Realm of Myths and Legends

Siren's Song—this was the active effect attached to the Song of the Siren trinket that Izroth obtained after he defeated the Head Master of Siren, Smiling Demon.

It greatly enhanced the perception of Izroth and his allies while simultaneously lowering that of his enemies. This made it ideal for group fights and small skirmishes. More importantly, it was an item capable of changing the flow of battle.

Not long after Siren's Song took effect, the members of the 9th Division and 5th Unit finally started to push back and gain some ground against the shadahi.

With the enhancement to their perception, those who were a part of the vanguard were able to react in a much more timely manner when it came to intercepting the Demonic Charge skill of the shadahis.

Furthermore, the execution and timing of the heals or protective-type skills being cast by the supporters improved greatly.

Of course, the damage dealers also benefited substantially as the shadahis revealed several openings in their defenses that did not previously exist. Because of this, they managed to keep up a more consistent stream of damage.

However, even though things were looking up for them, there was still one major problem, and that was, of course, the shadahis ability to gain immunity to the attacks they executed.

Crash!

An ice javelin exploded as it impacted one of the Lesser Shadahi Patrollers located several meters away from its caster.

The spell came from a young man with dark blue hair and light blue eyes who wore a lavish set of mage robes.

"I don't know what that sound was just now, but it slowed down the reaction time of these mindless beasts. They might as well be standing still with how sloppy their movements have become." The young man said with a surfacing look of confidence.

The young man was a player by the name of Ace Viper. He was one of the Lieutenants of the 5th Unit under Lances' command and an elite member of a guild called Titan.

While Titan was not considered a part of the top ten guilds, it was still recognized as a strong force that placed somewhere within the top fifty guilds in RML. Therefore, even if their influence did not compare to that of guilds like Cross Haven or Sleeping Gardenia, they could not be underestimated.

Ace Viper's gaze landed on Noir before shifting over to Izroth.

"Tch... I thought I was making some good progress these days, but those guys are monsters. Especially that Izroth guy. I heard rumors that he uses the combat master class, but I don't buy it one bit. He probably lucked out and obtained a super rare class. I guess he just doesn't want everyone to know the truth, huh?" Ace Viper said to himself.

With the skills and power Izroth displayed so far, Ace Viper was convinced that Izroth was deceiving others by pretending to be a combat master.

It was well known that many guilds invested a lot of resources into exploring the combat master class in great depth in order to gauge its usefulness. This effort heavily increased in popularity after the feats surrounding Izroth's name spread throughout RML.

As for the results, they were exactly as one would expect—terrible. Regardless of the approach used by guilds, the answer always came back the same without fail. Even if one could by chance develop one or two high-ranked skills with the combat master class, it was more efficient, not to mention a lot easier, to pick a pre-existing class with a skill tree.

It was true that the combat master class could also learn class-specific skills from skill books; however, the amount of money necessary for them to be anywhere near viable was too costly. Of course, that was if one could even find the proper skill books in the first place. And, when it came to high-ranked skill books, the market for them simply did not exist. They were either all purchased by the top guilds and used for their core members or learned by the person who found them.

In simple terms, even if guilds were willing to spend the money to raise a viable combat master, the return on their pricey investment would not be worth it.

"I wonder how much money those top guilds are willing to fork out when it comes to information about him. Well, I might as well try to get as much as I can out of those guys with bottomless pockets." Ace Viper pondered silently.

From the moment he discovered Izroth's identity, and they entered the Night Lord's Crypt, Ace Viper had been secretly recording the events that transpired.

Since video recording in RML required money and was not cheap by any means, Ace Viper had already spent a considerable amount to keep the recording process going. However, he understood that, ultimately, it would be a small price to pay compared to what he could get out of those top guilds in exchange.

"I heard Broken Exile's offering 100 gold coins to those with any unknown knowledge about the owner of the Mystical Realm Palace. I can only imagine how much they'll pay for actual video footage of him in action. Should I try to befriend him and get some more information out of him?" Ace Viper thought to himself as he tried his best to control his excitement from the imminent payday ahead of him.

"Look out!" A voice called out.

"?!" Ace Viper snapped out of his daze as a towering shadow loomed over him.

When Ace Viper turned his head, the first thing that greeted him was the sight of a huge red hand with claws that caused his eyes to widen in shock.

BANG!

In the blink of an eye, Ace Viper found himself positioned several meters away from where he last stood as cold sweats ran down his back.

"That was a close call...! I got too distracted. But, who..." Ace Viper's looked over in the direction of where he was previously located and saw the creature who had just attacked him being blocked by a shield.

"Are you insane?! Why are you just standing around like a lost puppy?!" Niflheim reprimanded as he pushed back with his shield and knocked the shadahi back a few steps.

Woosh! Slam!

Niflheim used the skill Shield Smash to temporarily stun the shadahi in place as he glared back at Ace Viper in his state of stupor.

"T-thanks." Ace Viper said as he tried to calm his shaken nerves and pull himself together.

"You can thank me by keeping your mind on the battle and getting yourself together!" Niflheim stated firmly as he followed up with a sword strike on the shadahi.

Just now, in order to save Ace Viper, Niflheim utilized the skill Safeguard Exchange to swap places with him after realizing the danger he was in.

But, the cooldown for Safeguard Exchange made it so that it was unusable for the rest of the battle. Using it skill to save someone who lost focus in the midst of a fight left a bad taste in Niflheim's mouth.

"He may not be a part of the 9th Division, but since we were instructed to work together, I decided to cover for him. That being said... How can someone drop their guard so easily under these circumstances?" Niflheim contemplated as he inwardly frowned and swallowed his frustrations.

Niflheim hoped that his scolding got through to Ace Viper and woke them up from whatever daydream they were in.

"That guy... I could have been imagining it; however, from where I stood, it looked like he was watching Izroth." Niflheim thought to himself as he kept the shadahi he confronted at bay.

Niflheim knew that it was not surprising for someone to be in awe of seeing Izroth fight firsthand. After all, his game mechanics and skillful movements he made look effortless were things to be admired.

The thing that troubled Niflheim was that the expression on Ace Viper's face right as he saved him was not one of admiration or awe but rather one of self-delight. But, for some reason, that look of self-delight caused Niflheim to sense that something was off about Ace Viper.

Unfortunately, given the current circumstances, he did not have time to dwell on those thoughts and decided to push them to the back of his mind for the time being.

"I'll try to keep an eye on him. For now, I have far more important things to worry about." Niflheim decidedly quietly.

At the same time, near where the coffin was located at the chamber's center, Izroth noticed an unusual influx of energy pouring into the coffin. This time, instead of the coffin sharing energy with the spatial rift, it appeared that the spatial rift itself was reinforcing the coffin with its own portion of energy.

'Is it trying to forcibly speed up the revival process?'

Right as that thought entered Izroth's mind, he received an alert from the system.

〈System Alert: The Time Limit for the quest «Hidden Guardian of the Mortal Realm» has been modified.〉