Not too long after Dolos spoke, two slightly curved horns emerged from the top of his head.

"This appearance paired with that vile energy—how is this possible?" Aurie questioned with furrowed brows.

​​

Even though Aurie never encountered a Shadahi in her lifetime, she read over the reports on her way to the Demilitarization Belt. While there were some discrepancies present, the overall look and corrupted aura closely matched Ekquilore's!

"Dolos! You would betray not just your allies but the entire Mortal Realm by siding with those monstrosities?!" Aurie was furious! Not only was Dolos a high ranking noble of the Jestal family, but more important than anything, he was human—or at least, he used to be. What could drive someone like Dolos, who already had power, wealth, and fame, to side with the eternal enemies of their own race?!

"A person of your benevolent nature would never understand, Commander. Your lack of ambition and narrow vision leads you down a path where you will inevitably reach a dead end. I, on the other hand, am not so short-sighted." Dolos said as the space beneath his feet violently trembled, and he levitated a few meters into the air.

Out of nowhere, in the sky fifty meters above the hilltop, the space in the atmosphere fractured as a twisting vortex the size of a fist formed; however, it was barely noticeable to those down below.

Izroth inspected Dolos with his Energy Vision Sense and discovered that the flames shown had changed from a saturated gray to pitch black with white specks. But, Izroth could not look for long as the chaotic space placed a heavy strain on his Energy Vision Sense.

'This transformation is different from that time.'

During the Chaotic Dogma Realm, and again not too long after it ended, Izroth ran into a player called Silent Steps, who transformed in a manner similar to Dolos.

The second time they crossed paths, Silent Steps' transformation seemed to have grown more powerful than when they fought against Aegis back in the Chaotic Dogma Realm. At that time, Izroth was merely a spectator of the fight.

However, during their second run in, Izroth directly confronted Silent Steps, who transformed into his Shadahi-like form.

If Izroth had to give a rough estimate, the transformation skill used by Silent Steps doubled his strength. Though even with his new form, Izroth was able to easily dispose of Silent Steps.

But, Dolos' transformation was different—and not by a modest amount. Not only was the Shadahi aura around Dolos several times more potent, but his general transformation appeared to be one of a higher quality. It was like comparing a watered-down version of something to the real thing. Of course, Dolos was not an actual Shadahi, but the gap displayed between his and Silent Steps' forms were just that vast.

"If this is what lies at the end of the path taken by one's ambition, then it is a path I am thankful not to have tread." Aurie declared as a pink and golden energy wrapped around her tonfa.

〈System Alert: Warning! The surrounding space within 200 meters has been sealed off! No one can enter or exit!〉

〈System Alert: Your War Objectives have been updated!〉

〈System Alert: Warning! An Emergency War Objective is now available!〉

«Operation Identifier: Siding With The Enemy»

Classification: Emergency

Contribution Points Bonus: +100%

Min. Requirement(s): ???

Min. Level Recommended: 50

Slots Remaining: Unlimited

Objective: Assist the War Brigade Commander Aurie in her fight against Dolos Jestal, who has sided with the Shadahi and betrayed the Mortal Realm. You must actively participate in the battle until the end to receive the reward.

Reward: [+150 Contribution Points][x1 «Treasure Shard»]

Failure: [-600 Contribution Points]

'Hm?'

Izroth quickly scanned over the new war objective and accepted it with haste. However, he was a bit surprised by the low rewards being offered along with a harsh failure penalty.

While Dolos was hiding his real strength beneath a skill or item, Izroth knew that he was not a legendary being. Still, for a spatial magician empowered by a Shadahi transformation, wasn't the rewards somewhat lackluster?

Of course, since it was an emergency-type war objective with a 100% bonus, Izroth would end up receiving 300 contribution points instead of 150 contribution points. But, the base rewards did not offset the potential 600 contribution points loss in the slightest.

Perhaps this Treasure Shard held a high value? If it was a reward for an emergency-type war objective, at the very least, it should not be something worthless. Either way, it was not as though the thought of failure entered Izroth's mind. In his eyes, if he could not handle someone like Dolos, how was he suppose to face beings like Ekiquilore or worse—Syxirius?

"Thankful? I see. It is as I anticipated. All of you—not a single one is aware that this war, as you call it, was over long before it even began. Now, enough talk. I can see that my words are wasted on you." Dolos spoke coldly. He reached his hand forward as if he were trying to grab hold of the space in front of him.

"Spatial Tempus Magic: Singularity."

Ooooooooom..!

Suddenly, the twisting vortex in the sky rapidly expanded until it reached a diameter of twenty meters. The next moment, the vortex began to draw everything within 100 meters towards it with a virtually inescapable force of attraction.

The vortex devoured trees, plants, small animals, monsters, air—even light itself could not escape from its grasp! The only thing that appeared to be completely unaffected was Dolos himself and the space directly under his influence.

Aurie struggled to maintain her footing on the ground; however, she skillfully controlled her mana and focused it towards her feet to stay anchored to the earth.

"So this is the Spatial Tempus magic of the Jestal family. It feels like the more I resist, the stronger the pulling force becomes. Not to mention..." Aurie looked over in Izroth's direction.

Aurie knew that if even she was having such a difficult time staying on the ground, then the GSU Captain should not be fairing well.

But, when Aurie checked on Izroth, she was shocked to see that he was no longer on the terrain! Her eyes immediately turned to the sky as Aurie's worse fears had come to pass—the powerful vortex was pulling in Izroth!

"Captain Izroth!" Aurie wanted to rush to save him, but the moment her feet left the earth, she, too, would be pulled in uncontrollably. She could not help but feel that part of this was her fault.

Dolos was after her life, and Izroth just happened to be caught up in the crossfire. In the end, this was not the dreamworld. This particular playing field was far from balanced, and ultimately, it was no place for a Captain.

"Do I have no choice but to use my Dream Domain?" But then our plans..." Aurie was conflicted; however, it was only for a split second.

"I cannot abandon a life in front of me." Aurie internalized as she made her decision—she would use her Dream Domain.

But, just as she was about to act, something unusual happened in the sky near the vortex. When Izroth was exactly ten meters away from it, a sharp blade of wind that carried with it a suppressing momentum raced out from his position.

The moment the blade of wind connected with the vortex, chunks of debris that were in the middle of being sucked in came to an abrupt halt as it fell from the sky.

At the same time, Aurie felt the force of attraction generated by Dolos' Spatial Tempus magic disperse as she no longer required her mana to stand up straight.

"Impossible, my magic has been disrupted?! I underestimated this Captain. It seems he has somehow acquired a skill that acts as the natural enemy of my spatial magic. I will have to eliminate him first, or he will continue to be an annoyance." Dolos thought to himself. However, when Dolos scanned the sky with his gaze to locate the falling Izroth, he was nowhere to be found!

Zeeeeut!

"?!" A sharp sword intent descended upon Dolos as he felt a cold edge sweep across his back!

"You...!" Dolos was lost for words and filled with fury as he caught sight of his attacker. The surrounding space within 200 meters should be completely sealed! How was it possible that this person suddenly appeared behind him?

At the moment, Izroth was in mid-air with his Sword of The Storm drawn. His attack had just successfully landed on Dolos!

In truth, Izroth intentionally let himself be pulled in by the vortex as it was the only way he could get close enough without drawing suspicion to himself.

Once he was within range, Izroth activated the Tempest Strikes effect attached to his Sword of The Storm and infused it with his Ninth Sword Form: World Quelling Ripple to disrupt the vortex's magic sequences!

But, he did not stop there. The next action he took was even more shocking.

Izroth remembered Aurie's words. She mentioned that given some time, Dolos would have found a way around the disruption effects of his Quelling Ripples by reforming his magic sequences.

At that point, Izroth got an idea. If Dolos could avoid his Quelling Ripples' disruption effects by rewriting his magic sequences, couldn't he do the same with his own skills? And that's precisely what Izroth did in the short amount of time that he left the ground, to when he attacked the vortex with his ninth sword form!