Izroth's Sword of the Storm descended upon Maragos and carried with it an overbearing wave of destruction.
As the blade approached him, Maragos' expression darkened. He had not dropped his guard for a moment, but this person before him managed to create their own opportunity.
"I thought I overestimated this creature by using the Night Blooming Phase, but—it seems I've still looked down on them." Maragos internalized as the dark Ethos around him became abnormally calm.
The next moment, a crimson red liquid began to stream from Maragos' eyes as his pupils turned pitch black.
The liquid that fell from the anzeyta's eyes resembled blood; however, it appeared to be an unknown type of substance.
Izroth realized the abrupt changes happening to Maragos, but he did not pull back on his attack.
Swoosh!
Izroth's swung down with the full force of his Might of the Ancient Colossus. However, the second Izroth made contact with his sword, he immediately sensed that something was off.
Ding!
Izroth's Sword of the Storm managed to reach Maragos, but the results were far from expected.
'Oh? I detected the changes around him, but this is…'
At the moment, the edge of Izroth's weapon was pressed against Maragos' forehead; however, there were no signs of damage.
When Izroth struck the anzeyta head warrior just now, it felt as though he hit an indestructible wall.
The feedback from the impact turned Izroth's hands numb and almost caused his Sword of the Storm to fly out of his hands. Fortunately, thanks to the effects of Might, Izroth swiftly recovered from the physical irregularity of his numbed hands.
'To stop my first baneful sword while I have the effects of the Might of the Ancient Colossus active is by no means simple. But, more than that—this was a bit unexpected.'
Even though Izroth was somewhat surprised that Maragos successfully resisted his attack without being pushed back in the slightest, there was another issue that instantly diverted his attention.
Suddenly, two dark streaks of light sped towards Izroth from his left and right sides. At the same time, the dark spirals sent out earlier by Maragos caught up to Izroth and were quickly closing the distance from behind him. But, it did not stop there as two additional dark streaks of light rushed at Izroth from above, leaving him with essentially nowhere to retreat!
BOOM!
The barrage of attacks from all directions was in perfect sync with each other as they connected with flawless timing. Upon doing so, it generated an earth-shaking explosion of Ethos that was well contained to Izroth's position.
Simultaneously, within the controlled chaos, a bright red light shined in the sky above, causing the three anzeyta to instinctively turn their gaze upward. However, the light seemed to only last for a fleeting moment before disappearing.
Although the explosion was confined to a limited area, the aftermath had spread throughout the battlefield.
Several of the nearby trees were blown over, the grass within the vicinity had been razed, and the powerful aftershock cracked the earth, causing a large cloud of dust to rise.
A couple of seconds later, a single dark streak of light flashed inside the dust cloud as it split open and dispersed.
Three figures emerged from the dust cloud. Two were the anzeyta warriors Evgos and Edaros, who were still channeling the Wilting Gauntlet.
As for the last individual, they bore a striking resemblance to the anzeyta head warrior Maragos! If not for the blood-like substance that was still pouring from their eyes, it would have been easy to mistake them for someone else.
Maragos had undergone a major transformation. His eyes were pitch black with no hint of redness to them. His ashen gray skin had become a jet black charcoal color to the point where the light that hit his skin was lost. And, his physique had become and more well refined in a muscular nature.
In addition, a new pair of limbs protruded from Maragos' sides, granting him a total of four arms. Also, in each of his hands was a blade whose sheen mirrored the abyss.
This was the true form of the anzeyta race that only a select few could achieve after numerous life and death encounters—the Nightly Bloom.
"…" Maragos silently swept his gaze over the battlefield, carefully scanning the surroundings with his eyes.
Astratis was still sitting in a meditative pose behind the protection of his Lightning Barricade. As for his opponent, they were nowhere to be seen!
"To think someone on this mission besides the Son of Thunder could make me enter the Nightly Bloom. Be they man or creature—death by my hands is an honorable one." Maragos said as he walked towards Astratis with a pace neither fast nor slow.
It did not take long for the anzeyta head warrior to arrive in front of Astratis as he halted his steps before the Lightning Barricade.
"Even after entering the Nightly Bloom, breaking through this protective barrier will take some time. But, it is of no concern. Soon, Evgos and Edaros will finish conjuring the Wilting Gauntlet. After that, no matter what barrier he tries to hide behind, it will have no choice but to make way." Maragos commented as he looked down at Astratis.
With this, Maragos considered the mission given to him by his master as all but complete. Still, until Astratis was restrained and escorted to his master, Maragos would not lower his guard.
"Evgos, Edaros, prepare to- ?!" Maragos was about to give the order to attempt the first break through of Astratis' Lightning Barricade, but before he could do so, the barrier shattered.
Crrrrckle! BOOOOOOM!
"Impossible…!" Maragos exclaimed as a powerful wave of lightning flooded the battlefield and thunderstorms brewed in the sky above.
Before Maragos' eyes stood the Son of Thunder, Astratis, with an overwhelming aura around his being.
"Kneel." Astratis' voice reverberated.
Bang!
An unbearable pressure fell upon Maragos as he fell to his knees with cold sweats running down his back. His eyes were unable to meet Astratis' as he gazed at the ground. He felt that one wrong move would erase his very own existence.
As a warrior of death, Maragos did not fear death. However, there was an almost instinctual terror when faced with the Son of Thunder at the peak of their strength!
"It should have taken him a much longer time to recover even with a Mature Wing of the Ambrosia Tree…! How is this possible…?!" Maragos' thoughts raced as he tried to understand what was happening.
"I told you before, did I not? Let's see whether or not you have the ability to make me submit." Astratis' stated as he held the palm of his hand forward.
Crrrrckkkle!…BOOM!
Without warning, a lightning bolt descended from the sky, striking Maragos, causing his cries of anguish to fill the air. The following moment, the world around Maragos turned black as he was instantly vaporized into nothingness!
…
"Ahhh!" Maragos' roared as he looked towards the ground.
Currently, the anzeyta head warrior was on his hands and knees, sweating profusely. However, their mind was in a state of confusion.
What just happened? Without a doubt, they were supposed to no longer be a part of this world!
"…I died at the hands of the Son of Thunder just now, but… What is this sorcery…?!" Maragos muttered to himself as he lifted his head.
Immediately, Maragos saw he was still more than fifteen meters away from Astratis. But, even more bizarre was the fact that the Son of Thunder was still sitting calmly behind his Lightning Barricade! After witnessing this sight, Maragos underwent an even greater deal of confusion.
"Evgos, Edaros… They're-" Maragos slowly stood to his feet with a darkened expression and turned around to see the two anzeyta lying lifelessly on the ground.
Maragos clenched his fist and unleashed a violent battle cry. He did not understand what just happened, but for some reason, he felt as though he had been thoroughly deceived. Naturally, this caused him to be overcome with rage. After all, even the calmest of warriors would find it difficult to control themselves after their subordinates had been eliminated under their watch.
At the same time, an unusual shadow could be seen lurking behind one of the fallen trees. Soon enough, this shadow took on a humanoid form. Of course, this was other than Izroth!
'It's more effective than I anticipated.'
Izroth carefully observed Maragos from a distance after canceling the shadow form of his Shadow Movement skill.
A few moments ago, Izroth used his Shadow Movement skill to escape from Maragos' attack and erase his presence.
However, he prepared something beforehand that Maragos himself unknowingly assisted him with. It was the A-ranked magic item he received after his bet with Morrighan, the Eye of Macabre!
The red light from earlier was actually the Eye of Macabre being opened. The instant this took place, Maragos was trapped in a powerful illusion. But, he was not the only one under its influence. Evgos and Edaros were also caught in a similar illusion.
The two anzeyta had not fallen as Maragos thought.. And, Astratis had not regained his strength yet. Everything was merely the illusion generated by the Eye of Macabre!
