Midnight was not naive enough to believe that whatever bandit group or faction that was currently attacking them only wanted the items they had equipped or in their inventory. Besides, was it even possible for NPCs to steal equipment from players in the first place?
The only reason he was unsure of things was due to the fact that this was his first S-ranked quest. Not only that, but it was a Unique-S ranked quest. Therefore, he did not know what to fully expect in all honesty.
Hooooooooooooooowl!
A great howl echoed throughout the forest with many others following behind it. Although the following howls were nowhere as loud, one could feel the absolute bloodthirst hidden within the source of the howls.
"It's the Tenedi Demon Wolf pack! Get out of their way!" One of the bandits yelled. There were many other warning cries that came after his and not too long after, the sea of bandits parted and created an opening straight through to Izroth's group. The bandits had stopped attacking Izroth's party and some even backed away in fear.
"Heh, look of them! They're scared now. They even opened up a path for us!" Mirage said with a smirk on her face.
Izroth gazed towards the area that the sea of bandits had parted. There was an obvious look of fear on their face, however, Izroth knew that it was because of him and his party members.
'The howls…'
Midnight frowned as he furrowed his brows and said, "It doesn't make any sense. Why would they attack us and then suddenly back off? It's obvious that they have no intention of retreating or else they would have already run away. Not to mention, the howls that-"
Shhhhk! Thooooom!
The ground began to tremble and a few moments later, the level of intensity started to increase until it reached that of a small scale earthquake! There was a dark cloud that formed in the distance and as it approached the sea of bandits, it completely ignored them and went straight through the path they opened up for it.
"What did those guys do to agitate a pack of Tenedi Demon wolves?"
"It makes our job easier. As long as we stay out of their way, the Tenedi demon wolves won't attack us. Don't tell me you already forgot what that cloaked weirdo said?"
"Of course, I forgot! Who wouldn't when a pack of Tenedi Demon wolves appears out of nowhere?! Those guys are as good as dead. I'm afraid that we'll just have to scavenge their bodies."
"If that happens, a big fight will break out over who gets it. You guys wanna team up and split it twenty ways? We'll still have more than enough to live comfortably. After all, if those guys are killed and we collect the six beads, that person will give us one billion gold coins!"
As the bandits, criminals, and hunters were already having discussions about what would take place after the assured death of Izroth's party, the conversations close to him did not escape Izroth's ears.
There were three things that caught his attention during their conversation. The first was obviously the Tenedi Demon wolves. The bandits seemed to hold the impression that the appearance of the pack guaranteed their deaths. He did not know how strong these Tenedi Demon wolves were, but he was not too concerned about something that mere bandits were afraid of.
As for the second and third thing, the two of them were connected to one another.
'Someone has offered one billion gold coins for the mind beads and our lives? A cloaked weirdo, is it? Could it be that person from earlier?'
Hooooooooooowl!
The dark cloud rapidly approached the location of Izroth's party and as the pack moved closer, Izroth's party was finally able to see the information provided by the system.
Name: Tenedi Demon Wolf Pack Leader(Elite)
Level: 42
HP: 125,285 (100%)
Name: Tenedi Demon Wolf(Normal)
Level: 40
HP: 49,602 (100%)
'Oh? I have enough for it now. This is the perfect chance to test out that move.'
"Midnight, can you summon your Mighty Magnarvos?" Izroth asked.
"Mighty Magnarvos? Sure, but we'll lose some attack speed and movement speed in exchange." Midnight said as he recalled his Duality Hare and summoned his Mighty Magnarvos totem in its place.
"That's fine, we won't need any mobility for this." Izroth said as a gentle wind flowed around his Sword of The Storm accompanied by small crackles of lightning.
He then continued, "The skill you used earlier on Mirage to boost the effectiveness of her healing, does it work with the Mighty Magnarvos as well?"
Midnight raised his brows and gave a small nod as he replied, "I understand, just leave it to me." A small totem shot out and hovered above Izroth's head as a light green mist enveloped his body. Midnight had used the skill Totem Augmentation to double the effectiveness of his totem auras on Izroth.
Crrrrckle!
All of a sudden, the sky within 45 meters darkened as dark gray clouds began to form overhead. There was a gentle breeze that came out of nowhere as one could hear thunder and see bolts of lightning jumping around inside of the clouds.
"What's going on? A storm?" Mirage said as she looked into the sky and saw the dark gray clouds converging onto a single point. It almost looked as if a mini hurricane was forming in the sky above!
The breeze that started off gentle began to pick up and quickly shifted to a wild and untamed wind. At the same time, the hurricane-like cloud in the sky could be seen within Izroth's eyes as they released a faint white light.
'This is my first time using this skill since I've acquired the Sword of The Storm. How flashy.'
Izroth preferred to keep his skills simple and efficient. Therefore, he was not a fan of flashy skills like the one he was currently using, however, he had to admit that it added a certain looming element to the attack.
'Great Storm.'
Booooooooooom!
Izroth pointed his Sword of The Storm towards the sky and the instant he did, there were no longer any gentle breezes. Now, there were powerful gusts and bursts of wind that rained down from the sky and danced throughout the crowd of bandits, as well as, the group of Tenedi Demon wolves.
"Where did this storm come from?" One of the bandits asked with a confused look on their face. However, just as they were questioning the storm, they felt something pass through their body. That same feeling occurred one more time as they looked down and noticed that their hands were turning into particles.
"I don't want to-"
Woosh!
-6,765
«Critical Hit»
-13,530
The bandit's particles were dispersed by a nearly invisible force as that same force carried on to strike one of the nearby bandits. Of course, it was not just any invisible force, it was the Blades of Winds from Izroth's Great Storm skill attached to his Sword of The Storm.
The same thing occurred all over the battlefield and even the Tenedi Demon wolves were in a panic causing them to attack nearby bandits who kept running into them out of anger and fear. The scene turned to chaos as hundreds of bandits and dozens of Tenedi Demon wolves scattered around trying to flee from the life-reaping storm.
However, Izroth did not stop there. Right when he released the Great Storm, he tapped his foot on the ground as a series of tremors was released within 45 meters. It was his Behemoth's Quake. These tremors caused the sea of bandits and the Tenedi Demon wolves to have a difficult time maintaining their balance to escape from the range of his attacks.
Izroth poured a total of thirty-two points of Essence into his Great Storm and ten points of Essence into his Behemoth's Quake. This not only increased the overall damage of the skills but their range as well.
Since the Blades of Winds of his Great Storm was able to critical hit, it worked perfectly with Midnight's Mighty Magvarnos totem and made the attack even more devastating than usual.
The bandits were dropping like flies throughout the battlefield, and it did not take long for some of the Tenedi Demon wolves to follow in their footsteps.
As for Izroth's party, there was complete silence as they watched the events that unfolded before them.
Mirage, Ying Yue, Midnight, Qi Jiguang, and Omega all looked towards Izroth who was the source of the attack and one word crossed their minds at that moment; monster.
What balance gameplay? You called this balance?! What were you supposed to do against an attack that invoked such a high level of carnage?
"This guy… Does he want to complete this S-ranked quest alone?" Omega said as he released a hopeless sigh.
"I don't it's an impossibility. Maybe he really would have completed it alone if the beads were never divided between the three of us. Omega, I think I've decided." Qi Jiguang said as his gaze was locked onto Izroth.
"Oh? You mean that? Interesting, I never thought I'd live to see the day to be truthful. Well, whatever you choose to do, I'll follow after you. After all, you'd be lost without me, right?" Omega said with a grin.
"If you keep speaking such nonsense, I'll make sure you're lost in an entirely different way." Qi Jiguang said as he glared at Omega which only caused the latter to laugh.
However, Omega quickly halted his laughter as his facial expression turned serious.
"Qi Jiguang, that guy's dangerous." Omega said.
"Yeah, I know." Qi Jiguang responded.
Mirage released a long sigh as she said, "See? Didn't I tell you this guy is a freak, Midnight?"
"I thought you were overexaggerating as usual, but this is…" Midnight could only shake his head as he was unable to finish his response.
Ying Yue's eyes shone with amazement as she observed Izroth. With the wind and lightning around him, as well as, that unique look that formed in his eyes, he appeared like the deity of storms.
"Amazing…" Ying Yue said quietly to herself.
Ten seconds later, the tremors stopped and the dark gray clouds in the air were completely dispersed.
'I guess I overdid it a bit. However, what a useful skill despite its flashiness.'
As Izroth swept his gaze across the surroundings, all he could see was a giant swarm of particles drift off into the sky. When everything cleared up, there were no signs of any bandits, hunters, or criminals. Even the entire Tenedi Demon Wolf pack had been eliminated in the process. It was a one-sided massacre!
Izroth returned his Sword of The Storm to its sheath.
〈System Alert: Your level has increased to 41!〉
〈System Alert: Your level has increased to 42!〉
Two levels from one battle! Since Izroth was already close to leveling up to level 41, he was able to jump two levels from the experience he just gained. In total, Izroth gained around 2.4 million EXP! Of course, a small portion went to his party, however, since he dealt 100% of the damage, the vast majority went directly to him.
Izroth casually walked over towards where the Tenedi Demon wolves died and picked up some of the loot they dropped. As for the NPCs, even though they gave experience, unfortunately, they did not drop any loot.
'It looks as if only certain types of NPCs can drop loot. Isn't this system cheating me?'
If Izroth's party members could hear his current thoughts, there was no doubt that they would want to strangle him to death! Cheating him? If the system was cheating him, then it was robbing them blind in broad daylight!
However, everyone was still in a state of shock by what had just transpired. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of bandits and dozens of monsters had been eradicated! Not by some rare or legendary boss, but by a player!
