As Niflheim was knocked away and his feet left the ground, he swiftly activated Break Restraints to free himself from the crowd control. He adjusted his body and landed somewhat roughly several meters away from where Tal'Nis stood.
The next moment, the blue flames on Niflheim's arm started to grow increasingly unstable and out of control. As a result, Niflheim was forced to cancel the assimilated shield as it returned to its original form.
"Even after blocking and using one of my lifesaving skills, I still took that many hits?" Niflheim said to himself as he stared at the large scar on the platform created by Tal'Nis' latest attack.
The sturdy platform had been cleaning sliced in two!
"Looks like my time's up." Niflheim thought to himself. He could not help but release a small sigh of frustration.
He finally understood how Colorful Nimbus felt when faced off against Tal'Nis. It was like being thirsty and having a cup of refreshing water right in front of you. But, every time you picked up the cup to take a sip, the water inside would abruptly vanish—only to reappear again when you set the cup down.
Somehow, Tal'Nis managed to flawlessly stay both just in and out of reach simultaneously. It made one feel as though she had several openings when, in reality, those openings never existed!
〈Battle Alert: Player Niflheim's time has expired! [Time Survived: 2 minute(s) 30 second(s)]〉
〈Battle Alert: Player Sacred Blade will be automatically transferred to the platform in 10 seconds!〉
A magic circle appeared beneath Niflheim's feet as he turned his gaze to Tal'Nis and the rain stopped falling from above.
"I want to know, this battle—is there any hope for us to clear this stage?" Niflheim asked in a straightforward manner.
It's not as though Niflheim believed that the battle was already over. After all, Sacred Blade and the party's top two damage dealers had yet to step onto the platform. However, Niflheim was curious as to whether or not Tal'Nis would be willing to respond to his question.
Tal'Nis lightly smiled and replied, "If hope does not exist where you reside, you merely have to discover a way to create your own. That is my answer."
"Create your own, is it?" Niflheim muttered to himself as the magic circle beneath his feet emitted a bright flash of light. In an instant, Niflheim was teleported off the platform.
…
Upon his arrival outside the platform, Niflheim wasted no time updating the others on the situation and giving his personal outlook on his fight with Tal'Nis.
Although everyone had been carefully observing the match from beginning to end, watching and experiencing firsthand were two different things.
Niflheim shared every piece of information he could with Sacred Blade before the countdown ended and they were transported onto the platform.
Of course, the main thing everyone was most curious about was how Niflheim's timer increased by thirty seconds. But, even Niflheim did not know the exact reason. So, in the end, he told the group what Tal'Nis said to him at that time.
In the meantime, Sacred Blade's turn commenced. The platform had been repaired to a state of perfection as no signs from the previous battle could be found.
At the same time, Niflheim proceeded to give more in-depth details regarding his experiences to Izroth and Morrighan as they spectated the ongoing battle. This included the answer to the question he asked Tal'Nis as he was being teleported off the platform.
"Ha? Create your own hope? Then, does that mean it's hopeless for us to win? To start with, how the hell do you even create something like hope in a situation that's hopeless?" Colorful Nimbus scowled.
He then continued, "You fought her, right? So you understand it as well—that annoying feeling of getting ready to cross the finish line only to have it relocated at the last second. She's clearly toying with us! She's been looking down on us ever since we came to this stage!"
"It's a question I don't have the answer for. Not to mention, if she is just toying with us as you say, then we should be thankful. Otherwise, if we had to face her head-on like the monsters on the first two stages, I'm afraid we would have already returned to the world we know empty-handed." Niflheim replied calmly.
"Thankful?! You…! Ah, whatever! Let's just be thankful she's treating us like some playthings! In fact, why don't we all get together and personally thank her after this is all over? We can even prepare a few gifts!" Colorful Nimbus scoffed as he angrily stomped away to the other end of the platform.
"Is it fine to leave him like that?" Morrighan asked as her gaze remained on the platform.
Niflheim heavily sighed as he shook his head and said, "He's just sulking. He'll get over it, eventually. I'm sure his pride took a hard hit. It's not easy having practically half of your skillset be useless and accepting that your opponent felt you were not as worthy as the one who came after you."
With healing skills being ineffective, Colorful Nimbus was essentially like a bird with his wings clipped considering it played a significant role in his hybrid class.
Add on to that his pride as a top player, the way Tal'Nis fought, and the fact that she felt that using the floating swords alone was enough to defeat him, Niflheim understood where Colorful Nimbus was coming from.
"Setting that aside for now… Izroth, Morrighan—based on what you two have observed so far, how confident in you in landing a hit on her?" Niflheim inquired.
Morrighan replied, "If it's just that much, there's at least a 90% chance. That being said…"
"Yeah, there's no guarantee that this is as far as she'll go," Izroth stated.
"It was a good call to choose individual matches. If we had been caught off guard by that rain, most of us would have been wiped out. Now that I know of its existence, I can prepare a few countermeasures." Morrighan commented.
She glanced over at Izroth and continued, "That is if you are unsuccessful. It is my understanding that at times my choice of words may come off as being too direct—I hope you did not take any personal offense."
"If I were so easily offended, I'm afraid the number of enemies I'd make would fill this world several times over," Izroth said in a carefree manner.
He then continued, "But, I fear your preparations are unnecessary—since I have no intention of losing, that is."
"Then, would you care to have a small friendly wager?" Morrighan asked.
'A wager?'
"I did not take the Phantom Queen as the gambling type," Izroth commented.
"You'd be correct in your assumption; however, I'm making a special exception," Morrighan informed.
"Very well. I don't necessarily mind taking part in a friendly wager. What did you have in mind? I should mention beforehand that I do not lack money." Izroth stated.
"The terms of the wager are simple. The winner of the wager is whoever succeeds in landing a hit on Tal'Nis and clearing the third stage. If both of us fail, then it will be considered a tie and neither of us has to forfeit anything. Of course, I, too, have no intention of losing." Morrighan explained.
"Interesting. So, what are you betting?" Izroth asked straight to the point.
"One A-rank magic item," Morrighan answered calmly.
"?!" Niflheim, who had been silently listening to the two speak the entire time, was shocked by Morrighan's offer.
She was actually willing to bet an A-rank magic item?! One had to know that even for top guilds acquiring magic items above C-rank was a challenging task. This had to do with the limited number of magic items in RML and the scarcity of those that were B-rank or higher.
A single A-rank magic item was powerful enough to be labeled a top guild's trump card. It was not an item just casually placed up for a wager!
'Oh? It's the same rank as the Twin Lasting Epoch Sentinels. To think she'd give up something of that value.'
After forming his first Soul Avatar, Empyrean, Izroth's Twin Lasting Epoch Sentinels became completely unusable. However, when it was functioning properly, the Twin Lasting Epoch Sentinels was a top-class magic item with various effects. However, the fact that Morrighan was willing to part with something so valuable left Izroth wondering just what the Phantom Queen wanted of him in exchange.
"I see… Since you're willing to offer such a high-end item, can it be that you're after the Hydra's heart?" Izroth questioned.
"No. A wager is only fair when both parties put up something of equal value. When it comes to the Hydra's heart you've obtained, even if I had an S-rank magic item to offer, I fear it may still fall short of its value." Morrighan stated.
"What I want is a portion of the Hydra blood you collected."
