—

After Ronan activated his third attack, it was like gravity sang the tune of his whims, manipulated until it left a somewhat small pocket world devoid of gravity.

The sudden change in gravity made Kieran float about aimlessly despite trying to gain control of his momentum.

This situation was new to him. His experience with gravity users was virtually nonexistent, so he hadn’t prepared for Ronan arbitrarily creating a world where weight was an illusory concept.

However, the Weightless World ability wasn’t as simple as it seemed. Like the first half of its name insinuated, this world possessed a unique cadence.

Without finding that cadence, one could never return to their proper orientation unless Ronan canceled the ability.

This skill was how Ronan claimed numerous lives on the many battlefields High General Archival took him to. While his enemies helplessly scrambled, suspended in air, Ronan unleashed additional gravitational skills to crush his opponents overwhelmingly.

But Kieran wasn’t an enemy.

Ronan was merely testing him to see where his actual skills resided. Did he have the making to become one of the elites within the War Deity Council?

The skills required to adopt that moniker were colossal. In fact, only Ronan had obtained the right to be called an elite of this generation thus far.

Ronan needed to know if another would appear and if the heavens willed it, could they become friends?

Unquestionable strength led to a desolate life rife with fear and respect but devoid of friends. If one did befriend Ronan, it was superficial and only to hopefully gain his protection during perilous times.

However, what would happen if he could find someone of equal or greater potential and similar strength? Perhaps he could find a friend within them.

Ronan’s situation wasn’t too different from Isadora’s.

These gravity powers were something he possessed since birth. They surfaced a few weeks after his birth, and they were uncontrollable. When he cried, he would crush stones and many things surrounding him, eventually leading his parent to orphan him.

Archival sensed the talent in the boy and honed him, hence why Ronan possessed no last name. His parents were unknown, just as their well-being was.

Kieran stopped struggling and again regulated his breathing to where everything else surrounding him was drowned out and discarded. Soon enough, all he felt was his body rocking, swaying, and dipping, similar to notes in a symphony.

‘It’s quite literally a song. A sad song, in fact. Is this Ronan melding his melancholic sorrows into a modified world? That’s… that’s an ingenious application of gravity! To manipulate the force until it emulates vibration is fascinating!’

Rather than try to break free, Kieran listened to the story weaved into the Weightless World and sighed. It was a sigh filled with remorse for Ronan; such a strong person carried a fragile soul but couldn’t display it.

For who would accept a powerhouse if they were soft?

Could they be trusted on the battlefield?

What if a dreadful situation occurred and their heart faltered?

One would rather flock to a weaker existence with a stronger heart than a powerhouse with a fragile heart. It was the way of the world—survival of the fittest.

However, Kieran understood the power within vulnerability. It was his buried vulnerability that led to Ronan’s remarkable abilities.

“I understand your story,” Kieran muttered softly.

A second later, his eyes opened slowly, as if savoring the world he was in. He controlled his body to flow in the opposite direction of every note, unraveling the world piece by piece but not forgetting it.

At the end of the last note, Kieran’s feet returned to the ground, and the Weightless World vanished.

“I understand why you said what you said earlier. You know pain and suffering as well. It seems your memories are vague, but you were of lucid mind when young. To think you call recall something like that while being so young.”

Kieran looked down and then met Ronan’s gaze with an understanding expression.

“All you have known is fighting, but you seek an ally. Is that the reason you sought me?” Kieran questioned.

“Partly,” Ronan admitted with a faint nod. “I wondered if Scar’s successor lived up to the rumors, and it seems they were correct. Out of the thousands I’ve used this technique against, you’re the first to dissect it by grasping its true meaning. For this, you are already in my good graces. But… I need to understand just how strong you can become. Your will, understanding, and tenacity are all exceptional. But… can you withstand my last two attacks?”

“There is only one way to find out,” Kieran remarked.

After physically deterring the first two attacks, the Dread Circlet had enough power remaining to power two more strikes.

Thanks to Ronan’s unusual third move, Kieran was now in a situation to potentially emerge victorious. Of course, it wouldn’t be a victory earned with might; it was a victory abiding by Ronan’s proposed terms.

“Gravity Manipulation: Almighty Ingress.”

“Gravity Manipulation: Almighty Egress.”

Ronan layered two attacks creating a contradictory effect.

Kieran felt like a great force that wanted to rip him apart like a deranged child pulling apart bugs limb from limb and squash him like a frantic middle-aged woman frightened to death by bugs.

Kieran stifled a scream when his left arm felt like it was being ripped from the socket. The sudden changes in Crimson Ashrune’s weight were ridiculous and difficult to counteract because of how frequently they occurred.

However, Kieran didn’t give in to the pressure.

When the opportunity arose, Kieran lifted his hand to his mouth and bit his thumb. The blood didn’t drop on the ground as one would expect; the blood coagulated above Kieran’s palm and absorbed half of the Dread Circlet’s remaining energy.

Kieran continued to drain himself, activating Blood Strengthening to augment his actions. Dread Culling’s skill description explicitly stated it couldn’t be used in tandem with skills.

But manipulating his blood wasn’t seen as a skill. It was registered as an innate ability of his class because it wasn’t listed in Blood Mania’s description.

Blood Mania’s influence stopped at creating a Vampiric Blood Encrustation. Anything outside this realm of action resulted from Kieran’s conscious manipulation; hence it fell into a different category by default.

Once the blood orb was big enough, Kieran struggled to lift his hand and close it with enough force to shatter the sphere. It was similar to Blood Pulse in principle, except it was meant to unleash mayhem in all directions.

Crrrck! Bang!

Intense jets of blood spurted in all directions, bearing a chaotic presence. The explosion bombarded the gravitational prison formed because of Ronan’s contradictory application.

Cracks formed along the nearly imperceptible prison until Kieran successfully vanquished the attack. Kieran dropped to his knee and panted because forcibly controlling his blood, under those circumstances, consumed horrific amounts of Stamina.

The tremendous expenditure was absurd even for his currently bolstered condition.

‘Forcibly breaking my attack… He is better than I assumed. If he persisted for longer than ten seconds, I would have canceled it,’ Ronan thought to himself.

The superimposition of those two principles created an environment that even he would struggle to resolve in a short amount of time if met with the same circumstances.

Despite his feat, Kieran received a negligible amount of time to recover before Ronan lifted his giant cleaver to the sky above him.

A stifling swirling materialized above the weapon, coalescing into an ancient-looking beast.

It wasn’t a proper Mana Manifestation, merely an impression formed by wielding a massive amount of Mana.

“World Suppressing Mammoth: Sundering Stomp.”

Kieran was overwhelmed by a sense of dread that even the Dread Circlet couldn’t correct. Ronan moved a tremendous amount of Mana and fused it with his gravity abilities for the first time.

The result was a frightening attack that made everyone in the stands gasp.

Kieran didn’t even think about wielding the Dread Circlet and wasting his last usage on an attack he could thwart. In fact, Kieran stowed Crimson Ashrune inside his inventory and acted without a weapon.

‘It’s time… I have to do it,’ Kieran thought.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Kieran’s feet started tapping against the ground as he moved around in a presumably erratic fashion. At times he moved vertically; other times, he moved diagonally, and rarely he moved horizontally.

His action quickly grew into a dizzying display of speed as every step incorporated a Surge Step, which quickened in the process. Those who tried to track Kieran’s movements without sufficient ocular prowess felt nauseous.

Meanwhile, Kieran began moving so fast his body seemed to flicker and split into two.

What he was doing now wasn’t part of the Drive Techniques he wanted to perfect; it was a standalone technique only accomplishable if one could incorporate the Drives with immaculate precision.

If it were before he manually learned Dread Culling, he wouldn’t have attempted this reckless behavior. But, with his mind’s current capabilities, it should be possible.

‘I’m almost there! Just a little more…’ Kieran’s glanced up at the incoming massive mammoth’s foot.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Kieran began impulsively compounding Accel Shift and Surge Step to propel himself over the threshold. Before the foot dropped, Kieran achieved a ghastly flicker and disappeared.

When he reappeared, he stood beside Ronan with an exaggerated sigh. His mind and body were both extremely beat. He wanted—no, he needed rest. It had been weeks since he had a proper rest.

Dr. Riley’s warning weighed heavy on his mind.