In the blink of an eye, Vostracane City went on full lockdown mode. All passages that led out of the city had been sealed off, the city's defensive barrier had been activated, and members of the Immortal Umbra Horde were flooding the streets. It was a citywide manhunt!

"A personal reward from Earl Salokin! I will claim this for myself!"

​​

"That human is dead meat!"

"Does it think it can leave our Vostracane City freely after setting its foot here?! Humans are as stupid as I've heard!"

A reward from someone of Earl Salokin's status was sure to be something great; therefore, the Skounae of Vostracane were searching desperately throughout the city.

Meanwhile, there was a faint shadow that could be seen peeking from one of the city alleyways.

'To think they would resort to activating the city's barrier defenses. Well, this was not completely outside of my expectations. Still, it went smoother than I anticipated.'

At the moment, Izroth hid his presence as he observed the Skounae energetic hunt for his location. A few seconds ago, Izroth had done something that was sure to have Earl Salokin seething in rage—he robbed the Blood Moon of the Night King's Rite right under his nose!

Before the event started, Izroth made numerous preparations. One of these preparations included collecting a variety of talismans. Back in the Netherly Unlit Grotto, Izroth used the Grand Illumination Talisman to render the Skounae temporarily blind.

Izroth was well aware of the Skounae's difficulty seeing in brightly lit environments, and the best method for creating that light was the Grand Illumination Talisman. The talisman was not very effective against players and was only uncommon in quality. But, it was mostly used in dungeons against light-sensitive creatures. Needless to say, the Skounae fit right into this category.

After Izroth blinded Salokin and Essirie, he removed a small medallion from his inventory. This was the same medallion given to Izroth by an old man named Zhi that he met on his way back to Amaharpe's capital city after clearing the Sea Palace Dungeon for the first time.

Name: Zhi's Medallion(Magical Item)

Rank: S-Ranked

Usage: ???

Special Note: Who could possibly comprehend the words of Zhi?

It was an S-ranked magic item, but its exact usages were still unclear. However, Izroth remembered that it seemed to react whenever there was a high concentration of sinister energy. After the medallion's clash with that mysterious dark lightning back in the Roaming Village of the Netherworld, it had lost some of its golden radiance. But, a couple of days ago, Izroth noticed a new breath of life appeared to have grown within the medallion as if it had been recharged.

While it deviated away from his original plans, Izroth had the idea to use Zhi's Medallion after learning of the sinister barrier around the Blood Moon with his Energy Vision Sense.

If the barrier were directly linked to the Blood Moon, then Izroth may have thought twice. But, since it was independent, he knew that there was a good chance he would be successful. Although there was no guarantee that it would work, Izroth judged that it was worth a shot. Worst case scenario, he would have to convert to his initial plan.

But, who would have thought that the medallion would make acquiring the Blood Moon so effortless? When Zhi's Medallion came into contact with the barrier, the dark energy that encompassed the Blood Moon was instantly shattered! As the barrier fell apart, Izroth swiped at the Blood Moon and placed it within his inventory.

Then, without missing a beat, Izroth used all four charges of his Enhanced Instantaneous Movement to create as much distance as possible between himself and the two Earls. Then, activating his Flickering Steps and Light Feathered Footwork, Izroth sped away from the Netherly Unlit Grotto.

In truth, he would have liked to have stayed and fought the two Skounae Earls, but now was not the time nor place. Even if he was confident in his abilities, Izroth knew that he could not deal with the two Earls before reinforcements arrived, and his retreat path was cut off.

Not to mention, a Penumbra Inquisitor was on their way to Vostracane. Therefore he had to set his priorities straight. Now that he had obtained the Blood Moon, it was time to move on to the next part of his plan.

'Everyone in the city should be looking for me. This is the perfect time to move towards that place.'

Izroth's goal was not to escape from Vostracane as the Skounae believed it to be. Instead, he wanted to head deeper into the heart of the city! The fact that there would be more Skounae concentrated towards the outer edges of the city, blocking off potential escape routes, was a fortune in disguise.

'There were two places within a thousand meters that even my Energy Vision Sense was unable to penetrate. It has to be at one of those locations.'

For one second, Izroth activated his Energy Vision Sense at its full range of 1,000 meters. While it consumed a good portion of his Essence, that brief second was all Izroth needed as he could filter through the information with his perfect memory.

'Let's try that area first since it's closer to the heart of the city.'

Izroth began to move around under the radar, making sure to stay out of plain sight. By now, Empyrean should have long since delivered his message to Aurie about the Unsanctioned Zone.

'It would be a pity not to kill two birds with one stone.'

Izroth's primary goal was the Blood Moon, which was now in his possession. As for his second, it was to create an opportunity for Amaharpe to capture the Unsanctioned Zone!

...

Approximately ten minutes later, Izroth penetrated deep into the heart of Vostracane. Currently, he had infiltrated into the core area of the main castle. With his Shadow Movement ability cooldown having ended a while ago, Izroth was able to sneak past the Skounae guards in his shadow form, stealthily blending in with the night.

When his Shadow Movement came to an end 30 seconds later, Izroth emerged in an isolated dark corner of the inner castle. Although a large portion of Skounae was scouring the city for him, the security here could not be disregarded.

'The NPCs here are all elite and above level 45. However, there are no Earls or Viscounts anywhere to be found.'

No one would have guessed that Izroth would choose to venture further into Vostracane. After all, such a thing could only be seen as self-destructive! Therefore, those Viscounts and Earls were probably turning the city upside down to reclaim the Blood Moon.

'If my Essence wasn't so low, I could have used Soul Pressure to take care of all the guards at once. But, that room is heavily guarded. Do I have no choice but to cause a commotion?'

The moment he made a commotion, without a doubt, this castle would become surrounded in a heartbeat. However, just as Izroth was contemplating his next move, he received an alert from the system.

〈System Alert: Congratulations, you have learned the skill «Shadow Blending»〉

'A skill?'

The first time Izroth unintentionally acquired a skill in a similar manner was within the Endless Pandemonium Tower. At that time, the system granted him the Spatial Awareness skill of its own accord. Izroth believed that the system somehow recognized his ability to understand the spatial anomalies and awarded him the skill.

Like Spatial Awareness, Shadow Blending was a skill that belonged to the system, and so, its requirements were already predetermined! Seeing as how Izroth had been moving around Vostracane stealthily using shadows as his cover without being detected, the system probably regarded his precise actions in the same manner as a person executing the Shadow Blending skill!

Izroth accessed his system interface to inspect the new skill in his arsenal.

'The system's timing couldn't have been more perfect.'

Izroth had a few skill points sitting around collecting dust, so he decided to place two skill points into Shadow Blending to max it out.

Skill Name: Shadow Blending

Skill Level: 1/3 -> MAXED

Skill Rank: B

Requirements: 750 Agility

Cost: 225 Mana

Active: For 1 minute -> 5 minutes, the user will enter «Stealth» whenever they move into the shadows and have their presence greatly reduced. Leaving shadowed areas, receiving damage, or attacking will immediately break the user's «Stealth» and reveal their presence.

Cooldown: 30 minutes -> 15 minutes

Description: Become one with shadows! Tread carefully!