Chapter 184 Pain of Loss

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A few minutes later…

Kieran led Altair and the others to the corridor where the Deep Sands Chamber’s entrance was located. However, as they arrived at this place, the team realized a few minor issues.

“Uh, not to be a worrywart here, but…” Nemean grimaced while staring at the gaping crater beside them. “Was it you who caused this?”

“Yeah,” Kieran answered truthfully. “I had a run-in with a Titled NPC of my own. Let’s just say the battle became— ” Kieran paused while searching for a proper word. “Heated.”

“Ah,” Nemean nodded while giving a complex look. Nevertheless, he switched to another troubling matter at hand. “What about getting inside this place? If I’m not mistaken, didn’t we need a special sigil?”

“Hm…”

Kieran walked forward, placed his hand on the wall where the entrance should be and evaluated the chances of success. “There should be no need for us to rely upon special means like a sigil.”

Kieran balled up his fist and pounded the wall.

Bang!

An indent formed on the floor as a vigorous crimson aura swirled around Kieran’s body.

A Vampiric Blood Encrustation formed over his left fight as power flooded into his arm. Due to his armor, everyone could see his muscles ripple with power beyond what they had become accustomed to.

“How fucking high is your Strength right now?” Nemean asked while staring at Kieran’s arm in stupefaction.

“Over 1,000,” Kieran indifferently replied.

BOOM!

Before the others could react to his astonishing revelation, Kieran’s fist shattered the wall and formed a web-shaped cracking pattern. ‘Hm, this wall is tougher than I presumed.”

The outer layer shattered from Kieran’s first attack, but after pieces crumbled away, Kieran saw an unaffected wall underneath.

〈System: ?Blood Mania? has reached its third juncture. Physical Attack Power increased by 125%!〉

“You may want to back up,” Kieran warned. Now that his Physical Attack Power experienced such a startling increase in conjunction with the Savage Beast Lord Set Equipment, Kieran wasn’t sure how extreme the blowback would be.

Everyone listened to Kieran’s suggestion and backed up.

Boom! Boom! BOOM!

Kieran punched the wall until a gaping hole opened up, exposing the Deep Sands Chamber’s stadium-like appearance inside.

‘Truly an amazing set. Just the 20% Strength increase alone makes me fall in love with this equipment,’ Kieran thought while marveling at the Vampiric Blood Encrustation gauntlet surrounding his hand.

The technique’s appearance seemed to become more refined with each usage, but that was to be expected since the skill’s Mastery increased the longer Kieran used it.

Furthermore, the Mastery progress improved significantly against strong opponents like Vidal.

Kieran was the first to walk through the hole, followed by Ezra and the others. Without turning back, Kieran delivered an order. “Lux, if you would be so kind.”

“Understood,” Lux answered.

He walked around, scrutinizing the surroundings with his special passive. At the same time, Kieran had Alice assist him since her Mana Vision was valuable when discerning Mana discrepancies.

If Dusvim truly did possess a hidden lair, as Kieran believed, it should be guarded by a powerful restriction.

It didn’t take long for both Alice and Lux to arrive at the same area where they located something strange.

‘How cliche. Of course, he decided to use the main stage to hide the entrance.’

Kieran inhaled and lifted his foot before stomping it down. The entire stage crumbled and splintered as if hit by a bullet train.

Kieran tossed aside the broken rubble to find a clear path that led to a wall not too far away. Instinctively, Kieran drew Crimson Ashrune and walked forward with a narrowed gaze.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

Numerous holes opened in the wall, firing lethal sand spears, but Kieran deflected them while continuing forward.

Tap!

Kieran tapped Crimson Ashrune against the wall before him and received a hollow noise in return. There was undoubtedly a passage on the other side of the wall.

Unlike the entrance to the Deep Sands Chamber, Kieran could sense heavy Mana Fortification despite lacking special detection abilities.

‘I guess this guy truly cherishes his solitary. Unfortunately…’

Shnk!

Kieran slashed Crimson Ashrune, leaving a deep vertical scar on the wall. Despite how deep the scar seemed, Kieran could tell one or two slashes wouldn’t get the job done, not with the amount of Mana Fortification this wall underwent.

Shnk! Shnk! Shnk! Shnk!

Kieran executed a series of nonstop slashes that followed a strict pattern. The pattern consisted of two vertical slashes spaced 1 meter apart and four arced slashes aimed at each of the vertical scar’s endpoints.

After these six slashes, a shape resembling a double-edged sword appeared on the wall. Kieran continued following the pattern until the grove carved out by his blade became deeper.

Finally, after repeating every slash over ten times in a mechanical fashion. Kieran dropped his arm and lift

“Grand Stomp!”

BOOM!

The wall inside his slashes was blown apart by what seemed to be a special ability. Armors rarely possessed Item Abilities, but it wasn’t impossible.

One of Kieran’s set pieces likely gave him a unique ability, which was why his stomps became so devastating.

A short corridor lit up with pale blue illuminating flames the moment Kieran’s presence was sensed. “You all can come.”

“This will be the last area we visit, and with this, we’ll conclude our quest,” Kieran spoke.

“You don’t have to tell me twice. While fun, our experience has been nothing short of stressful,” Bastion commented.

“I concur. Even as a Guild Master who has partaken in her fair share of raids in other titles, our condensed numbers made this quite the difficult ordeal. Fortunately, we have a walking nuclear missile,” Ezra added with a pleasant smile.

“Speaking of which, how long do you think it will be before raids appear? I’m down to crush one,” Nemean voiced.

Kieran’s brow twitched after hearing their comments. ‘Raid? Now that they mention it, Raids are vital to Zenith Online. There are many categories, but the most important one would have to be a Lv.50 Raid Dungeon.’

Raid Dungeons were similar to Normal Dungeon except for one significant difference. Raid Dungeons possessed unique side missions that players must clear to gain access to the next phase.

Moreover, because Raid Dungeon generally required an obscenely large team to clear, the rewards were spectacular!

After recalling this bit of information, Kieran looked toward the others. “Raids? That sounds pretty interesting. Do you know why? Because that’s where we’ll make a name for ourselves. Shall we make a promise?”

“What’s the promise?” Luna’s eyes glistened with intrigue after hearing Kieran speak.

“That we’ll use the first-ever Raid Dungeon that appears to make a name for ours. By then, I hope we would have united under one banner.” Kieran’s comment was aimed toward Bastion and the others, not necessarily Ezra and Luna.

Each of these winsome ladies possessed their own uniquely lofty ideals. Kieran wouldn’t stifle them by bringing them under his wing.

“Hell yeah! Let’s do it!” Bastion exclaimed.

“Woohoo! A damned Raid Dungeon! But… how do we find one?”

“Mmm, I’m not sure yet. But we’re bound to come across that information eventually if we continue growing stronger,” Kieran said.

Although he was privy to some Raid Dungeon locations, reaching them was impossible.

Why? Because they required Advanced Class just to transverse the terrain. Otherwise, it’d be a waste to visit those territories.

Kieran suddenly waved his hand, dispelling the party’s excitement. It wasn’t bad, but the enthusiasm was misplaced. “Enough about the future. We won’t reach the future if we don’t focus on the events at hand. We still need to defeat our last opponent.”

While Kieran could more or less feel that they were pretty close to their location, he couldn’t ignore the fact he sensed an enormous presence, not in size but danger.

That man he saw earlier couldn’t just be a simple brigand head while emitting pressure like this.

“Prepares yourselves right now,” Kieran cautioned.

The pale blue flames illuminated a path that led to a relatively small clear. In the center of the clearing, Dusvim sat, meditating quietly while a subtle gust of sand swirled around his body.

The jewel-embedded turban sat on his head while his eyelids trembled. Once open, Dusvim’s eyes radiated a sharp light that scanned over everyone.

“Who are you? Not to mention your action to intrude upon my personal lair? How brazen of you all!”

“Considering this is only one place we haven’t looked, it only fits that it’s the last place to be razed to the ground.

Duvsim’s eyes flickered with amusement as his lips curved into a slight smirk. “Raze to the ground? Are you making light of my Desertborn Brigands that have ventured to and stolen from many kingdoms?”

Kieran clicked his tongue and spoke in an icy tone. “Ah yes…. Brigands. Weak people who can only rely upon unscrupulous machinations to gain in this world. No ability to claim anything rightfully. If it weren’t the case, Facina and Vidal wouldn’t have perished.”

Hearing the names of his children in the same sentence as perish made Dusvim seethe. Anger brewed in his eyes.

“You think I’ll believe your sick joke?” Dusvim scoffed.

But, Kieran merely smiled indifferently. “A joke? If that’s the case, I have an enlightening present for you. Here.”

Thud! Thud!

Two heads rolled before Dusvim as his eyes reddened in abject horrors. A bloodcurdling cry echoed from his throat as Kieran stood a few meters away, completely at ease.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”