly skyrocketed.
There was only a single elite monster that spawned from the portal, but it was a headache to deal with compared to the previous creatures.
Name: Netherworld Terror(Elite)
Level: 41
HP: 145,290 (87%)
The Netherworld Terror was a different breed of elite monster compared to the Netherworld Specter and the Undead Netherworld Skeletal Beast. It was, but definition, a vicious creature.
It was around two meters tall, not as big as the skeletal beast. However, it had an incredibly thin body and its skin was pitch black as if the creature had grown up in a place that lacked any source of light. Its eyes were shaped like diamonds that were blood red in color and it had three of them. The creature had no mouth, but it still somehow emitted this strange clicking sound.
The Netherworld Terror did not possess hands or feet, instead, in the place where those things should have been located were perfectly sharp and bladed curves. The creature's thin and unique frame gave it amazing flexibility and agility. As for power, the strikes behind its sharp limbs was nothing to scoff at.
However, if it were only those things to worry about then the Netherworld Terror would not pose a higher threat than the average elite monster. What made the Netherworld Terror so dangerous were two specific skills in its arsenal, Nether Pull, and Returning Abyss.
〈Battle Alert: Player Zi Yi has been targeted by the Netherworld Terror's «Nether Pull»〉
An invisible force encompassed Zi Yi and prevented her from channeling the Half Mark Sealing Totem. That was not all, Zi Yi was pulled directly in front of the Netherworld Terror and stopped only two meters away from the creature. She had just been standing more than fifteen meters away from the battle!
"Again?! So annoying!" Halls said as he quickly positioned in between Zi Yi and the Netherworld Terror with his shield raised before him.
Ding! Ding!
«Blocked»
-1,885
«Blocked»
-1,885
-150
The limbs of the Netherworld Terror gave off the sound of metal when striking against Halls' shield. The first time around the creature had grabbed Mariposa with its Nether Pull. Now, less than ten seconds later, it had grabbed ahold of Zi Yi and interrupted the channeling of the Half Mark Sealing Totems.
Halls had also been affected by a DOT, better known as a damage over time skill, that ticked for 150 fixed damage every one second. That meant he was losing 1,500 HP every ten seconds. However, it was not himself that he was worried about. The same DOT that was affecting him was also damaging everyone else.
While they could temporarily sustain themselves with health potions, it would obviously not be enough to deal with the situation in the long term. They needed a healer.
'We cannot allow a second Netherworld Terror to leave that portal.'
Small crackles of lightning could be seen forming around Izroth's Sword of The Storm.