MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

Chapter 426 Shifting Focus

'What is this energy that I feel growing inside of me,'

'It was vague after the Rank promotion, but the more I fight, the stronger it becomes, and now it has grown to a stage that I can manipulate it just like my mana,' Venedikt thought as he looked at his index finger, watching it swiftly turn pitch dark, with his fingernail growing long shaping into a pointed tip.

'The system doesn't recognize it, but it should have some use,' Venedikt thought, contemplating the strange energy beside mana he could sense growing in his body.

"Sir Architect, Seth, Orsella, and Lady Hela found the Queen Banshee laire two hours ago, and because there were hardly any strong creatures guarding it, they decided to enter without informing us," A calm female voice sounded, making Venedikt break out of his train of thoughts.

"They reached the final chamber without any difficulty, and as the Queen Banshee was just a middle-stage Sixth Rank creature with decent strength, lady Hela decided to engage with it alone and is currently battling her,"

"Seth believes that something is not right because if the Queen Banshee was so weak, then so many adventurer teams should not have gone missing, and that is why he contacted us just in case they need backup," The female adorned in healer robes said, and Venedikt couldn't help but raise an eye brew.

'The core of Queen Banshee is essential for healing the old blacksmith, and as the quest's reward is three million for the whole team, it should not be this easy to complete,' Venedikt thought as he opened the system to see the location of the lair.

"T'mirnaya, Take us twenty-six kilometers southeast," Venedikt said, and in an instant, a single long pitch, dark talon sliced through the fabric of space, creating a gateway into the void of space.

Venedikt strode into the void, a smile gracing his lips as he glanced to his right, looking at the four luminescent glows that shone like stars in the darkness of the void. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ Novᴇ(l)Fɪre .ɴᴇt

Following closely behind, Ellsa, the healer, felt a protective cloak envelop her and a gaze that sent her danger sense screaming from her right, but she ignored it and stepped through the second tear, exiting the void.

The scenery shifted from the rocky terrain to dense groves, heavy with humidity and alive with the chorus of insects. A short distance away, barely visible amidst the dense foliage, stood a mansion consumed by the embrace of Mother Nature.

"Ellsa, the Queen Banshee is not alone," Venedikt said as he received the threat signal from his companion beast, and without delay, his figure blurred as he used the minor teleportation to rush into the chamber.

In moments, Venedikt materialized within the expansive chamber, nearly forty meters in length, its towering dome ceiling overhead.

Tattered banners hung from the walls while the windows were veiled in the encroaching flora and the wear of time, and at the far end stood a grand throne, its high back broken from the right side, yet it still had a commanding presence amidst the room's faded grandeur.

Venedikt stopped the darkness of the hallway, with his body cloaked in a space veil, keeping his presence hidden, as he watched the sight of multiple towering death knights welding various weapons scattered through the room.

In the lead was a female figure cloaked in sleek black knight's armor, seamlessly melding metal and leather, with her weapon being an obsidian dark scythe that gleamed ominously in the dim light.

A hulking man that resembled an armadillo, with thick golden protective shells covering his bulging muscles, his hands having morphed to claws that he swung, ripping through the barrage of invisible blasts of sound, getting thrown around.

In the back was a female archer, blasing elemental arrows upon the colossal creature dominating the heart of the battlefield.

The Queen Banshee, a female figure with long flowing white hair, ash white skin, sunken cheeks, and pulsing white eyes, her mouth stretching forth, giving her a monstrous look, every so often as she released mind-piercing screech that sent shockwaves through the space.

'I can't sense the threat with my void sense,' Venedikt thought, as he felt no presence in the surroundings, but he knew that T'mirnaya beast's senses were much sharper than his means of detection.

'So let's force him out,' Venedikt thought as his legacy staff appeared in his hand, and a small dot of void energy began to manifest above it.

"Sorry for interrupting your fun, but brace yourself for impact," Venedikt said aloud, making every head turn toward him as he appeared above the Queen Banshee.

No one sensed Venedikt's presence because he was using a space magic trick to hide his presence, and because of the ongoing battle, no one sensed the minor disturbance in space, so his entrance was a bit unexpected.

'Space Compression' Venedikt used his space manipulation, a Boone he received after the Rank promotion from his Elemental Physique.

The Queen Banshee, who didn't sense any threat but saw a figure so close to her, instantly roared at him, releasing a concentrated jet of sound at him, which was blocked by the frozen space.

'Void Flare'

The small point of contracted energy exploded into a wave of darkness that spread in all directions, and while it did little to no damage to anyone, the void energy ate away any elemental energy it came in contact with, making the light in the chamber momentarily dim.

"We do not need your help, so leave," The beauty clad in blad and gray armor said, her dark eyes pulsing with killing intent.

'She sure hates us, but it is because of her ignorance as even though she is a guild Elder, she is unaware of what her associates are willing to do to get a share of the Domain,' Venedikt thought, remembering the insults he heard from Hela the lady before him, giving him a cold glare.

Venedikt team members were Hela of the Asgardian guild, Seth the Beast Shifter, an elder of the Thunder Titan giant, a female healer, and a female archer, both belonging to the top thirty guilds.

The moment the team came together, Hela didn't hold back on throwing insults at Venedikt and his organization, saying how they shamelessly attacked and destroyed their home city to attract more people into their slaving scheme, referring to the domain.

Venedikt was naturally calculative and aloof, so he just saw her insults as a way of isolating him and making the other team members do her bidding, and after receiving the challenge, asking him for a battle to the death, with the condition of no respawn, his thinking was all but confirmed.

Venedikt declined the challenge and instead told Hela that whoever earned fewer individual points at the end of the event would be the loser and would give the winning person their points.

Venedikt was not afraid of losing, nor did he want to prove himself to the viewers, but he proposed such a contest because he knew that saving the city would surely grant some form of reward, and saving it alone would not be possible.

So, taking out the most useful member would only work against him, and he was not willing to take this risk, knowing he required to perform well as he could not just leave all the work to Alex.

"You sure about that?" Venedikt questioned back as he eyed toward the throne that had a green ghostly skeleton seated on it.

Hela eyed toward the throne as the vast killing intent and mountain-like killing pressure cloaked the entire chamber, making the entire team shift their focus to the new challenge.

The ghostly skeleton towered at least four meters in height, its spectral form looming ominously. Its skeletal visage was starkly revealed, with hollow green eyes peering out from beneath a tattered shroud of ethereal mist.

The figure exuded an aura of deathly power, its presence haunting and unsettling to behold, with the wisps of spectral mist trailing from its form, only adding to the ghostly allure.

'He can use the elements of Void, Shadow, and Darkness, so this is going to be a tough battle, and we might not even come out as victors,' Venedikt pondered as he saw the status of the Wraight king, who was a mythical creature being at the peak of Sixth Rank and in strength no weaker than the strongest of pseudo beast King.

"Hela, whether you like it or not, we need to work together to have a opportunity of winning," Venedikt said, and receiving a nod of confirmation, he began preparing for battle.

'Voidborne Empowerment' 'Void Embrace'

Venedikt used his trump card, not holding back, knowing with his current strength, he would be dead in a matter of moments, so while the first skill boosted his mental aptitude, Sensitivity, Mana Reserves, Casting Ability, and lastly the Void Channeling, which on paper gave him unlimited mana, albeit only for a short period before his body fell apart.

The second skill draped him in the cloak of the void, fortifying his defenses against elemental assaults, particularly effective against spectral adversaries such as void entities.