The closer the party moved towards the large mass, the more frequent a Chaos Fiend would appear. The party's surroundings also experienced an increased rate of cycling through various environmental patterns.
Though what interested Izroth was one of the items Luna picked up after they eliminated one of the first Chaos Fiends. It was a small purple crystal with three orbs at the center of it moving in an orderly fashion. According to Luna, the crystal was known as an Order Fragment.
In total, three Order Fragments had dropped from the Chaos Fiends that were defeated thus far. The usage of the Order Fragment was outlined clearly, yet it left something more to be desired.
Name: Order Fragment(Unknown)
Rank: Unknown
Usage: Sets order to chaos.
Special Note: This item cannot exist outside of the Chaotic Dogma Realm.
Izroth was still thinking about the Order Fragment's usage and cautioned against using it right away. At the moment, they were in a place where logic did not necessarily apply. It may seem like a blessing only to turn out to be a curse. However, they may not have much of a choice but to risk it at this rate.
'There are now thirty Chaos Fiends and the number seems to only be increasing. At this rate, we'll have no choice but to turn and fight. However...'
If Izroth was by himself, then he could easily shake the Chaos Fiends loose or even slowly deal with them one at a time. But, even if he stayed back and lured the Chaos Fiends away, there was no guarantee that more would not spawn and chase after the rest of the party.
If that happened then there was only one result that awaited the rest of the party, and that was an existence wipe.
'I suppose we'll just have to take that chance.'
"Don't stop running. In ten seconds, I'm going to grab the aggro on the Chaos Fiends. During the ten second wait, do not attack any further." Izroth said as one of the Chaos Fiends leaped towards him with its deadly claws.
Izroth leaned slightly to the side and evaded the claw while sending out a counterattack, sweeping his Blade of Lighting three centimeters upward from the center area of the Chaos Fiend's body.
«Critical Hit»
-808
After cutting at the Chaos Fiends a few dozens of times, Izroth had located one of their vital points. Since none of the regular vital points seemed to work, Izroth figured that as long as he cut from as many different angles as possible, he would eventually discover a weakness. In the end, his efforts had paid off.
"What do you intend to do? Not even you can handle thirty elite monsters." Luna frowned when she heard what Izroth suggested. If they ran away and left him to deal with things alone, then even with his amazing abilities, it was unlikely that he would survive.
Luna was against sacrificing someone just to save herself or someone else. It just did not sit well with her and so she protested the idea. It was at moments like these that Zi Yi would throw in her opinion, however, her attention was currently on attacking the Chaos Fiends. Zi Yi did not have the leisure to read lips.
Izroth gave a carefree smile, "I have a plan. However, if all of you are around then it'll only make things more complicated. Once you reach the large mass, try using some of the Order Fragments. I believe if you do so then our senses will return to us." Izroth explained.
Luna furrowed her brows as she thought deeply about it. She was unwillingly to leave Izroth behind, but she understood that since she was the one to lose her sense of smell, she had to stay with the rest of the party.
"Brother Izroth, we can't just leave you to face this alone! What kind of man would I be if I ran away from a battle?!" Guan Yu voiced his objection.
"One of the most important things in battle is knowing when to advance and when to retreat. If things don't go as planned, I'll simply escape using my Flickering Steps. Right now; this is the best available plan. Though if anyone has a better idea then we can, of course, go with that one instead." Izroth said.
Luna and Guan Yu were unable to come up with a better idea on the spot and so, they could only reluctantly go along with Izroth's plan.
"Be careful..." Luna waved to get Zi Yi's attention to inform her that they would be moving on ahead.
"He's insane!" Were the first words to leave Zi Yi's mouth, but she herself understood that Izroth's plan had the highest chances of success. Even if it was a long shot, what other choice did they have at this point?
Exactly ten seconds later, Izroth's Flickering Steps was off cooldown and he immediately activated the skill. His silhouette flickered throughout the crowd of monsters slashing them mercilessly with his sword. Since the other party members halted their assaults, it was quite easy for Izroth to gain control over of the aggro.
"Now!" Luna pointed forward and everyone broke away from Izroth as he led the Chaos Fiends in a different direction. A few moments later when they managed to create some distance between themselves and the Chaos Fiends, they noticed that no additional monsters had spawned to chase after them.
"We have to hurry. If this doesn't work, we have to rush back and help Izroth before it's too late." Luna said as the others nodded their heads in agreement and began to move with hastened speed towards the large mass.
Meanwhile, Izroth was being attacked from every possible angle by the thirty Chaos Fiends. With Flickering Steps active, Izroth focused mainly on dodging the incoming attacks and counterattacking when possible.
Swoosh!
One of the Chaos Fiends nearly touched Izroth with its claw, however, it missed by less than one centimeter.
'The sounds and vibrations are becoming too concentrated in one area. If I'm unable to find a way to separate each individual sound, it'll become troublesome once my Flickering Steps end.'
It suddenly dawned on Izroth, there was one thing he had yet to attempt that may help with his current situation. Or, at the very least provide him with enough time to think of an alternate plan.
Izroth shifted his focus on attacking instead of defending. His attacks were not random and were concentrated on a specific group of four Chaos Fiends. Hundreds of palms shot out towards the Chaos Fiends with only one true palm hidden amongst them.
«Critical Hit»
-808
«Critical Hit»
-808
...
Izroth's palm connected with the four Chaos Fiends with incredible precision. However, he did not stop there. His Blade of Lightning instantly released an oppressive aura that engulfed one of the Chaos Fiends and caused it to shriek as if it were fearful of the sword. The feared effect for Izroth's First Baneful Sword: Destruction had been successful in activating against the Chaos Fiend.
«Critical Hit»
-3,230
〈System Alert: Congratulations, you have successfully defeated Chaos Fiend〉
〈System Alert: You have been awarded 10,571 EXP〉
〈Battle Alert: The cooldown for the skill «First Baneful Sword: Destruction» has been reset.〉
Izroth's Blade of Lightning continued to reap the lives of the other three Chaos Fiends due to the cooldown time reset on his skill. Due to him defeating the Chaos Fiends on his own and the level difference, the system awarded him with much more exp than usual. He quickly swiped the loot that dropped from the four Chaos Fiends.
The random vibrations were finally making it too difficult to keep track of the various Chaos Fiends. Therefore, Izroth had to act fast before he lost control of the situation.
After he grabbed the loot, he was immediately besieged with nowhere to escape. However, just before the Chaos Fiends were about to overrun him, a strange yet beautiful multi-colored crystal started to grow on various parts of his body.
In the next moment, Izroth's entire body was covered with the multi-colored crystal. He used the skill from his Crystal Sea Head Ornament, Crystallization. Although he could not perform any actions while within the crystal, he would be invulnerable to all sources of damage for twenty seconds.
'This will give me twenty seconds to find a solution. In the meantime, they should have reached their destination by now.'
...
Luna, Zi Yi, Halls, and Guan Yu carrying Valentine reached their destination. The first thing that stood out was the constant change in temperature. One moment it was extremely hot and in the next, it became ice cold. The fluctuation appeared to occur in random intervals.
Floating above the ground was a huge black sphere with dark energy spinning around. It released a light purple hue on its surface and although it seemed to be solid, it was actually formless like a shadow.
Luna examined the black sphere and was surprised to find out that it was actually a magic item!
Name: Source of Despair(Magical Item)
Rank: SS
Durability: ∞(Indestructible)
State: Active
Usage: Unknown
Special Note: A concentrated source of chaos that generates despair in various forms.
There was not much information available besides what was listed on the special note section of the magical item.
"An SS-ranked magic item...!" Guan Yu was shocked. He had not even seen an A-ranked magic item, let alone one that was SS-ranked. However, it would explain why the effects were so strong and had such a terrifying range.
Zi Yi was also stunned when she realized that she was staring at an SS-ranked magic item. As for Luna and Halls, they had already seen an S-ranked magic item. Even though they were startled a bit, they were not in the same state of shock as Guan Yu and Zi Yi.
Luna approached the black sphere and reached out to touch it.
Bzzt!
Luna's hand was knocked away by one of the streams of dark energy circling around the black sphere.
"Careful!" Zi Yi called out. Zi Yi thought that it was unlike Luna to be so reckless.
Luna only gave a slight nod. She then removed a few Order Fragments from within her inventory. "Sets order to chaos..." Luna said in a low voice as she read over the effect of the Order Fragment once again. While she did not know if it would work, she had to at least try.
If the Source of Despair was a concentrated source of chaos, then there was a good chance that the Order Fragments would have a purifying effect on it.
Luna reached out once again towards the black sphere, except this time she had an Order Fragment in her hand.
The dark energy once again lashed out in her direction, however, when it was about to come in contact with the Order Fragment, it retreated in a fearful manner. It was as if it was alive and afraid of touching the Order Fragment.
When the Order Fragment came into direct contact with the Source of Despair, the entire Chaotic Dogma Realm began to shake violently as if an earthquake had arrived. The Source of Despair was attempting to resist the power of the Order Fragment.
When Luna saw that it was working, she immediately removed another Chaos Fragment from her inventory and pressed it into the Source of Despair.
When the second Order Fragment touched it, the black sphere shrunk in size. It had actually decreased in size by 33%! The Source of Despair lost a third of its total mass by becoming exposed to the Order Fragments.
Luna decided to put all of the remaining Order Fragments into the Source of Despair.
Ooooooooom...
The violent earthquake stopped throughout the Chaotic Dogma Realm and everything became eerily silent.
When Luna checked the status of the Source of Despair, she noticed that its state had changed from active to dormant.
"Did it work?!" Zi Yi shouted. However, when Zi Yi realized that she was shouting, she immediately lowered her voice. "This... I can hear again...!" Zi Yi had regained her ability to hear once the Source of Despair entered a dormant state.
"You did it!" Halls yelled. But, his loud voice was on purpose. Halls laughed happily as he was able to talk again.
Luna and Guan Yu had also recovered the senses they had lost. They had been successful in recovering their lost senses. Which meant that Izroth should also have his vision back by now.
However, there was one thing that they did not understand. Valentine, who was still being lugged around by Guan Yu, had yet to move in the slightest.
"Hey, I'm not going to continue carrying you around now that we have our senses back!" Guan Yu said as he shook Valentine. However, there was no response.
"What's going on...?" Luna furrowed her brows. Everyone should have been released from the negative effects of the Source of Despair. However, Valentine was still under its influence!
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Izroth had caught up to his party and arrived at the now dormant Source of Despair. It was his first time seeing a magic item this huge within RML.
When the Source of Despair entered into its dormant state, the Chaos Fiends had vanished into thin air. It was only natural to conclude that the Source of Despair was behind the appearance of the Chaos Fiends.
'It may be that the Source of Despair created the Chaos Fiends as a defensive mechanism to protect itself. But...'
However, there was one thing wrong with that line of thinking. The Chaos Fiends dropped Order Fragments when they were defeated. Why would a magic item produce a way to protect itself while also making itself increasingly vulnerable at the same time?
Though at the moment, there was an even bigger issue that needed to be resolved. Valentine had not regained any of his senses when everyone else had already recovered their own, according to Luna.
This caused Izroth to revisit his speculation about the sixth door and its meaning. If it was possible to figure that out, then there was a good chance that they would be capable of finding out exactly what happened to Valentine that was different from themselves.
Plop!
'Hm?'
Izroth felt something wet touch his nose. Soon after, the sound of rain drizzling down from the skies could be heard and felt. Then only a few moments later, the rain began to pour down. At first, it was just a light sprinkle, however, it had quickly transitioned into a heavy downpour.
'Rain?'
Unlike before when it constantly cycled through environmental settings, this time it stayed raining even after a full twenty seconds. It did not appear that it was going to let up anytime soon.
"Why did it start raining all of a sudden?" Halls asked. The rain was so heavy that it made it difficult to see into the distance.
"Could it have something to do with the Source of Despair being in a dormant state?" Zi Yi speculated.
"That is a possibility, however, the strange part is that rain was not a part of the original cycle changes. Also, this seems to be a permanent change, at least for now." Luna responded.
Ding... Ding!
There was an almost melodic sound that echoed throughout Izroth and his party's surroundings. It resembled the sound that harmonious bells would make when struck with a small tool in a synchronous manner.
"What a beautiful melody..." Luna muttered to herself.
Everyone else was thinking the same thing as Luna at that moment. The melody itself was almost mesmerizing to listen to.
As the sound of the bell resonated, a pathway started to form within the heavy rain. In just a few seconds, a complete pathway had formed that was untouched by even a single drop of rain. It was unclear where the pathway led, however, it was clear that this was the way they would have to go if they wanted some answers.
"We'll follow the pathway. For now, Guan Yu will continue to carry along Valentine until we find a way to fix whatever it is that may have happened to him." Izroth instructed.
"What will we do if the Source of Despair enters into its active state again?" Zi Yi inquired. Since it was currently within a dormant state, there was a good chance that it would only temporarily remain that way.
Izroth examined the Source of Despair one last time before he decided. "Since there's no way of knowing for sure, it's just a risk we will have to take. Hopefully, it's a bridge we will not have to cross any time soon. But for now, we will not obtain anything else useful from this location."
No one had any further concerns and so, Izroth, Luna, Halls, Zi Yi, and Guan Yu who carried Valentine, started down the pathway that revealed itself within the heavy rain.
...
Izroth and his party had been walking down the pathway for around fifteen minutes now and there was no end in sight. It was as though no matter how far they walked, the end just simply did not want to show itself.
However, just as the group was becoming a little restless, a swirling vortex appeared before them. It was similar to the vortex they encountered after they first met with Zendai Proximus and the others. The only difference was that this vortex was extremely stable and looked incredibly pure.
"Could it be that someone has already reached the end and this vortex is for us to go back?" Halls was startled by the sudden appearance of the vortex.
"That's highly unlikely. We were told that we would automatically be teleported out of this place once someone reached the end. So far, it does not seem that we are being forced to step into the vortex. There is a possibility that this vortex leads to somewhere totally different." Zi Yi stated.
"There is also a chance that it could transport us out of the Chaotic Dogma Realm and we would have no way to return." Luna said.
Everyone believed that it would be unfortunate if that were the case since they would not get a chance to acquire the rewards within the Chaotic Dogma Realm. However, in the end, there was only one way to find out.
Izroth was the first to walk into the vortex. He was soon followed by Halls and then the rest of the party members. After everyone had stepped through the vortex, it disappeared and the rain had come to a sudden halt.
The Chaotic Dogma Realm felt as if it were separated into numerous worlds that had all been formed from the chaos. It was like constantly removing layer after layer only to find that there was no center or core, only chaos that was buried beneath further chaos.
When Izroth and his party rematerialized on the other side of the vortex, they were inside of a temple that closely resembled the one that was in ruins, the Unknown Temple of Ruins with six wooden doors. It was much more refined and there were not any signs of rubble or dust.
There was one major difference between this temple and the Unknown Temple of Ruins. Instead of six wooden doors, this temple had six stone tablets, each with different writings carved into them. There were no doors or portals that led to anywhere else and there was only this room that existed as if it were a world of itself.
However, what really grabbed Izroth and his party's attention was a pure black egg that sat comfortably upon a podium. The egg itself seemed as if it were created from a high-quality unblemished marble. It had no flaws in sight.
When Izroth examined the egg, he was able to discover only one piece of information about it, its name.
Name: Egg of Chaos(Unknown)
There was nothing else to determine exactly what the egg was. They did not even know if it was a magic item or not.
"There's something about this place that feels almost... Otherworldly..." Luna said without thinking.
Although the others were quietly looking around, they all agreed with Luna. Even the usually talkative Guan Yu and Halls were silent.
Izroth walked over towards the six stone tablets and swept his gaze across them.
'Sight, hearing, touch, smell, speech, and soul... Soul?'
Could it be that the sixth door represented one's soul? It would certainly explain why Valentine was unable to perform any action whatsoever. Without a soul, one's body would just be an empty shell without purpose.
Izroth reached the palm of his hand out and brushed his fingertips against the stone tablet that represented the soul. When he did, it released a powerful surge of energy.
In the next moment, a light blue orb shot from out of the stone tablet and into Valentine's forehead. The orb startled everyone, especially Guan Yu who it seemed to be headed for. However, he was surprised to see that it had ignored him and went towards Valentine instead.
Valentine's body began to glow and emit a light blue hue. A few seconds later, Valentine's body stopped glowing and his eyes started to slowly open. Soon enough, Valentine blinked a few times before realizing that he was now in a completely different place.
"He's awake!" Zi Yi was the first to make the announcement.
Valentine got down from Guan Yu's back and observed the temple they were in. "What an interesting flow of magic!" Those were the first words to leave his mouth. However, that was not the only thing to leave his mouth, drool could be seen falling out the corner of his mouth as a large smile appeared on Valentine's face.
"You- Is magic the only thing that goes on in that head of yours?!" Zi Yi felt foolish for actually being worried about Valentine. After all, they had known each other for quite a while and despite her constant rebuke of his personality and behavior, she considered Valentine one of her few true friends.
Valentine had a look on his face as if he did not know what he had done wrong.
Halls and Guan Yu could not help but laugh at Valentine's facial expression after being scolded by Zi Yi.
"Welcome back, Valentine." Luna gave a slight smile.
"Back? But I was with you guys the entire time." Valentine had a confused look on his face.
"Are you trying to trick us? You were obviously extra baggage that we had to lug around everywhere ever since we entered through those wooden doors." Zi Yi scoffed.
"?!" Valentine furrowed his brows as if he were locked in deep thought. "But that can't be... The Chaos Fiends, the environmental changes, the sphere- I was there for all of it, fighting alongside everyone." Valentine said in a serious tone.
"Impossible, maybe you were aware of what was going on around you, but you were unable to move in the slightest." Zi Yi clarified.
"What Zi Yi says is true. This entire time Guan Yu has been the one carrying you around with us. You were in no condition to help us fight, that much is a fact." Luna stated.
Valentine had a look of shock on his face. "But, it was so real... I was there and..." The look of shock was soon replaced by one of confusion and uncertainty.
"It could have just been an illusion created by the Source of Despair. However, you have returned now and we can guarantee that you are not within any illusion this time around." Izroth said as he approached the Egg of Chaos.
Valentine still had many questions, however, he pushed them to the back of his mind for now and decided to focus on the present state of things. He calmed down and gave a nod to show that he understood.
Izroth reached out to try and touch the Egg of Chaos, however, the distance between the egg and his hand appeared to be millions of miles apart! No matter how close his hand seemed to be, there was always some distance between it and the egg. It was as if he was reaching towards something that appeared close but was actually far away.
"Tell me, can you see anything unusual about this egg with your Eyes of Magic?" Izroth asked.
"I'll take a look." Valentine moved closer to the podium the Egg of Chaos sat upon and observed it carefully. Within his eyes, one could see numerous magic symbols floating about.
After he examined the Egg of Chaos for around ten seconds and noticed no changes or anything unusual, Valentine let out a helpless sigh and shook his head in disappointment. "From what I can tell, there's nothing un-" Just as Valentine was about to report that there was nothing unusual, there was a sudden spike and shift in the information his Eyes of Magic received.
"This is-"Valentine's eyes widened in amazement. It was as if he was staring into nothingness and then all of a sudden, a world was formed. It all happened in the fraction of a second before being destroyed and repeating itself.
"This egg contains an entirely new world waiting to be born!" Valentine said as he was fully immersed in the information he received.
'A new world born from chaos?'
Izroth narrowed his eyes as he set his gaze upon the Egg of Chaos. He began to piece together everything and it all started to make perfect sense. Yet at the same time, it created more questions than answers.
'For every one question answered, I discover that ten more appears.'
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