Kieran's four uses of his Ruinous Negation Aspect left his body in a precarious state. Queasiness surfaced as it felt like some intangible presence clutched his stomach with a vice grip.
Although the Sand Severing Sand Worm was the only remaining monster in the vicinity, Kieran felt incredibly feeble. His breaths had become weak as the veins on his left temple pulsated alarmingly.
'An Aspect… is the worst technique I've ever encountered,' Kieran thought. He flailed his left arm, stabbing Crimson Ashrune through the sand, and relied upon it for support in his time of weakness.
"Aatrox—!" Altair screamed out before dashing toward Kieran. The Sand Severing Sand Worm's large blade-like horn emanated a deep amber light that worried Altair.
Once this light appeared, a small yet progressively advancing fissure opened inside the sand. Several small twisters surfaced on the desert's floor until these twisters converged into sand spears.
These two attacks were designed to entrap Kieran and kill him while he was incredibly vulnerable.
Aside from Altair, Luna and Ezra also quickly sprung into action while Lux drew back on his exquisite longbow with a solemn expression.
"Hooo…" Lux exhaled as a spiraling orb of Mana coalesced before the arrow's tip.
"Spiral Shot: Mana Puncture!" He released.
Whoosh!
The arrow sped through the air, aimed at the Sand Severing Sand Worm's horn, which admittedly appeared as the source and medium of its ability. Lux intended to break it or, at the very least, disrupt the Champion Monster's channeling ability.
If not for this intention, he wouldn't have wasted one of his two high-damage, high-cooldown skills. However, he also understood Kieran's worth to the party. He couldn't allow him to go down now.
The arrow emitted a strange noise while ripping through the atmosphere at astonishing speed. Lux even sacrificed one use of Velocity Charge, a unique combat system available to Archers after reaching Lv.30. This system allowed them to increase the velocity, critical rate, and defense ignore of a single shot.
At its current skill level, Velocity Charge possessed six charges. Lux cherished each charge despite its high amount because of the recharge rate. It took one hour to amass a single charge.
In exchange for this baffling cooldown period, Velocity Charge could achieve remarkable feats.
Crrrrr! …Bang!
A bout of silence followed the rippling ripping noise that spread through the region. The arrow then broke the silence once it created a disastrous collision against the Sand Severing Sand Worm's horn.
-97,680! [Critical Hit!]
The damage outclassed the standard limits of what a normal class could achieve, but it was only a fraction of Kieran's output. Still, the attack served its purpose as the amber light flickered in and out of existence while the growing fissure paused before Crimson Ashrune.
Kieran slowly lifted his head while sweat trailed down his forehead.
〈System: The user is suffering from a state of «Mental Exhaustion». Perception will weaken by 50% for the next 3 hours.〉
Truthfully, the consequences of Kieran's actions weren't as catastrophic as he expected. A 50% reduction in his perception was acceptable given the Desert of Treacherous Sands existed just past this area.
Altair and Ezra arrived before Kieran seconds after each other and brandished their weapons with serious expressions.
"You know whatever you just did was very reckless, right?" Altair scolded without turning his head.
Kieran grimaced because Altair was correct to scold him for his actions. Forcibly shattering his limits had almost produced a devastating outcome.
"Typical male behavior—believing you can recklessly accomplish things on your own," Ezra clicked her tongue while a cold gleam surfaced in her eyes. She could tell at a glance that Kieran had executed something that wasn't meant to occur just yet.
"Go easy on me. It wasn't planned—it was a spur-of-the-moment type of thing.
"Yeah, you're always spurred into recklessness. This isn't the first time. You recall the Underground Labyrinth, yes?" Altair finally turned his head and looked Kieran in the eyes.
Part of the reason he trained so hard was to absorb some of Kieran's burden. After all, they had made a pact to assist each other in times of hardship. This included when situations were too intense to bear alone.
"You're right," Kieran weakly nodded. He understood the emotion buried in Altair's eyes; it didn't need to be spoken.
Ezra looked between these two men and immediately understood their relationship wasn't as simple as mere allies. Just like the relationship between Nemean and Bastion wasn't simple.
'These genuine emotions rarely appear in any other guilds. The only ideology that links them is achieving power. Most guild members couldn't care less about their guild mates' well-being. How has Aatrox achieved this in his small party?' Ezra wondered.
Although she tried, Ezra failed to make Eclipse a group of close-knit friends who cherished their teammates more than they desired status and riches. Subconsciously, Ezra looked toward Camila and Lux, who noticed something unusual about her expression.
However, they didn't bring up the matter because they were too far.
On the other hand, Nemean and Bastion approached side by side.
"You reckless freak. Look at what you've done. Bah, don't worry—we'll pick up your slack," Bastion exclaimed before giving Nemean a solemn nod.
Nemean returned this gesture before suddenly speeding up. He bashed his shields together before running past both Ezra and Altair. "I'll take the lead—you guys follow! The boss's inactivity doesn't mean we stop cold turkey!"
Boom!
Nemean rammed into the Sand Severing Sand Worm's bottom without any hesitation. After this strike, he quickly launched his attacks until he amassed enough combo chain.
A second later, his powerful skills appeared.
"Chain Link: Shield Rush!"
"Chain Link: Enforcer's Glory!"
"Chain Link: Breakthrough Barrage!"
Nemean quickly unleashed his skills in a state of extreme focus, stun-locking the sand beast for a small amount of time that grew extensively long with each additional Chain Link move.
"Get off your damned asses and move!" Nemean howled through his brutal attacks.
The others awoke from their daze and quickly reacted to Nemean's shout. Although they were taken aback by the way Nemean adopted the role of a leader, they understood it wasn't the time to stop and spectate.
Kieran cracked a small smile but soon felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Alice with pursed lips. She spoke in a soft tone that betrayed her usually indifferent approach.
"Don't be so reckless. You may have adopted the role of a protector, but sometimes support needs reinforcing. We—your teammates—are that reinforcement," Alice said.
"I understand," Kieran revealed a genuine smile as he looked around, shocked by how everyone sprung into action rather than evacuate. After all, a Lv.40 Champion Monster wasn't a simple opponent.
The team's admittedly low damage reflected this fact.
However, Alice's hair fluttered in the wind beside Kieran as a small gust of Mana spun around her body. The gust grew violent as Alice focused and channeled a large amount of Mana through her spell.
"Firestorm Burst!"
Pshhh!
A large flame sphere launched high in the sky before descending in a parabola shape. Once it landed on the target, the area was engulfed in raging flames that rapidly increased the ambient temperature until the sand below the sand beast adopted a glass-like texture.
Alice panted from exhausting a large amount of Mana, but this action paved the way for Lux's next move. He inched closer while holding his longbow in a downward position as if carrying a rifle.
While in that position, the arrow nocked in the bow thrummed with compact Mana.
"Mana Shot: Condensed Pierce!"
Lux lifted his bow without much preparation and released a frightening arrow. The sheer velocity of its flight speed created a wind shell before the arrowhead.
Once she noticed Lux's action, Ezra made her move as well. The two slender longswords in her hands became engulfed in condensed energy. The energy radiated sharpness but was also gentle and ever-flowing.
Kieran absorbed their actions and became lost in the scene as the noise from Bastion, Altair, and Nemean's continuous action, Alice's panting, and Lux's launched arrow were all drowned out.
'Friends… allies… comrades. I may have guided them, but I focused on myself for far too long,' Kieran thought to himself.
Suddenly, Kieran spoke up while watching Ezra's actions.
"Move your front foot one step forward. As a woman, all your power is drawn from your stable hips. Ignore everything else—drive every swing through your hips."
"Mm?" Ezra's eyebrows raised as she turned back to see Kieran's eyes shine with an unbelievably piercing light.
"Focus," Kieran commanded.
His deep voice and assertive tone sent a tingle down Ezra's spine, subconsciously leading her to listen. She shifted her feet, following Kieran's every instruction.
"Don't launch any skills. Focus on your swordsmanship, utilize minimal amounts of Condensed Sword Force to enhance your every move."
"No, pivot through your ankle and twist your hips."
Kieran's every instruction corrected the flaws in Ezra's swordsmanship. With each correction, Ezra could feel herself becoming incredibly light, but her attacks were increasing in force.
By the end, she realized Kieran's instructions led to her swordsmanship evolving into a kind of dance. A dance where she evaded counterattacks from the sand beast's sand spears and continually converted her momentum in another direction.
"T-this—" Ezra's pupils trembled because the difficulties she faced for a few months were erased in a comparative instant!
Kieran closed his eyes and exhaled. 'Hide my abilities? No need… I'll openly welcome all challenges that befall me.'
Twenty minutes later, everyone received a notification.
〈System: You have gained 212,940 Experience.〉
