'What a powerful buff skill.'

It did not just increase one primary stat by 30%, but four of them! This kind of power surge was enough to make a player's overall damage soar by leaps and bounds!

​​

In addition, it granted an in-battle HP and MP regeneration boost—something much needed for the remaining Sacred Beasts members who were standing on their last leg.

To top it all off, it was an AOE skill with a huge range of influence. But, the most astonishing part of the skill had to be its five-minute duration. An AOE buff-type skill staying in effect for that long was virtually unheard of. This was even more so for one so high level.

'It's at least an S-ranked skill. How convenient. That being said, this guild's luck is quite terrible. If they had this buff earlier, it's likely they would have defeated the Failed Chimera before my arrival.'

With his Flickering Steps active and the passive from his Light Feather Footwork ramping up, Meng Jiang's buff made Izroth's speed, as well as his overall strength, reach new heights!

Swoosh!

Izroth abruptly stopped before one of the Sacred Beasts players sprawled out on the ground and reached down to grab them by their collar. The instant he did so, a film of dark purple energy encompassed the player's body.

When One Shot Brick witnessed Izroth's actions out the corner of his eye, his heart nearly dropped out of his chest.

"Don't-!" But, before One Shot Brick could give his warning, his facial expression turned grim as he observed magical energy forming around the Failed Chimera's serpent tail.

Hsssst!

"This is bad! Even our fastest player couldn't outrun it...! Banshee!" One Shot Brick exclaimed as a magical serpent projection appeared and swiftly extended out from the Failed Chimera's tail. This time, it was headed right for Izroth!

"I won't make it!" Banshee shouted. One Shot Brick wanted her to intercept the magical serpent; however, all her movement skills were currently on cooldown. Not to mention, this magical serpent was different from the normal projection.

Usually, the magical serpent only activated every time the Failed Chimera lost 25% of its HP—this did not start until its HP dropped to 80%. But, there was another way for the magical serpent to make its appearance, and that was touching its "meals". The members of Sacred Beasts learned this the hard way.

After its initial use of the magical serpent, the Sacred Beasts members' first thought was the same as Izroth—to move those who died out of the Failed Chimera's range of effectiveness.

However, they paid a heavy price when they discovered that not only did the Failed Chimera immediately target the dead player's body with its magical serpent, but the projection moved twice as fast!

In the end, even their fastest member could not outrun it, and the Failed Chimera ended up healing for 20% of its HP after devouring the dead player's body. This is why even though it was a pain to deal with, they decided not to move a fallen player's body again.

Hssst!

Izroth's silhouette flickered as he raced over and picked up a second player, then a third. This caused two additional magical serpent projections to form that was just as fast as the first!

When the members of Sacred Beasts saw this, they almost coughed up blood from anger. The guild leader had told them of his identity and background, so they thought he would be useful. But what was this? Did he want them to fail so badly?! If the magical serpents sunk their fangs into all three players, the Failed Chimera would heal for 60%! At that point, even with Meng Jiang's buff, there would be no chance at victory.

Swoosh! Bang!

The first magical serpent crashed into the ground and through Izroth's silhouette as he evaded the blow; however, the magical serpent was relentless. Its movement did not halt as it bounced off the ground and shot towards Izroth. Even with his Flickering Steps active and the buff from Meng Jiang, the magical serpent was tracking his movements flawlessly!

'Those projections must be locked onto the dark energy surrounding the players. I can't shake them, but...'

Izroth kicked off his back foot to avoid the incoming assault, as the second and third magical serpents caught up and launched a pincer attack with the other projection.

A high-speed game of cat and mouse ensued between Izroth and the serpents as he moved further away from the Failed Chimera.

10 meters...

20 meters...

30 meters...

Izroth reached the forested area, but the serpents persisted as he skillfully weaved through the trees.

40 meters...

50 meters...

'It reaches this far?'

Izroth was beginning to think that the magical serpents had no range limit. To extend 50 meters away from its host while not losing any speed—no wonder One Shot Brick mentioned that even their fastest player could not outrun them!

But, right when Izroth reached the 51-meter mark, something unexpected happened. The magical serpents that had been pursuing him nonstop suddenly started to bubble up and dissolve.

Hsssst! Shrieeeeek!

The serpents cried out before completely evaporating into thin air. At the same time, the three players in Izroth's hands dissipated and turned into particles.

'51 meters there and back... If my Compressed Lightning Movement were not on cooldown, it would not be an issue. But, it seems I'll have to use a different method. Three at a time isn't enough.'

Izroth still had plenty of time remaining on his Flickering Steps, but he understood that there was not a second to spare!

Zeuuut!

Izroth's figure vanished from where he stood.

...

Meanwhile, a couple of seconds ago, back at the main battlefield of the world boss, the members of Sacred Beasts were confused. The magical serpents had disappeared, but the Failed Chimera's HP had not increased by a single percentage. Could he truly have outrun three magical serpents? That should be impossible! Even their fastest player did not get more than 20 meters away before those snakes caught up to him. Judging from how long the serpents extended before vanishing, it was evident that it stretched at least twice as far as 20 meters. But, the Failed Chimera's HP could not be deceiving them. Without a doubt, he was successful!

The Sacred Beasts members could not help but wonder what kind of frightening movement skill and reaction time Izroth possessed to produce such perfect results on his first attempt!

Zeuuut!

"?!" Everyone was startled when someone appeared out of nowhere, not too far away from two of the Sacred Beasts supporters. But, when they realized who it was, they nearly jumped from shock. The one who appeared was Izroth!

However, this should not have been possible! It had not even been a full second since the magical serpents dissolved—how could he have moved more than 40 meters that fast?! Though none of the members of Sacred Beasts were prepared for what occurred next.

Just as he did before, Izroth grabbed three fallen players. However, no one anticipated that he would pick up a fourth player!

This caused not three but four magical serpents to form and chase after Izroth! Those from Sacred Beasts almost fainted from shock. There was a limit to confidence where it morphed into arrogance—he couldn't possibly shake off four magical serpents... Right?

As the members of Sacred Beasts anxiously held their breath, not even a few moments later, the projection dispersed in a similar fashion to last time.

Zeuuut!

But, before their disbelief could settle in, right as the projections faded, Izroth instantly reappeared on the battlefield and carried away yet another four players!

He did not do this once or twice, but a total of four times. The last time, he even took five players with him! This left the members of Sacred Beasts dumbfounded! Even One Shot Brick lost his concentration for a split moment and almost failed to block the Failed Chimera's strike.

"What terrifying mobility. Is he using a teleportation technique along with some type of high-rank movement skill?" Meng Jiang commented under her breath as she watched the spectacle unfold before her very eyes.

In the blink of an eye, Izroth removed every fallen player out of the Failed Chimera's range!

Woosh!

Izroth emerged from the forested area normally for the first time, and his figure had stopped flickering as he returned to his usual state. Just like that, he had eliminated the largest worry and threat of Sacred Beasts guild!

'That used up quite a bit of Essence. But, that takes care of one major problem.'