historical

Due to Kieran's simultaneous activation of Death Avoidance and Vim Restoration, as well as Fervor Augmentation that somehow activated without his doing, a deviant presence appeared behind Kieran.

Though vague and completely unknown, Soulless felt trepidation as he stared into its eyes as dark as the bottomless abyss. This darkness was soon overtaken by a sinister crimson glow capable of inducing despair in even the most stoic of beings.

This figure was hunched over, partly emaciated, yet it seemed to radiate boundless power as its thin razor-sharp claws pierced the ground around Kieran like a cage.

However, if one looked closely, it'd become apparent that this near-intangible figure was restricted by a set of ancient chains.

The number of chains present was so high, it was impossible to count them.

Unfortunately, the presence of this unknown being was fleeting, though it still served to heighten Kieran's Fervor Augmentation to a level that made Crimson Ashrune emit a strange clangor.

Simply touching the ground, the blade cut through it like butter, leading Kieran to believe for a moment—Crimson Ashrune had regained its former glory. Though, these speculations remained as such—mere speculation.

After all, Kieran had no way of confirming the validity of his speculations.

"When the rage bleeds through my soul.." Kieran closed his eyes and exhaled, the presence behind him rippling in and out of existence.

Eventually, it began to assimilate with his body as two strange blood markings in the shape of fangs stretched down across Kieran's cheeks. "...the Progeny of Slaughter shall erupt."

When he opened his eyes, everything—pupils, sclera, iris—had all become a blackened red color as if the second coming of a bloodthirsty fiend had commenced.

The bloodlust from Kieran grew so potent that Vielens and Xion were forced to the ground, while Soulless stared aghast with his mouth agape.

Despite Phantasm Overdrive still being active, Soulless felt an indescribable dread produced by a source of indefatigable malevolence.

Although Kieran hadn't expected this, using the Ruthless Catharsis opened a narrow path into the depths of his Vengeful Soul, where some of his absurd thoughts existed. In a sense, Kieran's current condition could be described as the psychopathic outbreak of a murder hobo.

"Is that fear I smell from you?" Kieran questioned, his expression becoming whimsical and filled with disdain. "After all that pretentious and elitist drivel, you fear a force like me? Did it help you? That Omniscience, I mean. Has it allowed you to sense the disparity between us?"

As he spoke, Kieran nonchalantly strolled through the large crater. He lifted his arm and tossed aside a massive boulder that rested upon his shoulder.

Other players would have perhaps struggled and died under its ridiculous weight, but Kieran tossed it aside like paperweight.

Of course, the tremor that followed proved that this gargantuan rock was no paperweight.

"Fear?" Soulless parroted in a questioning tone. "You mistake my surprise for fear. Anyone would be shocked by this drastic transformation of yours."

Whoosh!

All of a sudden, Kieran appeared before Soulless, looking directly into his eyes. The undetected movement of Kieran made Soulless shiver, but he attempted to stand firm.

Nevertheless, Kieran's piercing gaze deconstructed Soulless' expression with ease. "I've made no mistake. You now fear me as you can't understand the disparity in our abilities. Fortunately for you, I will make it clear."

Bang!

Kieran slashed his sword abruptly, resulting in Soulless' widened eyes.

While his Devoured Release state greatly increased his attributes, especially STR and END thanks to Hulking Throgal being consumed entirely, he couldn't fathom why his arm throbbed so.

Instinctively, as he was sent flying, Soulless moved his right hand to his left shoulder and winced, feeling the tenderness of an injury.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Amidst Soulless' backward flight, he detected light sounds below him due to the range of his Omniscience. Sadly, while he could detect the sounds, the source moved much faster than he could track.

By the time he turned his head, Soulless noticed Kieran's body flicker before appearing in the air two meters ahead of him. After performing an aerial flair, Kieran swept his leg toward the ground below them.

Incapable of doing anything else aside from blocking to the best of his ability, Soulless brought his arms close to his body and created a layer of hardened frost on top of it.

Bang!

BOOOM!

The dense frost may have helped against Kieran's kick, but it was helpless against the mighty force he used.

Soulless' body shot toward the ground at an absurd speed, creating a crater that, while not as large as the one formed from the combined attacks of the detestable three, was much deeper.

"You spoke of it earlier," Kieran voiced as he fell to the ground. "That you understood how to bide your time. Well, did you like how I employed your words?"

Until now, Kieran's action could undoubtedly be described as biding his time, waiting until Soulless' perverse abilities were no longer.

However, Kieran now used Soulless' earlier words of unbridled arrogance to disparage him.

When he received no reply, Kieran chuckled softly. "Get up. With that skill of yours still active, that wasn't enough to kill you."

As Kieran stated, Soulless was indeed alive inside the rubble, however, he was staring up at Kieran with a hateful gaze. He could tell that Kieran had not activated any skill because of the lack of Mana fluctuations.

Everything Kieran achieved so far, was accomplished through his natural power.

Once his hatred reached a boiling point, Soulless lifted his arm, which felt uncharacteristically heavy due to this shoulder injury he suffered, pointing his blade at Kieran.

Soon, a collection of dark energy—ghastly and spectral in nature—gathered before it. This gathering of energy soon coalesced into a bubbling sphere that matched the presence of Soulless' ghost.

"Spectral Ebullition!"

In an instant, a massive beam of ghastly energy arrived before Kieran. This was the special attack of Soulless' current form, yet Kieran cared nothing of it, merely turning his head to the side as his body moved.

One moment, he flickered to the right of this large beam. The next, he appeared on the left. But throughout his movement, Kieran continued to baffle Soulless as he swiftly closed the distance between them.

Once he arrived before him, Kieran delivered a series of precise attacks.

The first disarmed Soulless, breaking his wrist with a downward chop.

The second exasperated Soulless as Kieran chopped his throat.

The third dazed Soulless as Kieran used Crimson Ashrune's hilt to knock his head back while simultaneously lifting him a few tens of centimeters in the air.

The fourth, fifth and sixth turned Soulless defenseless as Kieran used strange kicks all aimed at his chin and his jaw to turn him into an aerial spinning top.

The final and seventh hit was a simple kick to the abdomen before Kieran's feet returned to the ground.

Simple yet the impact sounded horrifying.

"Seven—what a lucky number for an unlucky individual," Kieran voiced, looking at Soulless, who now formed a human-sized indent in the side of the crater.

No skills were involved, yet Kieran dealt with an individual that regarded himself as a highly-skilled Titled Ranker with ease. When Soulless tried to react or retaliate, Kieran read his movements and neutralized them accordingly.

Though no change to his stats occurred, Kieran's utilization of his current parameters entered a state of near perfection. This resulted in him seeming much faster than the augmented Soulless.

As Soulless's clouded gaze gradually recovered his clarity, he noticed his jaw had been broken with baffling precision. He could no longer retort!

"Arm," Kieran suddenly called out.

Whoosh!

A Blood Wave fired from Crimson Ashrune as he waved it.

It cut through the crater's wall, leaving a deep indent as Soulless' right arm fell to the ground. Normally, Kieran's attacks were enough to one-shot a player, but Kieran capitalized on the superior state of a released form.

"Leg," Kieran said.

This time, he fired a Blood Wave that claimed Soulless' left leg.

"Agch!" Soulless howled in pain but his shattered jaw distorted the sound.

After taking Soulless' arm and leg, Kieran estimated the distance and suddenly launched Crimson Ashrune into the sky. As soon as it left his hands, Kieran dashed up to Soulless, who looked at him with trembling eyes.

"Let this be a lesson learned. Should you ever appear before me again, bow your head and know your place. This is the difference between me and you. I can withstand the repercussions of my actions—you cannot."

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

As he finished his words, Kieran began to tenderize Soulless' ribs with what appeared to be several death-inflicting punches. But just before he landed the punches, Kieran tweaked their power.

Unsurprisingly, there was only enough power left in each attack to completely break his ribs without being enough to damage Soulless' Health greatly.

The harrowing wails of misery were euphoric to Kieran's ears at first but after a while, he grew annoyed with them, prompting his next action.

After glancing up at the sky, Kieran suddenly held up Soulless' body and ripped out his trachea. The blood only gushed for a moment before Crimson Ashrune descended and impaled Soulless' body, claiming the remainder of his meager Health.

'This is the beauty of free combat. Though I have a high Phys. Atk, I can tweak how much of it I apply,' Kieran thought.

If not for his careful application of his Phys. Atk, Soulless would have long since died from his attacks.

However, he needed to send a clear message to all that watched. Even though the pathways to his hidden rage were partially unlocked, he moved meaningfully.

Following his brutal action, a greater silence loomed over the lugubrious battlefield.

What the hell just took place?!

A Titled Ranker was not just defeated, they were completely overpowered and tortured for the world to see!

"All of my accolades are not just for show. Use your heads, people. If I obtain the achievement first, naturally I'm better than you," Kieran said, his demonically handsome face gazing right into the spatial streaming interface.

Now it was Kieran's turn to show unbridled and unmatched arrogance, and he did so beautifully. The stream erupted in an uproar while the battlefield gasped and felt belittled, but at the same time afraid.

A question arose in their minds—what would they do without the confidence that Soulless' presence provided?