Not long after Bellum made her move, the other members of the 9th Division started to gain their footing.
“Cover me!” One of the players shouted as they were retreating back into the center of the formation after securing an elimination on one of the Monsoon Death Shades.
Swoosh! Grwaaaaaak! Bang!
As the player retreated safely into the center of the battle formation, the Monsoon Death Shade chasing him was intercepted by one of the heavy-plated users protecting the outer perimeter.
As they kept their momentum driving forward, the Monsoon Death Shades started to quickly fall one after the other.
The most frustrating thing to deal with was the attacks of the creature, but rather the effects of the Monsoon Shade. Not only did it cause those affected to be rendered temporarily immobile, they soon discovered that if it were not taken care of fast enough, it would spread to other players who were nearby.
In order to prevent this from happening, Menerva gave an order for the closest player next to the person who was affected to call it out so that their supports could use a cleansing skill. However, there was a problem with this strategy that Menerva was well aware of.
Even though all the players present consumed a Five Cycles Pill and improved their overall senses, the weather conditions made it challenging to know what was going on more than a couple of meters in front of them. Therefore, despite the relative closeness of their battle formation, it was still difficult to always react accordingly before the Monsoon Shade spread to other players.
Menerva, “No one is to move alone. Do not abandon the person closest to you. For now, I will take over the responsibility of calling out to the supports.”
The next moment, Menerva’s eyes emitted a light golden glow as the scene around here became much clearer. It was as if the heavy rain and vicious winds had suddenly been tamed. But, this was not actually the case.
In reality, this was merely the effect of the skill, Vision of Purification. It was a skill that allowed Menerva to peer through and ignore any outside obstructions. However, this skill had a major drawback in that the outside obstructions could also include certain enemy attacks.
This meant that if she used it recklessly against the wrong enemy, it would put her in an unknown state of danger.
However, after observing the Monsoon Death Shades for a while, Menerva believed it was safe to use due to their collection of skills.
After Menerva activated her Vision of Purification, the fight took a huge turn. Because of well-timed call-outs, the supports were able to swiftly cleanse those affected by the Monsoon Shade, and the players could return their full focus toward the assault.
But, just when the number of Monsoon Death Shades was being culled, out of nowhere, a second massive lightning bolt struck down not too far away from where the first one hit.
Grwaaaaaak!
Just like last time, another wave of Monsoon Death Shades emerged from the crack in the ground created by the strike. This time, however, the number of Monsoon Death Shades doubled to more than forty creatures!
When the players of the 9th Division witnessed the sight of the small army of terrifying creatures, they felt their hearts nearly jump out of their chests.
It was no wonder this place had a name that warned others to beware of death and Tempest was not foolish enough to send their troops to march through this area. Forget the harsh weather conditions. Even if the environment were in their favor, this kind of endless stream of enemies would a nightmare to face!
“What do we do…?” One of the players muttered to themselves as they tried to push down their nerves.
If they turned back now, the Monsoon Death Shades would most likely pick them off one by one. However, if things continued on in this manner, then wasn’t it only a matter of time until they were overrun by these creatures?
Menerva furrowed her brows when the second wave of Monsoon Death Shades emerged from the crack. They had just begun to regain their footing, and now they were presented with an unexpected dilemma.
“The supports will not be able to cleanse those affected forever with their cooldowns. We have to find another way. More importantly… What is he up to?” Menerva thought to herself as her gaze landed on Izroth.
It did not take long for Menerva to notice that, besides unsheathing his sword, Izroth had yet to make a move since the fight broke out.
Menerva understood that this could only mean one thing—he was waiting for the right opportunity.
“The right opportunity… I see. These creatures, what he sensed earlier—there must be a source.” Menerva internalized.
It was highly uncommon for elite monsters to appear in a swarm like the Monsoon Death Shades.
There were only two instances where something like that occurred. The first was inside dungeons and raids. As for the other, it was when something more powerful was summoning them to do its bidding. And, if that was the case, with their current strategy, they were only bidding time until they were wiped out by an endless wave of monsters!
Menerva, “Everyone, prepare to move north on a three count at my command. Do not break the formation.”
Bang!
Niflheim blocked one of the Monsoon Death Shades and send it flying away as he slashed out with his sword.
Menerva, “Begin.”
“Move north? Did she discover something?” Niflheim thought to himself.
Niflheim knew that if they moved north now, even if they tried their best to maintain the formation, it would inevitably fall apart. After all, they only roughly practiced the formation in a mostly stationary position. To keep a solid formation while moving and being under attack from multiple sides was something even a well-trained division would find hard to pull off.
However, Niflheim also understood that Menerva was no fool. Therefore, Niflheim followed her instructions and slowly led the division’s advancement north of its current position.
As Niflheim moved, the others followed as they tried their best to keep the formation from falling apart.
To help with their timing, Menerva introduced a count system. So, when she mentioned a three count, the entire formation would take three steps, count to three and then take another three steps. They would repeat these steps until Menerva gave the command to hold their position.
The stops in between each steps made it so that anyone who was off on their count did not fall too far behind and could readjust as they moved. While it was not a perfect system, the simplicity of it was something much needed considering the limited amount of time they had to prepare.
Nonetheless, despite their best efforts, the constant moving and reaction to enemy attacks started to cause several small openings to appear within the battle formation.
“We will not be able to maintain this formation much longer. He has to make a move soon.” Menerva thought to herself.
The reason Menerva chose to move the members of the 9th Division had to do with Izroth’s intention.
If there was someone or something truly controlling the Monsoon Death Shades, there was a high chance that there was a limit on how far away it could be from the creatures it summoned. There was also the possibility that moving away from the source of the lightning strikes could remove the threat of the Monsoon Death Shades altogether. Either way, it would have to choose to leave them alone or reveal itself if it decided to pursue them. Both choices were better than sitting around and waiting for it to chip away at them slowly.
At the same time, Izroth moved alongside the division outside of the main formation. He kept his Energy Vision Sense at its current maximum range of twenty meters and did not neglect his natural senses as he scanned the area thoroughly. And, just as it seemed that nothing would change, a familiar flame appeared at the very edge of his Energy Vision Sense in front of them. It was the same flame he detected before the arrival of the Monsoon Death Shades!
Just like last time, the flame quickly started to fade just as fast as it arrived. But, Izroth had no plans on letting it escape this time!
‘I won’t let you get away from me a second time.’
Zeeeeut!
Izroth, “I am going on ahead.”
Izroth immediately activated his Instantaneous Movement and arrived right next to the source of the flame.
When Izroth moved to that location, he did not see anything around him. The flame showed by his Energy Vision Sense also vanished into thin air. However, the system information popped up and confirmed that he was not simply seeing things—even if nothing was there.
Name: Monsoon Fiend of Death, Immortal Ruler Morsanus(AREA BOSS)
Level: ???
HP: ??? (100%)
