Though many, if not all of the players gathered on the battlefield, disliked the fact that one player monopolized several of the notable achievements available to the community, Soulless was the only reason they could muster enough confidence to participate in this conflict.

The security provided by Umbra's reputation and its standing within the hierarchy of guilds was enough to convince thousands of players to pressure Kieran and his small party.

Unfortunately, it never dawned upon them that Kieran and his small—no, just Kieran and Altair alone—were nearly insurmountable enemies.

As it stood, most of the players that agreed to participate in the conflict were Elite players or bottom-rung Rankers.

So, while they were much better than the general populace consisting of casual players, their skill meant nothing against enemies capable of rivaling Titled Rankers, or perhaps even Luminaries after activating their special skills.

After killing Soulless and noting the response in his stream, Kieran shifted his gaze to Xion and Vielens, who struggled to lift their heads as a result of Kieran's ridiculous pressure.

While the duration of this pressure remained unknown, the intensity of it was similar to the moments before Kieran's first death. That crushing pressure was enough to knock trained individuals unconscious and caused death if they were exposed to it for a prolonged amount of time.

As he looked at these two while they were pinned to the ground in silence, Kieran contemplated his course of action regarding their fates. 'Should I make another example out of them?'

Kieran deeply considered this option, but he understood that not only would tormenting these two would be less fulfilling, but it also wouldn't have the same impact as him thrashing a Vice Guild Master of an Overlord Guild, who was only a Vice Guild Master by choice.

Had Soulless not made the decision in his extreme youth, he would have undoubtedly been a part of a Behemoth-level guild by now. Alas, Soulless' decision and his transgressions were of no concern to Kieran as they didn't directly involve him.

Eventually, Kieran decided to deal with Xion and Vielens in a fitting and symbolic way.

"Grand Stomp!"

Without hesitation, he lifted his foot and slammed it down with immense force, producing a huge fissure that spread throughout the crater he walked upon.

Once the fissure reached the position of these two, who widened their eyes in despair, a large shadow blotted out the radiant rays of the beating sun. This wasn't due to Altair's technique, it was the result of two massive boulders splintering from the wall.

"Nooo!" Vielens howled, attempting to break free from the restrictive pressure, but to no avail.

Unlike Vielens, however, Xion was far less vocal. He simply stared at Kieran as the humongous rock came crashing down on their bodies.

Because of his dastardly actions, especially the gruesome mutilation of Soulless' body, which would undoubtedly leave lasting scars on his psyche, Kieran was met with a few messages.

〈System: Due to your heinous actions of mutilating another human body without a shred of remorse while possessing high ?Infamy?, your Infamy Value has skyrocketed.〉

〈System: In your current depraved state, you will acquire ?Infamy? at four times the natural rate.〉

〈Warning: Should your ?Infamy? reach an alarming level, certain presences may sense you and act accordingly. The outcome remains unknown.〉

〈System: You have returned to ?Third Degree Infamy?.〉

Though Kieran had exhausted a large amount of Infamy through his Ruthless Catharsis, his earlier actions resulted in a massive influx of Infamy. While it was somewhat disconcerting, Kieran preferred it to be this way.

After punching his fist forward, Kieran obliterated the large rocks that lay upon Vielens and Xion's bodies before collecting the loot that dropped from their body.historical

For the most part, it consisted of coins, but when Kieran looked through Vielens' loot, he noticed a fractured item no larger than a fist with a strange diamond-like exterior.

Analyzing the item with his True Unveiling Eyes, Kieran was intrigued by the identity of this item.

「 Item Name: Remnant Key Fragment II - Lightning & Thunder (Special Item)

Item Rank: N/A

Item Level: N/A

Item Usage: Once all of the key fragments are collected, the entrance to special ?Remnants of Thunder Divinities? will open. [A maximum of 50 people can enter this special land.]

Description: A special entrance key produced after years of exposure to extremely pure lightning and thunder. If the others are found, the key's properties will manifest properly. 」

'I don't think it's a Secret Realm, otherwise, the item description would have said so. It must be connected to something unusual for it to be known as a Remnant Key. That said, I'm sure Vielens will eventually have an aneurysm once he learns of the item he dropped. For now..'

After stashing the piece of the Remnant Key, Kieran looked toward Soulless' dissipating body and flashed before it. The situation with Soulless was similar, but the item he dropped made Kieran stop and stare.

It was an unusual ring, black, silver, and amethyst in color. There was a herringbone pattern that extended throughout the ring, which overlapped with a dominant purple spiral motif.

As Kieran analyzed the item, he didn't receive much information aside from a notification.

〈System: A conflict of interest has been detected. The ?Spectral Monarch? has been alerted of your presence thanks to the curse ?Zirgirak's Phantom? has placed on you.〉

〈System: The conflict of interest and the animosity towards you has produced the SSS Rank Quest: ?The Great Nether Target?.〉

〈System: Whenever you near ?Planar Rifts? attached to any of the ?Dark Realms?, there's a chance the seal on the rift may be targeted and compromised.〉

'Hoh? Zirgirak's Phantom.. that's the grotesque being I fought against inside the Chasm of Apogeton. As for the Spectral Monarch.. I assume that, with such a title, it must be comparable to Argexes. Otherwise, the use of their Monarch moniker is misplaced,' Kieran thought.

Despite the apparent danger of being targeted by an entity comparable to Argexes, Kieran remained unperturbed. If it was so easy for those beings to crossover into the Lesser Boundary, Xenith, they would have done so already.

The invasive restrictions set in place were not something those characters were willing to endure. After all, there was a chance that after the restriction was placed upon them, they'd never regain their former strength.

As it seemed the ring was useless to him for the time being, Kieran tossed it inside his inventory before jumping out of the crater. After he landed on the ground, he looked toward Altair's Lightless Shroud.

When he attempted to peer into the Lightless Shroud, a message appeared.

〈System: Please use the ?First Supreme Cipher of Eni? to determine how long the unraveling of this cloaking ability will take.〉

If the system prompted Kieran to use the Supreme Cipher, Kieran understood that it would take a decent amount of time to understand the Lightless Shroud. Without so much as asking a question, Kieran verified that the source of the Lightless Shroud, or rather the Nightly Gloom, was at the very least on par with Argexes.

After all, Kieran had attempted to look into Argexes' Blood and received a similar message. But after employing the Supreme Cipher, the estimated timer read as multiple question marks.

Considering that the Legendary-grade Imprint was fairly easy to decipher, Kieran could only imagine what unfathomable mystery was attached to the source of the Mythic Classes.

Why did they exist, to begin with?

All of a sudden, Kieran opened his mouth and spoke. "Altair, you're good to fall back now."

After losing the moral support of Soulless' presence, many players attempted to run away from the conflict, but with Kieran's enhanced visual prowess, he noticed all of this.

Did they truly believe someone as vengeful as Kieran would let them walk away unscathed after causing him quite the headache? If not for the gathering of players before him, Kieran could have very well been on his way to finishing his preparations.

Once he received instructions from Kieran, Altair nodded faintly and immediately retracted his Lightless Shroud. As it continued to recede into Altair's body, hundreds of dead bodies were revealed, all frail and drained.

Some players were shaken by what they saw, but Kieran turned toward Altair with undisclosed praise in his eyes. 'Perhaps we should spar when we get a chance so I can understand how strong those Eternal Nightfall Bayonets are. As Epic Weapons, even if he can't completely activate their runes, he should wield a large amount of its power.'

Items tailor-made for a class didn't follow the same restrictions for generic items that could be equipped by anyone.

Once Altair retreated to a safe distance, Kieran suddenly leapt into the center of the scurrying players, only for them to soon realize that their attempts to run away were futile.

As much as they attempted to claw their way forward, their bodies were pulled back by a strong force. As they fearfully turned their heads back, many players noticed fierce and potent crimson winds swirling around Kieran's body.

It began faint and stretched no more than one meter from Kieran's body, but that coverage soon ballooned over one kilometer in every direction. Against an attack like this, the players gulped and despaired, unable to resist the pulling force.

Because of the skill's effect, even with Crimson Ashrune in hand, Kieran's body began levitating, rising toward the eye of this incredible cyclone. Upon reaching a decent ascent, Kieran's rise stopped as he flipped his palm face down.

"Take this as a declaration of presence. Your Hidden King possesses a class superior to Daedric. Tread carefully next time. For as Daedric was destined to defend, I.. was destined to destroy," Kieran announced.

This message bombarded many baffled ears as people at home clutched their screens in excitement and anticipation.

"Baneful.. Cyclone!"

Kieran suddenly clenched his fist as the violent cyclone surged outward, bringing with it an existence-culling horror.

Limbs flew, heads rolled, and blood sprouted, leaving a bloodstained and grisly battlefield.

All those that attempted to run away.. were done in by this outrageous skill Kieran recently acquired.