Izroth held off on his next attack after seeing the effects of his Quelling Ripple activate.

Apex's body broke apart as it shattered into countless particles and faded away before it could hit the ground.

​​

Tap!

Izroth landed safely as his Quelling Ripple continued to expand with every passing second until it covered an area of 45 meters.

Even though the passive activation of the Quelling Ripple was weaker than the ninth sword form's active, it still dealt 5,000 fixed damage to all enemies within range.

Most of the players from the Headhunter Syndicate were still in the level 30s range, which was why despite their numerical advantage, the core players from Sacred Beasts fended them off without suffering a single loss.

Furthermore, their equipment was mostly made up of common and uncommon gear.

These reasons were also why many of them perished the instant they came into contact with Izroth's Quelling Ripple.

Either their health stat was too low to survive, or they had already been injured by one of the players from Sacred Beasts and crumbled under the sudden burst of damage.

By the time Izroth's Quelling Ripple stopped, less than twenty players remained from the Headhunter Syndicate!

Their initial goal was to weaken Sacred Beasts by overwhelming them with numbers and constantly replenishing any loss forces from the nearby outpost. But everything was thrown into chaos too fast for them to react.

Players from their side started dying out of nowhere, Sacred Beasts commenced a counterattack, and their group leader, Apex, was utterly annihilated!

With their group leader out of the picture and the situation arriving at a hopeless conclusion, the players from the Headhunter Syndicate scattered in different directions. They no longer had the will or purpose to fight!

"I-I'm getting out of here!"

"Yeah, screw this! One gold coin ain't worth it!"

"It's every man for themselves! Out of the way!"

Upon seeing the players from the Headhunter Syndicate lose their will to fight and fleeing in terror, those from Sacred Beasts issued a cry of victory.

While Izroth did a lot of the heavy lifting on his end, they still managed to eliminate their fair share of enemies, and so, it was a cause worth celebration!

However, the celebration was brief as One Shot Brick cleared his throat and resumed his duties as the group leader.

"Search through the equipment they dropped and pick up anything useful. When we return, everything will be handed over to be properly inventoried and cataloged." One Shot Brick ordered.

He then continued, "Make it quick. We don't know when they'll return. Also, since we were ambushed, it's probably safe to assume the guild leader's group was targeted as well. I'm not too worried about them since the guild leader's there, but we should try to find a way to restore our lost communication and confirm their safety."

After he finished speaking, everyone swiftly left to carry out One Shot Brick's commands.

"Now..." One Shot Brick looked over towards Izroth as a helpless smile appeared on his face.

Every time he saw Izroth in action, One Shot Brick could not help but feel somewhat inadequate when it came to his own skill level.

"Just what kind of monster did the guild leader befriend?" One Shot Brick internalized as he walked over to Izroth.

Izroth noticed One Shot Brick approaching him and returned his Sword of The Storm to its sheath.

"Palace Master Izroth, it's good to see that you're safe." One Shot Brick said as he greeted Izroth respectfully.

He then continued, "First off, allow me to thank you on everyone's behalf for your help. Things would not have gone nearly as smooth without your arrival. This ambush completely blindsided us."

Izroth nodded and replied, "I'm glad I was able to arrive in time to be of assistance. Though even without my interference, from what I've seen, I doubt their numbers alone would have been enough to suppress your group for long."

"Your words are too kind."

"I am merely speaking the truth based on my brief observation—that's all."

"Then, I will shamelessly accept your truth as the reality of the matter. Ah, I hope you don't mind that I'm having everyone pick up the loot. I figured it would be faster this way. Of course, I'll see to it that you receive more than your fair share of the cut, or our guild leader wouldn't let me hear the end of it." One Shot Brick said half-jokingly.

"It also saves me some trouble. I'm sure you'll handle everything appropriately. For now, I'm sure you'll agree that we have more pressing matters to attend to." Izroth replied.

"You're right." One Shot Brick sighed.

He shook his head as he spoke and said, "As wrong as it sounds to say aloud, I was hoping we wouldn't see each other again until we reached the rendevous point after achieving our goal. But, now that things have turned out like this, I'm not sure if we should proceed or regroup with the others."

It was clear that the Headhunter Syndicate was aware of their presence near the outposts; therefore, taking them by surprise was no longer an option.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you find us with communications down?" One Shot Brick asked curiously.

Their group did not simply travel in a straight line. They carefully plotted an exact course to the pre-arranged coordinates. It still shocked them that the Headhunter Syndicate was able to discover their position; however, it was at least somewhat understandable considering they were likely familiar with the area.

"I had a bit of assistance," Izroth replied calmly.

"Assistance..? I see."

Whatever method he used, it seemed that he did not want to disclose too much information, and so, One Shot Brick did not pry any further. If Izroth held any ill intentions against their Sacred Beasts, he already had an ample number of opportunities to act. Besides, someone their guild leader placed her trust in could not be a bad guy.

As the players from Sacred Beasts looted the last of the dropped items, One Shot Brick endured an awkward silence with Izroth.

"How does our guild leader talk to him so casually? I guess eccentric people tend to naturally get along. Maybe I should try to lighten the mood a bit." One Shot Brick thought to himself.

He then cleared his throat, "Since you came to our aid so quickly, I assume you had no trouble taking care of the other outpost?" One Shot Brick said jokingly.

"There was a small unforeseen incident, but it only led to a few minor complications. The outpost itself will not be in operating condition any time soon." Izroth responded.

"Right? There's no way you- Eh? What did you say?" One Shot Brick could have sworn he just misheard Izroth.

"The outpost—in your words, I took care of it," Izroth confirmed.

One Shot Brick was speechless. He could not tell if Izroth was joking or serious.

"No, I've never seen him joke around even with the guild leader. Then, that means..." One Shot Brick internalized as his eyes widened in shock when he came to a realization.

It had not even been close to an hour since they split into groups and even less time than that since their initial planned attack.

If Izroth was telling the truth, it meant that within a short time frame, he survived an ambush, destroyed an enemy outpost, and still had enough spare time to make his way over to them to lend his support. All in under thirty minutes!

"This guy... He isn't a monster. He's a system bug!" One Shot Brick internalized.

...

A few moments later...

One Shot Brick's group finished collecting the spoils of their victory.

After they were done, One Shot Brick made the decision to continue on their way to the outpost instead of meeting up with Meng Jiang's group.

Since Izroth managed to complete his task, One Shot Brick requested that he join them, to which, Izroth accepted.

Izroth understood that the Headhunter Syndicate would adjust their tactics after the destruction of the first outpost and having failed with their ambush.

If he wanted to locate Vault, Izroth knew that he would have no choice but to check the remaining two outposts.

Given that he was already headed that way, Izroth saw no problem tagging along with One Shot Brick's group.

In the end, someone like Vault was too prideful and confident to run away despite back-to-back failures.

Without a doubt, he would be at one of the outposts!