Realm of Myths and Legends

The Monsoon Death Shades attached to the other end of Niflheim's golden lines of light had the appearance of apparitions.

Each creature was approximately 1.5 meters tall with pale gray skin and glowing dark blue eyes. They were covered in some kind of tattered black aura that made it difficult to see if they possessed any unique facial or body features. However, there was a single thin limb-like object connected to their back with what seemed to be a large hand.

The hand was formed like a claw with sharp nails and hung freely above their heads.

When the Monsoon Death Shades appeared, the members of the 9th Division became fluttered by the overwhelming number of monsters.

Not just any monsters, but elite monsters that they knew virtually nothing about!

Niflheim, "Everyone, stay calm! Remember what we practiced!"

Niflheim spoke over voice chat and reminded everyone of what needed to be done.

The time they practiced may have been short, but he knew that the players they recruited into the 9th Division had a decent head on their shoulders. As long as they did not enter full panic mode and get too separated, things would not spiral out of control.

Many of the 9th Division members pushed down the feeling of uncertainty that rushed into their thoughts as they heard Niflheim's words.

They could not help but feel nervous given their current circumstances. The condition around them was not ideal for a head-on fight. Not to mention, this would be their first time actually fighting together as a division. But, they understood that if they perished here, one of their precious event lives would be lost. Therefore, they quickly gathered themselves and rushed into the battle formation their practice. And, despite the vicious winds and heavy rain slamming into them, they managed to pull it off.

The battle formation they constructed was one of the utmost simplicity. Those who were plated users or could take some form of punishment created a circle around the ranged and support-type players.

At the same time, those who relied on melee attacks positioned themselves to be the second line of defense. In addition, they were to strike the nearest target once one of the people in the main outer circle drew in aggro.

As for Niflheim, he was at the heart of the battle formation as he activated the AOE taunt skill, Guardian's Field.

Grwaaaaaak! Grwaaaaaak!

When Niflheim used Guardian's Field, he immediately drew the aggro of every Monsoon Death Shade as they redirected their focus toward him.

Although Niflheim increased the threat level of the Monsoon Death Shades in range, his primary goal was merely to prevent any of them from instantly penetrating through their circle of defense.

That's why, not long after Niflheim used Guardian's Field, some of the other players with taunting skills wasted no time drawing a portion of the aggro toward them.

This still left Niflheim to deal with the majority of the monsters; however, it reduced the amount of pressure placed on him.

Bang! Shrieeeeek!

One of the Monsoon Death Shades crashed into Niflheim's shield. But, when they made contact with the mysterious crystal at its center, they released a painful cry before circling back around.

〈Battle Alert: Player Niflheim has been affected by the skill «Monsoon Shade»!〉

〈Battle Alert: The skill «Perfect Condition» has cleansed all negative effects from the skill «Monsoon Shade». Player Niflheim will be immune to all similar negative effects for the next 10 seconds.〉

"A negative effect on the first attack? These things can't be taken too lightly." Niflheim thought to himself.

Thanks to his passive skill Perfect Condition, Niflheim was able to escape unscathed from the potential negative effects. However, it also meant that he could not discover its effects until someone else was affected by it.

The attacks from the Monsoon Death Shades happened one after the other and left no time for Niflheim to breathe. As a result, he did not hesitate to hand things over so he could redirect his main focus.

Niflheim, "Menerva, I'm passing over the main command to you!"

Menerva, "Understood."

Niflheim and Menerva came to an agreement that while the division was together unless Izroth himself stepped in, Niflheim would assume the role of command. This was to prevent any contradicting orders from being given and to make sure everyone remained on the same page.

If the weather conditions were not so severe, Niflheim might have not had to hand over command. But, since he could not get a good grasp of the battlefield in this situation, with a ranged class, Menerva should have no problem properly overseeing things.

As the 9th Division became locked in an intense battle with the Monsoon Death Shades, Izroth had yet to move as his gaze was locked to a place in the distance.

Izroth decided to entrust the Monsoon Death Shades to the 9th Division. Not only was this the perfect time for them to practice working together and taking commands, but it would also help to build up some trust while they watched each other's backs.

Of course, if things got too out of control, Izroth planned to step in. However, he had complete fate in Niflheim and Menerva's abilities to lead the new members of the 9th Division.

As for Izroth himself, there was another matter that caught his attention.

'It's similar, but... I'm not mistaken—it's not the same.'

Before the massive lightning bolt struck the ground and caused the Monsoon Death Shades to appear, Izroth detected an aura with his Energy Vision Sense. However, while the Monsoon Death Shades possessed a similar aura, there was something different about it compared to the one that Izroth sensed earlier.

Another strange occurrence was that the Monsoon Death Shades had an almost artificial-type aura.

That was not to say that they were not real threats or fake monsters; however, they did not feel like the standard elite monster one typically faced. It was almost as if they were all separate yet connected. Different, yet the same.

Izroth had seen this kind of aura pattern before with his Energy Vision Sense. And, it meant one thing.

'Where are you hiding...?'

Izroth patiently waited with his Sword of the Storm unsheathed.

Suddenly, one of the players on the outer circle of the battle formation cried out.

The voice belonged to one of the 10-Man Squad Leaders in Niflheim's squadron named Astral Knight.

They were one of the few fully heavy-plated players present. They were also one of the individuals who drew some of the aggro of the Monsoon Death Shades off Niflheim.

However, something bizarre happened to them that caused one of the players next to them to feel a chill down their spine.

Astral Knight, who had been fighting without issue, had suddenly stopped moving. His physical appearance had also undergone an unusual change with his skin turning pale gray and his eyes becoming pitch-black.

"Astral! Hey!" The player next to Astral Knight named Clouded Sky called out; however, there was no response.

Grwaaaaaak!

The next moment, the original wave of Monsoon Death Shades Astral Knight taunted were on their way to carry out the second wave of attacks.

Clouded Sky, "Something happened to Astral Knight! His appearance has changed, and he's not moving!"

Clouded Sky spoke up over voice chat. If Astral Knight did not stop the Monsoon Death Shades and keep aggro, then their battle formation would gain a glaring weakness.

Menerva, "Any support with a cleansing skill, use it to aid Astral Knight. Bellum, cover for him."

Woosh!

Bellum's sped across from the other side of the battle formation's second line and swiftly arrived in front of Astral Knight just as the Monsoon Death Shades were about to close in.

"What is she doing? Does she plan to take their attacks head-on with that gear?" Clouded Sky thought to himself with furrowed brows as he remained on high alert.

Based on the refined robes Bellum wore, Clouded Sky was skeptical of whether or not she could face multiple attacks from an elite monster without at least leather or light armor. But, what happened next, caused Clouded Sky's eyes to widen in shock as a look of disbelief found its way onto his face.

One moment, the Monsoon Death Shades were coming at them in full force, and the next, they dissipated into golden dust before they could even reach Bellum.

What left Clouded Sky speechless was the fact that he had not even blinked, yet he still had no idea what had just occurred right in front of his eyes.

By the time the last of the Monsoon Death Shades that attacked Astral Knight vanished, one of the supports used a cleansing skill and cleared the negative effects of the Monsoon Shade.

"T-thanks..." Astral Knight said as he regained his normal physical appearance.

Bellum gave a small nod before she made her way back to her previous position in the battle formation.

Menerva observed Bellum's actions from start to finish while making sure not to neglect other areas of the battlefield. However, even she was still somewhat puzzled by Bellum's class. It was likely a magic-type class, but her physical abilities were too high for her to be just another typical magic caster.

Izroth, on the other hand, was a bit surprised when he noticed Bellum's actions through his Energy Vision Sense.

'Oh? I've only seen it once before, but... If I'm not mistaken, what she just used is a form of Matter Manipulation magic.'

The first time Izroth caught a glimpse of Matter Manipulation magic was when the Commander of the General Support Unit, Seraphina used it back when he was deciding what war branch to join.

But, regardless of their similarities, what Bellum utilized was not the exact same as the Matter Manipulation used by Seraphina. And the difference had nothing to do with level or mastery had to do with a part of its core concept.