Chapter 923: Destination and A Missing Leader

Krieeewk!

The Insolum Beetle cried out as one of its wings was clipped by Izroth's First Baneful Sword: Destruction Point. At the same time, it spun out of control due to the sudden lack of its other wing before crashing harshly into the ground.

By the time Izroth wrapped up his first wave of attacks, the Insolum Beetle's health had fallen by slightly more than 5%.

While this did not seem like much at first glance, for one player to single-handedly reduce a world boss' HP by that much within less than half a minute was unheard of—let alone a level 60 world boss!

If not for the Insolum Beetle's tough exoskeleton, the damage would have been even greater than that.

This showed just how terrifying Izroth's current attack power was between his upgraded Sword of the Storm and the amplification effect of his Earthly Golden Body.

Not long after Izroth sent out the first blade of wind, he unleashed several more strikes that found their way to the Insolum Beetle.

Izroth aimed for the recently exposed soft interior of the Insolum Beetle, causing his attacks to deal many times more damage than when they met with the creature's exoskeleton.

Click! Click! Click!

After it struggled for a few moments, the Insolum Beetle was finally able to regain its balance as its other wing closed in. However, the damage by Izroth had already been done and left it partly exposed. Naturally, this angered the Insolum Beetle.

A monster of its power typically had no natural predators where it resided; therefore, it was used to freely having its way and dominating all those that it came across. Most likely, this was the first time it had received damage to this extent that caused it to suffer such a huge loss in the process. How could it not be infuriated that something dared to go against it in its own territory?!

Just as Izroth's Tempest Strikes came to an end, a low humming noise could be heard coming from the Insolum Beetle. Following the emergence of this sound, certain areas of the ground around the Insolum Beetle began to break apart and stick to the creature's body before melding together.

'Hm? What is it up to?'

Izroth was currently positioned exactly ten meters away from the Insolum Beetle as he observed its unusual behavior. He did not know what it had in mind, but he had no plans to wait around and find out.

Zeeeut!

Without hesitation, Izroth used a charge of his Primed Instantaneous Movement to instantly close the distance between himself and the Insolum Beetle. As he arrived next to the creature, Izroth activated the Lightning Cage effect attached to his Sword of the Storm.

Bzzzt! Crrrrckle!

In the blink of an eye, a cage of lightning appeared out of thin air and trapped the Insolum Beetle inside.

Izroth knew that this cage would not hold the Insolum Beetle for long; however, its paralyzing effects should be enough to forcibly interrupt whatever it was attempting to do. But, against Izroth's expectations, there was no change to the happenings surrounding the Insolum Beetle.

'Is it not enough? Then...'

Bzzzzt...! Clap!

An intense burst of the lightning element erupted from Izroth's sword as he used his Third Sword Form: Collapsing Thunder. But, just before he activated the skill, a thundercloud formed in the sky before two purple bolts of lightning struck down at his location.

The aura from the lightning quickly wrapped around Izroth's Sword of the Storm and Obsconis Hunting Dagger, causing multiple surges of electricity to flow on the surface of the weapons.

Izroth's eyes also underwent a minor change as the same purple lightning around his weapons could be seen pulsating throughout his gaze.

Along with his third sword form, Izroth utilized his Call of the Thunder God's First State: Heavenly Descent, along with its Second State: Heavenly Cloak.

Not only did this convert all of Izroth's weapon-based attacks to lightning damage, but it also boosted his overall attack and the amount of lightning damage he could inflict.

Of course, this boost also applied to his Third Sword Form: Collapsing Thunder

BOOM!

When Izroth's blade made contact with the Insolum Beetle, a loud thunderclap rang throughout the surrounding Ferae Jungle as an explosion burst forth!

...

One hour later...

"We're finally here." Niflheim thought to himself.

After increasing their pace and moving nonstop, Niflheim, Menerva, and the rest of the 9th Division had just reached their destination at the edge of the Ferae Jungle.

Despite having consumed the Ocean Spring Pills, some of the 9th Division members appeared fatigued and drained. But, this was not because of actual fatigue. Rather, it had to do with the constant dangers they ran into within the Ferae Jungle on the way to their destination.

Fortunately, they were all able to make it out with their lives intact. However, there were still no signs of their division's captain.

"I never want to go in that place again..." Sanctity uttered with a gloomy expression.

"Yeah, I'd rather fight those weird things in the storm than move through that jungle a second time." Revel sighed.

As the players talked among themselves, Menerva approached Niflheim and said, "He is not responding. Could something have gone awry?"

Niflheim furrowed his brows and replied, "I don't know. I've seen firsthand what that guy's capable of, so it's hard to believe there's a situation he can't overcome. That being said, not to mention the Ferae Jungle, this entire world is filled with unforeseen things. Luckily, since there was no alert, at the very least, we know that he's alive. However, I have to admit, even I'm starting to get somewhat worried."

After their initial contact broke off, Niflheim and Menerva had not heard from Izroth.

When half an hour passed, they sent him a message to update him on their status and to see how things were going on his end. Then another set of messages once they were about to reach their destination. However, there was no response to either of their messages. Naturally, this led to some worry over Izroth's well-being.

"I must confess, the absence of our leader is an unpleasant turn of events. But we still have our orders to carry out. Shall we proceed?" Menerva remarked.

Niflheim released a heavy sigh and said, "You're right. It's unfortunate, but we'll just have to make do without him. Though we'll need to adjust our plans accordingly."

"I concur," Menerva agreed.

After making a final judgment, Niflheim called everyone from the 9th Division together to go over the plan.

"According to intel given to us by the War Intelligence Group, the outpost we'll be keeping an eye on is known as the Gale's Eye. Compared to your typical Tempest outpost, it is not that heavily fortified. But this isn't too relevant since we'll be striking once our targets leave the outpost and are on the move to Malentansium." Niflheim explained.

"I have a question." Astral Knight said as he raised his hand.

"Go ahead." Niflheim nodded.

"Just who are our targets? I know they're from Tempest, but we don't really know any more than that. Is there a specific reason why we're going so far out of our way to attack them?" Astral Knight said.

The other members of the 9th Division were just as curious as Astral Knight.

Although it was mentioned to them that their targets were somewhere in Tempest, they did not know who they were targetting or why, for that matter.

At the time, most of them did not bother to dig any deeper because of the rewards for joining the 9th Division and the lucrative contribution points from the war objective they acquired. However, now that there were so close to their objective didn't they have the right to know?

After all, crossing the border deep into enemy territory just to eliminate some targets—wasn't this typically a specialty of the War Intelligence Group? They weren't going to have to assassinate a king or anything crazy like that, right?

"I understand your concerns. Of course, we're more than willing to answer your questions. But, just so that none of you misunderstand, there's a reason we didn't reveal our targets up until this point. It's not because we don't trust you; it's just a natural precaution we had to take due to the sensitivity of the information you're about to hear. This goes without saying, but this strictly stays between the 9th Division until our mission is complete. If I come to find out that someone did not follow this rule, their expulsion from the 9th Division will be the least of their worries." Niflheim stated seriously as he swept his gaze across those present.

The atmosphere immediately shifted to a heavy one once Niflheim spoke. Now the players present were even more curious about what kind of big secret required so much discretion.

Niflheim then went on to explain their primary target along with the plan he, Izroth, and Menerva came up with. There were a few variations since Izroth was not currently present; however, the end goal remained the same.

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