The startled cry immediately attracted the attention of the other Sacred Beasts members to the group's center; however, there were no signs of anything out of the ordinary.
"Geez, what's the deal? I thought we were under attack." One of the Sacred Beasts players commented.
"S-sorry. I could have sworn there was something next to me. Guess I've just been pulling too many all-nighters." The Sacred Beasts player who issued the startling cry sighed.
"Again?" One Shot Brick uttered as he furrowed his brows. First, there was Passive Shield, and now another member reacted strangely out of nowhere. It could be written off once, but to happen twice in such a short span of time after they entered the blood mist—something was definitely playing with their heads in this place.
"Thanks to the Evil Cleansing Pill, we don't have to rush through this blood mist. But, the sooner we can get out of here, the better." One Shot Brick thought to himself.
"We're picking up our pace!" One Shot Brick shouted as he hastened his steps.
"What do you make of it?" Meng Jiang asked.
"There is no living presence here as far as I can tell. Regardless, it appears that the longer we stay in this place, the more aggressive the effects the blood mist will display." Izroth stated calmly.
Even though he successfully resisted the damage portion of the blood mist, Izroth could feel it seeping deeper into his body with each passing moment.
'I thought the Evil Cleansing Pill and Poison Resistance would be enough to completely suppress it, but at this rate, it won't be long before even I become affected by this blood mist. Though it's a shame… I would have liked to take a sample of it with me to examine it further. It's unfortunate that I don't have a suitable vessel to contain it.'
Izroth was interested in the toxic properties of the blood mist, or to be more precise—its source.
Although he did not find anything out of place when he swept the chasm using his Energy Vision Sense, Izroth knew that it was unlikely for something as potent as the blood mist to lack a source of origin.
Just as this thought crossed Izroth's mind, his Soul Sense went off as he immediately turned his gaze upward.
The first thing that entered Izroth's sights were hundreds of scarlet eyes hidden in the darkness above the blood mist.
Chiiiiii…!!!
"Above us!" One Shot Brick called out.
The next moment, a swarm of phantoms rushed out of the darkness and towards the raid group!
The players from Sacred Beasts were surprised by One Shot Brick's outburst, as well as the abrupt appearance of the phantoms; however, there were no signs of panic or chaos in their actions.
After confirming the situation, the supporters activated a few buff skills to reinforce the party's overall survivability. Simultaneously, the members of Sacred Beasts quickly shifted their positions in a way that made sure every melee player was in range of at least one or more ranged player.
Given that the chasm did not have enough room for every person to maneuver freely, One Shot Brick and Passive Shield would not be able to reach everyone in time if there was an emergency. In situations that involved limited mobility, Sacred Beasts applied a pairing tactic to prioritize the protection of their ranged players, or more specifically, their supporters.
In less than a breath of time, the phantoms reached within striking distance of the group's ranged members. At the same time, the creatures were finally close enough for the system to reveal their information.
Name: Scarlet Phantom of the Mist(Elite)
Level: 50
HP: 1,000(100%)
"Their HP is too low for elite monsters! Be vigilant of unique effects!" One Shot Brick cautioned. He knew that it was not unusual for monsters with low HP to have a powerful skill or two at their disposal.
The Scarlet Phantoms swiftly began to shorten the distance between themselves and the group as they suddenly took on the form of a specter shrouded in a tattered black shawl.
The phantoms had no lower body; however, they had four arms. The two bottom limbs possessed long claws in place of the creature's fingernails, while the top two arms had razor-sharp blades at their tips. Besides the creature's glowing eyes hidden under its shawl, the Scarlet Phantoms had no other facial features. Just their vicious appearance alone was enough to send most players fleeing without a fight. Of course, neither Izroth nor Sacred Beasts had any intention of retreating!
The Sacred Beasts players did not attack immediately after the Scarlet Phantoms entered their range. Instead, they all readied themselves as if they were waiting for a signal of sorts.
30 meters…
20 meters…
15 meters…!
The instant the Scarlet Phantoms arrived within 15 meters, an ocean blue aura erupted from the front of the group less than one meter off the ground. This aura took the shape of a large anchor as it rapidly sunk into the earth, unleashing a wave of rippling tides that soon transformed into a swirling whirlpool and at its center was One Shot Brick!
Bang!
"Anchor of Deluge!" One Shot Brick shouted as a mighty force caused the Scarlet Phantoms to be pulled in his direction!
Anchor of Deluge was a taunting-type skill that belonged to One Shot Brick's class, Guardian of the Deep. It increased the threat level of all enemies within 15 meters. It also created a whirlpool beneath the user that acted as a vortex. This vortex slowly yet constantly dragged in enemies while steadily lowering their physical and magic resistances.
Although One Shot Brick could not taunt all the Scarlet Phantoms, he drew the attention of a sizable portion, which removed a lot of pressure off the party.
Passive Shield also utilized his AOE taunting skill to shift some of the focus towards him.
Once the tanks successfully grabbed as much aggro as possible, the ranged damage dealers finally launched their first wave of attacks!
An onslaught of arrows, magic missiles, throwing knives, and various distinct projectiles soared upward at the Scarlet Phantoms.
Woosh! Woosh!
The throwing knives, arrows, and other physical objects passed right through the Scarlet Phantoms as if they were not even there. As for the magic attacks, the moment they came into contact with a Scarlet Phantom, the creature scattered into a cloud of scarlet smoke.
Fortunately, the magic attacks alone were enough to clear the first wave of Scarlet Phantoms; however, it did not take long before the next wave rushed out in full force.
"They're specter types! Physical attacks won't work against them!" Banshee warned.
"Physical attackers, focus on defense! Casters, try not to use any spells that take more than one second to channel! We have to keep moving towards the exit while we attack!" One Shot Brick commanded.
There was no guarantee that the Scarlet Phantoms would stop spawning any time soon, and with the heal reduction debuff, as well as the damage from the blood mist, One Shot Brick felt that it was too risky to engage in a drawn-out fight that may or may not have an end.
The Sacred Beasts players followed One Shot Brick's command as they continued to advance through the chasm while they fended off the Scarlet Phantoms. Luckily, the creatures possessed low HP and could be taken care of in one shot; however, it was only a matter of time before the magic casters ran out of AOE skills, and a few Scarlet Phantoms took advantage to slip through the cracks.
Meanwhile, at the rear of the group…
'Appraisal.'
〈System Alert: Your mastery level is too low to appraise this target!〉
'As I thought… The skill mastery for Appraisal is still too low to inspect high-level monsters.'
Izroth did not have the chance to test Appraisal on a high-level monster since he acquired it; therefore, he was curious if it would work on something like the Scarlet Phantoms. Sadly, the skill's mastery was still too low to reveal even the most basic of hidden information about the monsters.
'It seems like this skill won't be too useful against high-level targets for some time. Still, to think that these creatures managed to get this close while avoiding my detection…'
Initially, Izroth thought that he was immune to all but the blood mist's healing reduction debuff. Undoubtedly, he felt the blood mist's effects becoming stronger as he journeyed deeper into the chasm, but it appeared that matters were more complex than he expected.
Bizarrely, nothing involving the blood mist showed up in the battle logs, which led Izroth to a certain conclusion.
'Effects that fail to show up in the battle logs… Is it the work of a curse?'
