199 Dark Hecatomb

Savage whistled as he witnessed the sight of players dropping one after the other. While they were not exactly a part of the elite players within Fatal Touch, they were still quite skilled and above average compared to the average player.

"Those are guys pretty skilled. I haven't seen such a fast group wipe since our old raiding days back on Dragons Fall Online. What do you think, Haishe?" Savage said with a grin on his face.

"That guy's swordplay is impressive." Haishe said in a low voice as he gripped the sheathed sword in his hand while locking his gaze onto Izroth.

"Oh? How does he compare to Igazanali?" Savage asked with raised brows.

"Difficult to tell. He's faster that much is clear. As for his actual swordplay ability, it's still too early to tell. However, we should receive a good show." Haishe responded.

"Is that supposed to be some kind of threat? You shouldn't become so complacent just because you took out a bunch of useless trash. I don't know who you are, but this is something you do not want to interfere in. Otherwise, hmph, don't blame me for being impolite." Silent Steps said in a threatening way.

Not too long after Silent Steps spoke, seven players arrived behind him. Two of the players were Owl and Du Cheng, the only two of the original ten who had managed to survive. The third person that was with them was unable to hold on until help arrived and ended up being eliminated by the plant monster. However, all of the plant monsters had been taken care of by this point.

The remaining five players were the two who Silent Steps told to keep their distance, as well as, the three players who went to assist Owl and Du Cheng.

As for the other four players that came along, they stayed a bit further in the back with Haishe and Savage.

"This seems like it'll be interesting. I'm going to go join in on the fun." Savage said as he walked over to join Silent Steps at the front of the group. It was not as if he were choosing Silent Steps over Haishe, but rather, he did not care for their feud and simply stepped forward because it seemed like a good opportunity to fight.

Haishe, however, did not share Savage's enthusiasm and chose to observe for now with his arms folded. More than anything, he was interested in Izroth's swordplay and wanted to see just how skillful he was with a blade.

Izroth's flickering figure had already stopped the moment he reached Luna's side. He had used Shadow Movement to rush over and Flickering Steps once it ended. However, it was good that he did not hesitate to do so. When he arrived, Luna was surrounded by more than twenty players!

Since Azalea was faster than him, he told her to go off ahead of him. Once he saw what was going on, he immediately used Behemoth's Quake infused with sixteen points of his Essence. Then, thanks to the damage and chaos inflicted by Azalea, as well as, the Behemoth's Quake, Izroth was able to easily clean up the remaining players.

Izroth took advantage of the cooldown reset on the skill First Baneful Sword: Destruction after it successfully eliminates an enemy. Before his opponents could even understand what was going on, they had already dissipated and scattered into countless particles.

"If you would like, I can take care of this problem for you, teacher. There will be no need for you to lift a finger against this kind of trash." Azalea said in a cold tone of voice as she locked her gaze onto Silent Steps.

He appeared to be the leader behind all of this and she had seen his type plenty of times. People who used their power to prey on those weaker than themselves in order to please themselves. For Azalea, this situation invoked memories that she had tried to forget for a long time now.

"Teacher?" Luna said with an inquisitive look on her face as she studied Izroth.

"I'll tell you about it later." Izroth said when he observed Luna's questioning look and shook his head inwardly.

Silent Steps almost snapped when Azalea called him trash. Not only that, but she was looking down on him and Fatal Touch. Did she really think she possessed the skill to take on everyone present by herself? What arrogance! What nerve!

It appeared that his previous thoughts were correct after all. His short time away in the Chaotic Dogma Realm must have made players forget the word fear was directly associated with Fatal Touch.

"Good, very good. Come, I would like to see how you deal with us." Silent Steps said through his teeth. It was clear that he was holding back his rage from the sound of his voice and the blood vessels that could be seen popping out of his forehead. At the same time he spoke, a dark, chaotic, and putrid aura began to form around his body.

Silent Steps' eyes became crimson red like that of a demon and his skin matched in color. His current transformation appeared to be even stronger than the time he used it back within the Chaotic Dogma Realm. The aura was more concentrated around his body instead of leaking out everywhere. Also, his skin was a deeper crimson color as if it had been completely saturated in vile energy.

However, the newest feature were the two small horns growing out the top of Silent Steps head.

'His transformation is slightly different this time around.'

"I was feeling quite generous a few moments ago. But now... You will all die here. Kill them all!" Silent Steps ordered as he pointed his daggers that were surrounded by dark energy towards Izroth, Luna, and Azalea.

"You can take care of the others, however, I will personally see to him." Izroth said as he swung his Sword of The Storm outward towards Silent Steps. As he did so, a sharp blade of wind flew directly at Silent Steps.

"I will see to it." Azalea said as her body suddenly disappeared from view.

Izroth had activated the skill Tempest Strikes that was attached to his Sword of The Storm. It temporarily granted his physical-based weapon attacks a bonus range of 10 meters, as well as, the wind element to go along with it. Therefore, even his basic attacks using his sword could be used from a range.

Izroth's first strike was soon followed by a second strike and right after that, the third strike instantly shot out from his blade. Each strike followed perfectly after the other and there appeared to be a phantom lurking about in each strike. It was the skill Phantom Strike!

Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!

Silent Steps easily avoided the first incoming blade of wind as it tore into the ground behind him and left a deep cut embedded into the ground. However, the second and third strikes were placed in such a perfect manner that he had no chance but to be struck by one of them. At least, that would have been the case before his new transformation.

"Dark Hecatomb!" Silent Steps spread his arms out wide as the two blades of wind sliced right into his body. However, the strangest thing happened next. Instead of the cuts appearing on his body and him receiving the damage as he was supposed to, they appeared on the bodies of five of the players that stood next to him.

These were the five players who were in the same party as Silent Steps. As for Savage, Owl, and Du Cheng, no cuts or marks appeared on their bodies.

Izroth looked on in a carefree manner as he tried to understand what just took place.

'Is it some kind of shared damage skill?'

That was the first thought that crossed Izroth's mind. After all, Silent Steps appeared to remain completely unharmed even though he took two out of three Phantom Strikes head on. However, his party members had obvious just received some damage. But, there was only one way to find out for sure.

Izroth swung his blade twice as two more blades of wind slammed into Silent Steps body. Of course, this time they were simply basic attacks. However, the same thing that happened last time occurred once again. There was no harm to Silent Steps himself and the marks had instead appeared on five of the players near him.

"It's useless! From the moment you allowed me to transform, your fate had already been sealed!" Silent Steps said. His voice sounded deeper and eerier while transformed.

At the same time, a dagger shot from out of the shadow behind one of the five players and impaled them. A few moments later, an entire body leaped out and immediately turned into a blur.

"Backs!" One of the players shouted as the five players stood back to back with one another in a circle formation. They stood this way so that there was no chance of them being attacked from a blind spot. However, they had sorely underestimated Azalea's true capabilities.

"I have you now!" One of the players shouted as he slashed downward in an arc with his sword at Azalea who had suddenly appeared in front of him. However, his sword passed right through her body and caused a rippling distortion wave to take place before it vanished along with what was supposed to be Azalea.

"She's right here!" Another one of the players yelled out as he punched out with his brass-knuckled fists. But, instead of hitting against something solid, the body he hit turned into a congress of ravens that flew all around them and caused a momentary collapse in their formation. However, that small moment was more than enough for Azalea so slip in and wreak havoc.

But, just as Azalea was about to slip into the middle of the ground, she suddenly felt a sense of danger creeping up from behind her.

Woosh!

Azalea kept moving forward and quickly attacked one of the nearby players four times with her daggers before kicking off the heel of her foot and flipping into the air. While in midair, she vanished once again.

The moment right as Azalea left the ground, a spear pierced into the spot she just stood in.

"Your reaction time's pretty good for a shorty. Here I thought you would be nothing more than a one trick speed demon. Ahahaha! Why not come play with me for a bit, little girl." Savage said as a grin on his face as he pulled on the chain in his hand and grabbed ahold of his spear that came following along with it.

Right after those words left Savage's mouth, three phantoms of Azalea surrounded his body and moved at a high speed. Each phantom attacked with the same speed and grace as Azalea's original body as they danced around Savage.

"Do you dare say that again?" Azalea said with a voice so cold that it could freeze over the sun itself. There were many things that someone could say about her, however, mentioning her height was like touching a dragon's reverse scales. There were certain topics that could not and should not be touched or else the price to pay for doing so would be catastrophic.

Ding! Ding!

"It seems like I've touched on a sensitive subject." Savage said with a laugh as he swept his spear in a full circle and destroyed the three phantoms. As for Azalea, she was nowhere to be found.

"Tch, I hate slippery opponents the most." Savage scowled.

As Azalea was fighting against Savage and the others, the strong gust of wind around Izroth's Sword of The Storm faded and was replaced by its normal gentle breeze.

"Giving up already after just a few attacks? I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed. However, both of you can just die now!" Silent Steps said with an evil smirk on his face as he rushed towards Izroth and Luna with his pitch black daggers in hand. He was moving incredibly fast and closed the distance near instantly.

'Now, let's see just how much punishment you can take with that skill of yours.'

A deadly and oppressive aura began to pour out from Izroth's Sword of The Storm.