Chapter 313: Subtle Damage, Beacon of Light

Though Kieran killed several of the Chimeric and Deranged Homunculi with his previous use of Dread Culling, with the skill not triggering the culling cooldown reduction effect, he noticed that the rapid reactivation of the skill led to him discovering some in-depth intricacies about his skills.

For example, though the Dread Circlet appeared somewhat sentient by the way it immediately latched on to his attack, provided that it followed the guidelines of the skill, it wasn't.

Instead, there was some strange principle governing this skill. As he focused on this sensation, Kieran learned that the principle was linked to a desire. Not a desire that came from him, but a desire born directly from the Dread Culling's Source Rune.

'I wonder… is there some secret to activating the cooldown reduction with greater certainty? If I recall properly, Scar mentioned that there are still many things for me to learn regarding all of my techniques. Simply deepening my understanding of Blood Mania isn't enough. Individual specialization is required as well,' Kieran thought to himself.

After a moment of considering what this strange sensation could mean, Kieran chose to push the matter to the back of his head for now.

Since he had reached Lv.50, meeting Scar had become inevitable, which meant he could save all his questions until the fated meeting occurred.

A few seconds later, the Dread Circlet that rotated around Kieran's torso vanished. Nevertheless, the sensation remained as Crimson Ashrune blazed with a stupendous aura of dread and annihilation.

"Prepare your large spells," Kieran called out. "We'll be ending this here and now."

As per Kieran's directions, everyone began channeling their strongest spells or activating their strongest skill in anticipation of ending this battle against the several Chimeric and Deranged Homunculi.

Of course, the homunculi didn't sit still as they awaited their destruction, similarly dishing out attacks.

However, Bastion acted as the primary source of protection, losing Health rapidly to maintain his upgraded version of the Guardian's Bulwark.

Because he had lost a large amount of Health, Sera stepped in and healed him continuously until the attacks of the party rained down on their enemies.

'I know it's a power I shouldn't use. But it should be fine if I activate it for a split second, especially because I have the Nurturing Divine Mystic Spark healing the damage to my soul,' Kieran muttered inwardly.

All of a sudden, tendrils of black, red, and murky gray began to spiral around the already destructive energy enveloping Crimson Ashrune.

If Scar were to see Kieran's current behavior, he'd undoubtedly label him as a reckless fool.

After all, Kieran's current activation exhibited clear signs of him drawing upon his Aspect, which many people warned him not to do. Of course, these people weren't aware that Kieran now held a fragment of a Divinity, so perhaps their advice now would be somewhat different.

Once Kieran began to feel an aching in his soul, Kieran stopped supplying his current attack with his Aspect's energy.

Although he could barely sense the energy injected into the strike, Kieran understood that his Aspect was far more dangerous than he gave it credit for.

If even Enlightened Beings were wary of its presence, then the implications of its existence were naturally mind-boggling.

Oom! Ssst…

As Kieran looked at Crimson Ashrune, his eyes narrowed, somewhat taken back by what was taking place. It was subtle and only audible to his ears, but Kieran could hear a sizzle coming from Crimson Ashrune's exterior.

Somewhat concerned by this sound, Kieran focused on his blade for the moment, noticing microfractures and corrosion present on the sword's exterior that weren't even present before.

Even if it was, Kieran wasn't aware.

When Scar revealed Crimson Ashrune's true state, the only anomaly was the large imperceptible crack flowing through the blade. However, this change meant that it was his actions that provided the defense.

Aside from his Aspect, Kieran didn't wield another power capable of causing Crimson Ashrune's corrosion.

'It's as Lord Veradin said, the power of destruction even in its nascent form is not to be taken lightly. As it is right now, Crimson Ashrune won't suffice if my Aspect grows any stronger. If I don't resolve this issue in the future… there's a large possibility that I'll become weaponless,' Kieran thought, somewhat rueing the invasive and abrasive nature of his power.

While powerful, it was similarly detrimental, which he would rather avoid.

In any case, since Kieran was unfamiliar with how to disperse his Aspect and because it was already unleashed, Kieran decided his only option was to discharge it and monitor Crimson Ashrune's condition afterward.

"Fall back," Kieran instructed a few seconds later.

Despite him not supplying any additional resources to the attack, the energy encasing Crimson Ashrune suddenly quadrupled in size as Kieran leapt high into the air, his objective not to travel forward.

Instead, it was simply a high jump meant to change his launching angle to implicate pretty much all of the space before him.

This action was why he directed everyone to back away. After all, it had already been confirmed that his Aspect didn't distinguish between friend and foe.

Anyone caught in the crosshairs of this attack would become an unfortunate existence.

As soon as everyone created enough space, Kieran's descent began. During that time, Kieran slashed his blade at a downward diagonal angle.

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Before the energy of the attack could be discharged, the force of Kieran collapsing his power as much as possible resulted in a slight compression of the air before him.

When the delayed sound erupted, it was similar to a bomb exploding, followed by an unimpeded rush of devastating energy.

In an instant, everything went quiet, even the stream, as everyone stared and gasped at the utter annihilation accomplished by Kieran's current attack.

On the other hand, as Kieran activated this skill for a second time, his Mana Pool was essentially depleted. Even the effect of his bracelet didn't supply Mana fast enough, which led to Kieran breathing heavily.

'Ah, so this is slight Mana Fatigue,' Kieran thought.

When he looked at his status screen, his Stamina was still fine, so the exhaustion didn't appear from there. With that, he concluded that the fatigue he felt might be from his Mana Pool or it was the effects of activating an S Rank Skill twice in a small time frame.

When it came to S Rank Skills, there weren't many players capable of claiming that they held one, much less one that could be reset by killing their enemies with it.

Perhaps the only other people in possession of such skills were Bastion, Daedric, Ezra, and possibly Khaos.

There were undoubtedly more people that held Hidden Classes by now, but a class needed to be at least considered Epic Rank to obtain an S Rank Skill by Lv.50.

Otherwise, one wouldn't gain access to such skills until after a Class Advancement.

Upon handling the homunculi, Kieran returned to the ground and inspected Crimson Ashrune, the aftermath of unleashing the attack being damage that couldn't be ignored.

'Even if it's not to repair the weapon completely, I'll have to meet with the Great Dwarven Blacksmith, Grandar. As the forger responsible for this weapon, I presume he's the best to repair the damages it suffers,' Kieran thought.

A second later, Kieran placed Crimson Ashrune behind his back and touched his chest.

Soon, the Tensile Blood Swath wrapped around his body numerous times until it could hold the blade in place without Kieran touching it.

'There's no reason to keep my sword in my inventory when I can use this power to indirectly train Blood Mania. The finer my control over this technique, the more avenues of power I can explore in the future,' Kieran mused.

Afterward, Kieran focused his attention on the loot scattered around the room. Like before, rather than waste time by looting manually, Kieran used the Auto Loot option.

Though they had entered Hell Mode, as mentioned before, the drop rate of equipment was becoming abysmal. Hence, rather than focus on equipment at all, Kieran was more interested in the materials, letting Khaos take a majority of the equipment to alter the equipment of his members.

As for Alice and the rest, their equipment was already marvelous due to them opening their Treasure Chests in Kieran's absence. Though no one wielded an Epic Weapon, Nemean's top was an Epic Grade equipment that increased his STR and END tremendously.

'It's only a matter of time before I open my chest as well. In fact, once I finish this run, there's absolutely nothing stopping me from doing so,' Kieran thought.

…

Not long after Khaos's Advent members finished switching out their equipment, Kieran looked toward a hidden space that opened up on the floor of this research cavern.

Surprisingly, it led to an area deep underground. But more than that, it released a bone-chilling and berserk sensation.

Due to the off-the-charts energy signature leaking from that place, Kieran knew that this boss would be difficult.

'The energy it's releasing isn't too far off from Ronan. It simply lacks that dominant feeling. Instead, it seems overwhelmed by hints of maddened reason.'

All of a sudden, Bastion approached Kieran's side and peered into the dark path. "Are we going?"

In response to this question, Kieran arched his brow. If it was the Bastion from before, he never would have asked this question, allowing Kieran or anyone else to take the lead despite his role as the tank.

This slight maturation of Bastion's attitude made Kieran smile as he nodded. "Undoubtedly. How else will we clear the dungeon if not?"

"Then after me," Bastion confidently stated.

With that, he took a step forward, his presence becoming a beacon of light of sorts because of the blazing cerulean aura of his Pure Indomitable Will, illuminating a short distance ahead of him.

Though this meant he could still be surprised by events outside of his visibility, Bastion exhaled deeply and walked forward, keeping his thoughts calm. 'It's like Ezra said. I'm the only one that isn't confident in my abilities. If I want to be great, I must learn to get out of my head. Remember the teachings of Galvan…'

Overcoming fear or doubt wasn't an instant process, so while Bastion seemed confident on the outside, he still struggled within, oftentimes reinforcing the importance of him standing firm.

Eventually, however, Bastion stopped and stared in disbelief and uncertainty. "What am I looking at?"

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