—

Once the system neglected to answer his question, Kieran disregarded his earlier assumption.

He felt he was too quick to criticize the system, which led to the unusual situation.

After all, in his seven years of playing Zenith Online, he had never once experienced the system talk back out or react to commands unless a speech prompt appeared on a translucent notification screen.

Like the prompts to accept a message, quest, or confirm one’s decision when the outcome was irreversible. Although Kieran admitted that his assumption was somewhat outlandish, part of him couldn’t dismiss the possibility entirely, not after considering his circumstances.

For example, how did the Arcane One find him? There was no recollection of any portal inside the Wildes’ border. Even if information regarding the topic were hidden, there would be a trail, especially if someone accomplished the quest or, worse yet, failed it.

After all, failing the quest would result in a World Invasion. Kieran would have remembered a World Invasion because such matters always triggered an Invasion Event, where one would assist specific organizations in protecting Xenith.

A cluster of arcane creatures invading the world was a hard target to miss, especially if it involved a Planar Rift, which existed in many variants. The worst was the Realm Variant, meaning it was powerful enough to rip a hole through a realm’s protective layer.

With the fallout of the question in his possession, Kieran found it hard to believe that the Arcane One approaching him was coincidental.

As someone sensitive to the quality and strength of the soul, it was likely Kieran’s abnormal soul delighted the Arcane One and drove him to seek Kieran’s audience.

Nevertheless, Kieran soon pushed this matter to the back of his mind because he had more important issues at hand—like solving the issue with his Will Refinement.

It was underway, but there was no way to know how long until its completion.

There was no bar indicating the process, and while Kieran felt his Will strengthening, he couldn’t surmise how strong his Will needed to be to break free of Ronan’s World Suppression for 0.1 seconds.

0.1 seconds was synonymous with an instant. But that only rang true when speaking about normal individuals.

People like Kieran, who possessed heightened cognitive abilities, perceived time differently, and when trained properly, they could control their perception of time to a certain extent.

While Kieran wasn’t skilled enough to forcibly control the intensity of his time perception, his mind had evolved to reduce it to an adequate extent.

With his current progress, due to the X-hancers, Kieran estimated he could perceive time three times better than normal humans, so his understanding and grasp of openings should have grown far more exceptional.

Roughly thirty seconds later, Kieran began feeling the pressure of Ronan’s World Suppression lighten. It was the byproduct of the Will Cocoon swathing Kieran’s body until it ignored most of Ronan’s pressure.

At that moment, Kieran’s expression grew solemn. This was his only chance. The Will Cocoon wasn’t something he could willfully summon. It only appeared during times of a Will Refinement.

Kieran instantly stood up inside the Will Cocoon, and instead of moving, he performed a completely different action.

A viscous pool of blood emanating a dreadful sensation filled the entire stage as Kieran essentially bled his Health until it reached one percent.

But even then, he didn’t stop.

He understood Ronan was in a caliber of his own, so going overboard was a must. No, it was the only option! If Ronan weren’t satisfied with Kieran’s retaliation, he would make his words an unfortunate reality.

In the end, this was all Ronan’s raw power; he hadn’t even activated a Manifestation of any sort!

“Vim Restoration!”

Kieran’s Health filled, but dropped to 10% an instant later.

The color of the blood deepened, shifting from a vibrant red to a deep crimson. Only once its saturation felt sufficient did Kieran proceed.

“Dread Culling!”

Oom!

The thick sea of blood emitted a strange noise and rippled before converging at Kieran’s body. This was the fastest he ever activated the skill, but he understood the stakes. He had so much to accomplish within a 0.1-second window.

The Dread Circlet formed around Kieran’s body, filling the Vampiric Blood Encrustation with an unfathomable might. Simply glimpsing at the circlet was enough to invoke despair.

Once the Will Cocoon cracked, the Dread Circlet acted as a deterrent, keeping a large portion of Ronan’s World Suppression ability away.

Kieran only had four strikes with the Dread Circlet, so he was forced to use it sparingly and wisely. He couldn’t just waste all charges of the skill and risk Ronan’s retaliation without anything strong enough to defend with.

Due to the disparity in their ranking, only an S Rank Skill could pose a substantial threat to Ronan.

For an Intermediate Being to pierce the defenses of a strong Advanced Being, it required an attack that transcended ranks. Only S Rank and above skills were capable of doing that.

However, only SS Rank and above skills could accomplish the feat without fail.

Ronan eyed Kieran’s technique inquisitively. ‘An ability strong enough to offset my World Suppression by inducing an onset of hyper-condensed blood? Truly the seed of the Bloody Hero.’

Unlike before, Ronan now pointed his sword toward Kieran and spoke calmly. “Five strikes. Withstand five strikes, and I’ll label this your win. The reward has never interested me anyway. I’ve already challenged it.”

Kieran’s brows knitted after listening to Ronan speak as two matters dismayed him.

Firstly, the strike requirement fell outside his technique’s capabilities, meaning at least one strike required a different approach.

Secondly, if Ronan already challenged the special opportunity, didn’t that mean he possessed information? However, before Kieran could question him, Ronan’s first attack arrived.

“First move,” Ronan said. “Gravitational Supression: Inexorable Drop!”

Kieran’s pupils contracted after feeling the World Suppression disappear, but not because it had vanished, because it had accumulated into one condensed strike from above.

Imperceptible to the naked eye but perceivable through one’s sense, Kieran felt a gargantuan presence descend. His expression grew grim as he tilted his body back and spun, lashing his arm swiftly.

“Argh!” Kieran roared as the power of the Dread Circlet flowed through his body and discharged from Crimson Ashrune in the form of a formidable blood lightning-looking attack. The violent splatter of blood seemed simultaneously crude and refined as it met Ronan’s Inexorable Drop.

The outcome of the attack proved that Ronan’s Inexorable Drop was, in fact, exorable. At least, this version of it.

Ronan smirked after watching Kieran successfully cleave his attack in half. But rather than disintegrating, the bisected attack landed on the area and destroyed parts of the wall beside Kieran and Ronan.

This display of power made Kieran crave his advancement that much more. What would a True Berserker’s power become after advancing? He couldn’t wait to learn the answer as his anticipation grew every time he became stronger.

“Second attack,” Ronan called out. This time, the attack didn’t come from above. Ronan thrust his cleaver at Kieran.

“Gravitational Severance: Fissured World.”

Kieran felt a sharp beam of forceful energy swiftly approaching. Reading the attack’s trajectory or dodging was impossible because space distorted slightly as if he was locked within a gravity lock.

‘He has comprehended the uses of gravity to this extent? As a universal force, it is amongst the highest echelon of power, surpassing the elements! It should be quite difficult to learn this variation of power,’ Kieran thought.

Kieran felt a comprehension level on par with an Awakened Being was the bottom line for comprehending a variant force like gravity.

If that were true, it would make Ronan a genius.

A genius, based on Xenith’s definition, was an individual who possessed comprehension ability above their level, allowing them to pry into the mysteries above on a much smaller scale.

However, it was known that doing this made one’s future promotion exceedingly complex because they were compiled based on one’s knowledge and capabilities.

If one possessed knowledge above their level, the only fair outcome was a corresponding increase in one’s promotion difficulty.

Kieran couldn’t ponder Ronan’s skillset because the incoming attack raised several alarms in his mind, all of which arrived at a single outcome—death. If he didn’t react quickly, he would be a goner.

While he wasn’t sure if he would lose a level if he died here or if any death penalties applied given the unique circumstances, Kieran didn’t wish to find out this answer.

Kieran closed his eyes and regulated his breathing until it grew dense like steam. Given his current appearance wreathed in blood, it created a genuinely demonic sight that awed and baffled the crowd.

‘The use of skills with the Dread Circlet is currently impossible, but the use of Techniques isn’t,’ Kieran thought.

At the last moment, Kieran lifted Crimson Ashrune over his head and chopped down, accelerating his downward motion just before the condensed gravity attack arrived.

The two attacks clashed, cracking the stadium and increasing the gravity within a confined radius. Kieran’s feet sunk into the ground, but he stood upright with a focused expression.

Ronan’s voice sounded within the cloud of dust and rubble. “Very good. The second attack has been successfully quelled. But…”

“Gravitational Cadence: Weightless World.”