—-

To contest against Altair in PvP, Kieran understood the need for tremendous and sustainable damage per second (DPS). Therefore, he could only point his attention to the only relatively high damage yet low cooldown skill in his arsenal—Force Slash.

Initially, this skill was infinitesimally close to reaching Lv.6 after its constant usage against Grifear and even the Giant Wolves. Thus, this small fight against the Shadow Cartel’s insignificant members gave Kieran the edge needed to reach that level.

However, a single level wouldn’t be enough to bridge the gap between his and Altair DPS because of the Rare Weapons in Altair’s possession. As soon as he activated the item’s ability, his DPS would skyrocket.

Thus, Kieran used the remaining 4 Skill Points to increase Force Slash yet again. As a result, its current parameters greatly satisfied Kieran.

「Force Slash (Lv.8)

Skill Rank: E Rank Active

Mastery (00.00%)

Skill Description: Deals 365% of the user’s Attack Power by focusing their strength into their arms and unleashing a strike powerful enough to produce a wave of force accompanied by a mighty gale that causes the «Knockback» effect. The strong gale deals 50% of the slash’s damage to all enemies in a 4-meter radius.

Consumption: 3 Mana Points

Prerequisites: Warrior Class, «Warrior’s Aura»

Cooldown: 7 seconds 」

With the current cooldown of 7 seconds, the number of times Kieran could execute the skill increased from 6 to 8! Given that Altair’s skills were generally limited by high cooldowns, forcing him to rely upon swift basic attacks, Kieran’s situation was the opposite!

‘It should more or less neutralize Altair’s advantage,’ Kieran thought before closing the notification before his eyes.

Meanwhile, his stream was thrown into an uproar. Most of them didn’t believe their eyes when they saw how high one of Kieran’s skills was!

Just what type of Skill Points did he receive to reach this level?!

The people present in Kieran’s stream gradually began to understand why he cleared the Forest of Beast without suffering any deaths and why he could unleash so much damage upon sturdy enemies.

However, they’d most likely pale with fright if they learned he had a skill that increased his damage by 30%! What’s more, both of these skills were growing extremely close to leveling up since Kieran never battled without incorporating them into his combat rotation.

Eventually, Kieran closed in on the nearest cluster of healers. Now that his Force Slash was strong enough to cause Area of Effect (AoE) damage, he had zero reservations about committing a justified massacre.

Whoosh!

Kieran arrived behind the group of healers with the rapid movements of Charge. His heavy blade fell before any of the Healers could notify nearby members about someone trespassing in the area.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Given that Priests were as fragile as glass dolls and possessed pitiful Health, Kieran only needed one Force Slash to slay all of them in his vicinity. Over ten such Priests were wiped out in an instant. However, because these Priests weren’t a part of the earlier party, they weren’t included in the PK Defender System.

As a result, Kieran’s name immediately turned a pale red color, threatening to turn entirely red. This meant Kieran was on the cusp of acquiring 2nd Degree Infamy, which only needed 11 registered kills to acquire.

Conversely, Altair sifted through the ranks of the opposing cluster of Priests like a grim reaper claiming lives with every swing of his daggers. Most of the attacks were aimed at vitals because of the Critical passive all Thieves possessed after Lv.15. Within seconds, Altair accrued 8 kills.

These counters appeared in the corner of Kieran and Altair’s vision, accompanied by a red skull with hollow eyes and blood seeping from the empty eye sockets.

Behind them, the rest of the party simply continued to shake their heads.

“Altair just resolved his Infamy, yet they’re acquiring more at an even faster rate! These two are just monsters when it comes to gaming. But, boys will be boys, I suppose,” Aspaira shrugged and sighed.

Nevertheless, her expression occasionally sparkled with excitement and gratitude that she didn’t openly express.

“True. I can’t disagree with you there,” Cygnus approved.

“True, true, very true. Trueing, actually,” Sithik agreed as well.

Both of the lovely ladies looked at Sithik and blinked wordlessly. The first thought that came to their mind—memer.

…

Approximately two minutes later…

“Healers, heal up the Knights,” Despot roared out. However, his brows furrowed when he noticed the volumes of the heals had dropped dramatically. At first, he thought this was due to poor Mana management, resulting in the inevitable consumption of Mana Potions. Still, when it persisted, Despot felt something was amiss.

Curiously, he turned his head toward the guild’s flank, thereby noticing the numbers appeared thinned. ‘The boss never launched any long-distance attacks, so why does it seem like the numbers have declined? Could the sentinel parties have requested healing?’

However, after asking around, this possibility was immediately cast aside. None of the parties guarding the exits requested any healing. In fact, it was radio silence from their end, which led Despot to believe that they hadn’t run into any unforeseen complications.

Regrettably, dead players couldn’t send messages to members who were alive. Additionally, there was no such thing as guilds right now, which meant a guild chat was nonexistent as well. What’s more, parties were currently limited to groups of five.

The only way to receive information currently was to have the player revive in town and run back to the area of their death or have a Lv.20 Priest with extreme luck find the Ressurection Skill Book revive them on the spot before the timer elapsed.

Sadly, the latter wasn’t feasible.

It took over two hours of travel to reach this area, which was much deeper than the Fanged Forest’s dungeon entrance. In other words, all information would have a two-hour delay at the minimum.

One could try to whisper the involved parties if they were on their friend’s list, but all notifications concerning unrelated parties would be silenced until the players engaged in battle completed the task or died.

Additionally, the emergency function attached to the VR equipment could only be triggered by real-world events, not issues centered around Zenith Online.

If the emergency functions were triggered, that player would be immediately ejected while being barred from any in-game activity for one hour, including logging in. The one-hour period ensured that the player made suitable arrangements for said “emergencies” and didn’t just ignore them.

Suddenly, Despot squinted as he noticed movement in their foremost ranks. However, the speed at which these movements were performed was not something Priests were capable of. Immediately, it dawned upon Despot that thinned numbers could be the result of another matter!

“A powerful party may have come and made it past our human barricade. If that is true, then our current line-up won’t suffice. We’re too vulnerable in the back… WAIT, WHAT?!” Despot’s eyes widened to saucers when he noticed two huge gaps missing on their left and right flanks.

Additionally, these gaps were spreading towards the center quickly. Almost 50% of their Priests were gone! Despot finally caught a proper glimpse of the culprit because the center was more spread out than the corners.

‘Silver armor and quick movements? Is this…’

Despot immediately pulled up the stream menu and sifted through the emerging Zenith Online streams until he located the most popular one. Reading the stream’s title made his eyes redden with fury.

“Damn it!” Despot screeched frantically. “One person!? We’re being done in by one person?!” What’s more, the comments under the stream incensed Despot. They glorified and deified Kieran while reducing his name to nothing more than an ant!

Despot found this utterly inexcusable. When did Kieran ever generate a name for himself? How could these simpletons believe that a single person could triumph against an entire third-class organization?

However, that’s where Despot drew the wrong inference. Kieran wasn’t alone. He was accompanied by someone equally as fearsome in this particular scenario.

“Healers, fall back! Hunters and Mages, attack the rear and get rid of those rats scurrying amidst our rear!” Despot ordered. His furious voice came across as a snarl that made his members shift their attention toward Kieran and Altair.

All of the Shadow Cartel’s members immediately became enraged.

“Vermin! You dare?!”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A rain of arrows and Mana Missiles fired upon Kieran and Altair once the remaining Priests rushed forward towards the battle. Subsequently, Kieran and Altair were exposed and alone under the shower of incoming projectiles.

“Let’s dance,” Kieran winked.

Altair responded by activating Swift Steps, whereas Kieran merely held his Novice Greatsword. Once the projectiles grew close enough, Kieran launched a Force Slash that knocked away a considerable amount of the attack aimed at him. Afterward, he evaded the next volley with swift movements.

Those that he couldn’t dodge, Kieran either guarded against them or knocked them away to take as little damage as possible. The sight gradually confounded the Shadow Cartel. What type of movement and deflection was this?!

Due to Kieran’s high Defense, he prioritized evading magic attacks over arrows. As of now, he had no Magical Defense, so he would bear the unfiltered damage from a Mage. Furthermore, he didn’t wish to expose Cygnus or Sithik just yet, or they’d be targeted.

Their presence was crucial to defeating the World Boss later.

Once the volley ended ten seconds later, Kieran still possessed over 80% of his Health. He rushed forward, executing a Force Slash that damaged multiple enemies nearby.

The Shadow Cartel’s defense was focused on defending against the Colossal Scarlet Wolf, so they couldn’t protect the ranged damagers or Healers from Kieran’s onslaught.

After realizing the crux of the matter, Despot could only look toward the Sunset Triad for assistance. “Horizon Break, I need your help! If not, it won’t be possible to clear the boss raid!”

“Oh? I’ll help you, alright. But, that’s only possible if we alter the ratio to a 25-75 split,” Horizon Break grinned.

“Motherfucker! And you call my Shadow Cartel dogs? You’re a damned bandit!” Despot snarled.

“Yes, and you’re in quite the predicament. So, can a beggar really be a chooser right now?” Horizon Break chuckled whimsically.

Despot could only concede and agree to the new terms upon watching his members get mowed down. Once he did so, Horizon Break sent over his minions without fail.

However, Kieran looked over with a cold gaze. “I’ll give you three seconds to tread carefully and recall your minions. Otherwise, you’ll be treated just like the Shadow Cartel—an enemy that must unmistakably perish!”