Judging from the number of individuals, her vocal presence, and the fact that the group was following her orders, Izroth believed that the young woman with sapphire eyes was a 10-Man Squad Leader.
While this may not sound as impressive as his Captain's rank, one had to remember that the war event had just begun a few days ago in-game time. Acquiring a command position so soon meant that she was no pushover.
As for why she did not recognize Izroth's player name despite him still being placed first on the event leaderboards, she was simply not close enough for it to appear through her system interface.
'There are more important matters to attend to. Still, they are allies, and killing them here could negatively affect my contribution points or rank. I suppose I'll have to use a more gentle approach.'
"We are not your enemy," Niflheim said; however, his words fell on deaf ears as the group pressed forward with their assault.
"Enough nonsense! I've already seen through your lies! I, Zanna, guild leader of Echo, will not fall for the same trick a four-… f-first time!" The young woman with sapphire eyes, Zanna, scowled.
"Echo? Zanna—I've never heard of either of those names. Also, why did that last part sound so forced…" Niflheim said to himself. He made it his business to know the name of every major or rising guild, as well as the name of their guild leader and core players. The fact that Niflheim did not know of Zanna's identity meant that they were either relatively new or a small no-name guild still trying to make a name for themselves.
Niflheim leaned more towards the former. After all, to him, who had several years of experience in a top guild, Zanna resembled a complete amateur trying to gain recognition. Niflheim understood this all too well since he was also once at that point.
"We should try not to hurt them. I'm not sure why they're so on guard, but a magic signature isn't just erased from an insignia without reason. A big event must have taken place during the time we spent in the challenge." Niflheim said as he accessed his inventory and equipped his sword and shield.
Ding!
Niflheim raised his shield and blocked two incoming arrows from the ranger-type classes that stayed back to provide support fire. At the same time, a thin yellow layer formed around Niflheim's shield.
Woosh!
"There is no need to worry. Their leader seems a bit… dense. So talking will do us no good. Fortunately, I have quite the gentle hand when it comes to situations like this." Izroth said in a carefree manner as he turned his body sideways to avoid an incoming lance made of ice.
The remaining players from Zanna's squad finally arrived in melee range; however, before they could strike, a sudden unbearable pressure descended upon them.
"W-what is this? Why do I feel so weak all of a sudden?"
"Can't… Move…!"
"What's happening..?!"
"I don't really feel like fighting anymore…"
"What are you guys talking about?! Now's not the time for jokes!" Zanna shouted as she angrily stomped her foot.
She then looked to the rangers at her side and said, "Hawk! Dove! Keep laying down support fire! Hawk? Dove? What are you two-"
"Do this, Hawk. Do that, Dove. Just do it yourself. I'm tired." The male ranger, Hawk, stated.
"Ehhh? That sounds like a lot of work, leader. Why bother fighting? We'll never be good enough. Sigh…" The female ranger, Dove, sighed helplessly.
"Jeez! I don't get you guys! I really don't, all of you—you're all acting so weird! You said you'd follow me, and we'd make a guild, but now you're all being so mean!" Zanna's eyes began to tear up.
"I just wanted… I just… Waaaaaah!" Zanna cried out as she fell to her knees and started to bawl her eyes out.
"Meanies! All of you are just a bunch of meanies! Waaaaah! We're not friends anymore, you stupid heads! Waaaaah!" Zanna rolled around on the ground, throwing what could only be described as a tantrum!
"This is…" Izroth was caught off guard by the group's behavior—especially the young woman, Zanna, whose arrogant attitude abruptly took a full turn.
Izroth used his Soul Pressure, being careful not to pour too much Essence in and accidentally kill one of them; however, it should not have had this type of effect on them.
Niflheim also seemed surprised by the group's actions as he looked to Izroth and said, "Did you do something?"
"Yes, but its effects should not be this strong. They should only have lost some willpower and experienced a feeling of weakness in the process. But, at most, they would enter a frenzied state." Izroth stated.
Niflheim gave a helpless smile as he shook his head, "So that's it. No wonder my Demoralized Spirit skill has such strong effects. If it's mixed in with that, then it makes perfect sense."
Niflheim's Demoralized Spirit also weakened its opponents' willpower. It differed from Izroth's Soul Pressure when it came to its ability to inflict its targets with a Demoralized status. The lower the target's willpower, the greater the effects of Demoralized, and paired with Izroth's Soul Pressure, its effectiveness increased severalfold!
…
A few moments later, the players snapped out of the effects of Izroth and Niflheim's skills. However, Zanna had yet to stop throwing a tantrum, despite her squad's best efforts to calm her. The most bizarre thing was that out of all the players present, Zanna was the only one unaffected by Soul Pressure and Demoralized Spirit! In other words, this was just the way she normally behaved!
"Cheer up, leader. We didn't mean those things we said. It was the skills talking." Dove said as she attempted to comfort Zanna.
"No! Stupid, Dove! Meanie Dove! You jerk! Waaaah!" Zanna whined.
Hawk sighed whispered to Dove, "Dove, it's no use. There's no stopping her when she gets like this. We just have to wait until she calms down. There are also those guys to worry about, but…"
"…Yeah, they could have killed us with ease, yet they let us live. Perhaps they weren't lying about being our allies. Plus, even though it's just a feeling, those two are probably from a big guild. If so, we may have more pressing matters to worry about in our future, depending on who we just offended." Dove lamented.
As Izroth and Niflheim watched the spectacle unfold before them, Niflheim said, "How long are we planning to let this go on? It doesn't seem like she'll stop any time soon."
Niflheim furrowed his brows. He had seen his fair share of guild leaders, but never any that threw a tantrum of this level. If it were him in that situation, he would be too embarrassed to ever show his face again in front of his guildmates!
"You're correct. We have wasted too much time as it is. I'll calm her down." Izroth stated as he vanished and reappeared right before Zanna using his Enhanced Instantaneous Movement.
"What do you-" Niflheim could not finish his words before Izroth moved away. But, for some reason, he had a bad feeling. No matter how he looked at it, Niflheim failed to imagine someone like Izroth calming down another person.
"?!" The group was surprised by Izroth's sudden appearance as they instinctively went for their weapons.
"Don't. Unless you want to needlessly waste an event life." Hawk said as he prevented the squad from taking action.
"What do you intend to do with us?" Hawk asked as he took a closer look at Izroth. However, it did not take long for Hawk's facial expression to turn pale when he saw the player name displayed before him.
Doomed! Now that they had offended this person, they were undoubtedly doomed—that was the only thing that went through Hawk's mind at that moment. Of all the players to run into in RML, why did it have to be him?!
Dove noticed Hawk's expression shift and did not understand why until she looked for herself. She immediately knew why Hawk reacted the way he did, and her own reaction and thoughts were not too far off from his. This time, their leader may have bitten off more trouble than she could chew!
Zanna looked up at Izroth with teary eyes as she sniffled, "You bully…! Leave me alone! I don't wanna see you! I don't care, go to whatever camp! Bully! Meanie! Stu- piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid!!! Ahhhhhh!"
As Zanna was speaking, out of nowhere, Izroth grabbed the collar of her mage's combat robe and soared into the sky!
10 meters…
"Aahhhh! Stupid! Crazy!" Zanna yelled as she flailed her arms.
25 meters…
"Bully! Tyrant! Brute! Put me down! Let me go! Let me-!"
40 meters…!
"Are you sure you want me to let go? If you insist, then…" Izroth released Zanna as she rapidly dropped from the sky in a freefall!
Zanna nearly screamed her lungs out as she shouted, "Stupid! Why'd you let go?! Save me! Waaaaah!"
Swoosh!
Just as Zanna was about to hit the ground in a few meters, Izroth caught her by her clothing's collar.
"I have some questions that I need for you to answer," Izroth said calmly.
Zanna trembled and stuttered, "W-who would a-a-answer questions f-f-for a crazy b-b-brute like y-ooooooooooooooou!" Zanna was once again taken in the air, dropped, and caught before she hit the ground.
The occurred another two times, and after the fourth drop, Zanna had been virtually drained of tears.
By the time Izroth finished, Zanna sat in an obedient seiza position with her hands in her lap, and her flushed cheeks puffed up to show her objection as she held her tears back—afraid that she would get dropped from the sky again!
The members of Zanna's squad and her guildmates were shocked. This was the first time they had ever seen Zanna suppress her tantrum!
However, the methods used—wasn't it a bit too extreme? In the end, they could not help but feel sorry for their leader.
