Chapter 230 A Ghastly Flicker

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After Ronan activated his third attack, it was like gravity sang the tune of his whims, manipulated until it left a somewhat small pocket world devoid of gravity.

The sudden change in gravity made Kieran float about aimlessly despite trying to gain control of his momentum.

This situation was new to him. His experience with gravity users was virtually nonexistent, so he hadn’t prepared for Ronan arbitrarily creating a world where weight was an illusory concept.

However, the Weightless World ability wasn’t as simple as it seemed. Like the first half of its name insinuated, this world possessed a unique cadence.

Without finding that cadence, one could never return to their proper orientation unless Ronan canceled the ability.

This skill was how Ronan claimed numerous lives on the many battlefields High General Archival took him to. While his enemies helplessly scrambled, suspended in air, Ronan unleashed additional gravitational skills to crush his opponents overwhelmingly.

But Kieran wasn’t an enemy.

Ronan was merely testing him to see where his actual skills resided. Did he have the making to become one of the elites within the War Deity Council?

The skills required to adopt that moniker were colossal. In fact, only Ronan had obtained the right to be called an elite of this generation thus far.

Ronan needed to know if another would appear and if the heavens willed it, could they become friends?

Unquestionable strength led to a desolate life rife with fear and respect but devoid of friends. If one did befriend Ronan, it was superficial and only to hopefully gain his protection during perilous times.

However, what would happen if he could find someone of equal or greater potential and similar strength? Perhaps he could find a friend within them.

Ronan’s situation wasn’t too different from Isadora’s.

These gravity powers were something he possessed since birth. They surfaced a few weeks after his birth, and they were uncontrollable. When he cried, he would crush stones and many things surrounding him, eventually leading his parent to orphan him.

Archival sensed the talent in the boy and honed him, hence why Ronan possessed no last name. His parents were unknown, just as their well-being was.

Kieran stopped struggling and again regulated his breathing to where everything else surrounding him was drowned out and discarded. Soon enough, all he felt was his body rocking, swaying, and dipping, similar to notes in a symphony.

‘It’s quite literally a song. A sad song, in fact. Is this Ronan melding his melancholic sorrows into a modified world? That’s... that’s an ingenious application of gravity! To manipulate the force until it emulates vibration is fascinating!’

Rather than try to break free, Kieran listened to the story weaved into the Weightless World and sighed. It was a sigh filled with remorse for Ronan; such a strong person carried a fragile soul but couldn’t display it.

For who would accept a powerhouse if they were soft?

Could they be trusted on the battlefield?

Intense jets of blood spurted in all directions, bearing a chaotic presence. The explosion bombarded the gravitational prison formed because of Ronan’s contradictory application.

Cracks formed along the nearly imperceptible prison until Kieran successfully vanquished the attack. Kieran dropped to his knee and panted because forcibly controlling his blood, under those circumstances, consumed horrific amounts of Stamina.

The tremendous expenditure was absurd even for his currently bolstered condition.

‘Forcibly breaking my attack... He is better than I assumed. If he persisted for longer than ten seconds, I would have canceled it,’ Ronan thought to himself.

The superimposition of those two principles created an environment that even he would struggle to resolve in a short amount of time if met with the same circumstances.

Despite his feat, Kieran received a negligible amount of time to recover before Ronan lifted his giant cleaver to the sky above him.

A stifling swirling materialized above the weapon, coalescing into an ancient-looking beast.

It wasn’t a proper Mana Manifestation, merely an impression formed by wielding a massive amount of Mana.

“World Suppressing Mammoth: Sundering Stomp.”

Kieran was overwhelmed by a sense of dread that even the Dread Circlet couldn’t correct. Ronan moved a tremendous amount of Mana and fused it with his gravity abilities for the first time.

The result was a frightening attack that made everyone in the stands gasp.

Kieran didn’t even think about wielding the Dread Circlet and wasting his last usage on an attack he could thwart. In fact, Kieran stowed Crimson Ashrune inside his inventory and acted without a weapon.

‘It’s time... I have to do it,’ Kieran thought.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Kieran’s feet started tapping against the ground as he moved around in a presumably erratic fashion. At times he moved vertically; other times, he moved diagonally, and rarely he moved horizontally.

His action quickly grew into a dizzying display of speed as every step incorporated a Surge Step, which quickened in the process. Those who tried to track Kieran’s movements without sufficient ocular prowess felt nauseous.

Meanwhile, Kieran began moving so fast his body seemed to flicker and split into two.

What he was doing now wasn’t part of the Drive Techniques he wanted to perfect; it was a standalone technique only accomplishable if one could incorporate the Drives with immaculate precision.

If it were before he manually learned Dread Culling, he wouldn’t have attempted this reckless behavior. But, with his mind’s current capabilities, it should be possible.

‘I’m almost there! Just a little more...’ Kieran’s glanced up at the incoming massive mammoth’s foot.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Kieran began impulsively compounding Accel Shift and Surge Step to propel himself over the threshold. Before the foot dropped, Kieran achieved a ghastly flicker and disappeared.

When he reappeared, he stood beside Ronan with an exaggerated sigh. His mind and body were both extremely beat. He wanted—no, he needed rest. It had been weeks since he had a proper rest.

Dr. Riley’s warning weighed heavy on his mind.