A Cold Warning, Tread Carefully

For Kieran to contend against Altair in PvP, he understood that he could only accomplish it one of two ways or even both. However, he somewhat ignored the first option since he felt these opponents were not worth the usage of UAP. 

Instead, he could wait to see how he fared against the Field Boss. He would then allot his points based on what he lacked.

Thus, in this case, Kieran opted for the only other option—to increase a skill powerful enough to bridge the class disadvantage. Regarding skills that fit the criteria, there was only one—Force Slash.

Its damage was commendable, but better yet, its cooldown was low and allowed for frequent spammage. 

After consistently using the skill against all of his enemies, it had undergone quite a startling change, especially after Kieran dumped his remaining SP into it.

〈System: You are using 4 SP to increase «Force Slash» from Lv.6 to Lv.8. Continue? [ Y | N ]〉

「 Force Slash (Lv.8)

Skill Rank: E 

Skill Type: Active

Mastery (00.00%)

Skill Description: Allows the user to produce a forceful gale of wind by amassing power in their arm and releasing it through a powerful slash. The direct attack deals 365% of the user's Attack Power while the forceful wind deals 50% of the calculated damage within a 4-meter radius. The gale and direct blow may produce a «Knockback» effect based on the user's STR. 

Consumption: 3 Mana Points

Prerequisites: Warrior Class, «Warrior's Aura»

Cooldown: 7 seconds 」

Even though Kieran understood that SP should be a last resort in most cases, he couldn't overlook the practicality of Force Slash. 

Not only did it obtain an enhanced AoE effect, which was rare for the Warrior Class, but the number of times he could activate it in a minute had also similarly increased, which meant his DPS capabilities rose dramatically.

Thanks to this change, Kieran didn't entertain the idea of touching his remaining UAP.

At the time, Kieran's stream similarly went online, delivering an alert to all of his followers that were online within the GRC platform. If they were on do not disturb or inactive, they still would receive an alert, but there would be no physical notification.

Such a thing would be delayed until they changed their activity status.

When people pooled to his stream and saw the level of his Force Slash, they gawked.

How much monster killing did Kieran engage in, and how much SP did he dump to acquire an E Rank Skill that reached Lv.8 this early on?!

The people present in Kieran's stream gradually began to understand why he cleared the Forest of Beast without suffering any deaths and why he could unleash so much damage against "formidable" enemies.

Unfortunately, many of his viewers weren't aware that he possessed a skill that directly increased his damage by 30%! If they learned of this information, the likelihood of them fainting was abnormally high.

The two skills in conjunction were truly an unfair advantage.

With Savage Break's DEF-shredding and Force Slash's AoE damage, Kieran's PK abilities could match the raw speed of a Thief.

That was a testament to Kieran's current skill since Thieves were considered the banes of tanks and rulers of PK/PvP.

'Perfect,' Kieran thought in his mind.

Now that everything was situated, Kieran rushed toward where the Shadow Cartel's strike force was stationed, particularly their healers.

A gust of wind circulated his Novice Greatsword as the muscles in his arms tensed more than before. The higher Force Slash's skill level became, the more frightening the visual aspect of it became.

"Force Slash!"

Swoosh!

Kieran unleashed the attack in a swift horizontal arc. It caused quite a commotion, but the healer's location was truly precarious, existing just outside the senses of many other first responders within the Shadow Cartel.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Given that Priests were as fragile as glass dolls and possessed pitiful Health, Kieran only needed one Force Slash to slay several of them instantly. Thanks to Force Slash's upgraded AoE effect, that number fluctuated between six and ten people.

However, because he attacked a group of players that didn't target him first, rather than the PK Defender System, Kieran activated its counterpart. 

〈System: …Initiating Player Conflict Protocols. …Judging the user's current situation!〉

〈System: The situation has been judged and a verdict determined.〉

〈System: …Role: Aggressor. The Player Conflict Protocols have activated the following: «PK Agressor System».〉

〈System: Continued targeting or killing of «Defenders» or «Innocents» will increase your «Infamy» rating. The higher your «Infamy» rating, the harsher the penalties you'll face in the event of death.〉

〈System: Due to the number of «Defenders» you have killed, you have acquired «First Degree Infamy».〉

Kieran's previously white name adopted a pale red color as he ignored the stipulation of rising Infamy. Though it could lead to severe consequences if a player allowed it to rise too high, Kieran wasn't particularly worried about this outcome. 

In addition to being familiar with some ways of neutralizing Infamy, Kieran also understood that it could be beneficial in some cases, but that depended on the nature of the opportunity related to Infamy.

A few steps ahead, Altair weaved through the ranks of several of Shadow Cartel's Priests. Although he lacked AoE skills, his swift daggers reaped the lives of many, especially when the AGI boost of his Quicksilver Daggers activated.

The kill counter beside Altair's name quickly reached 8 as well, simply because he moved much faster than Kieran could currently muster.

'Without Force Slash, it's truly an unfair matchup to go against a Thief in a PvP competition,' Kieran thought to himself. However, this thought heightened Kieran's desire to emerge as the victor of the best.

The presence of an advantage didn't mean Kieran would shy away from being challenged. After all, overcoming stacked odds was the most fulfilling accomplishment in Kieran's eyes.

As they watched these two compete to see who could kill the most players, Aspaira and the others could only shake their heads with wry smiles.

"Boys will be boys," Aspaira sighed exaggeratedly. "Despite having just resolved his Infamy, Altair is acquiring more at a frightening rate."

Nevertheless, her expression occasionally sparkled with excitement and gratitude that she didn't openly express.

"True. I can't disagree with you there," Cygnus approved.

"True, true, very true. Trueing, actually," Sithik agreed as well.

Both of the lovely ladies looked at Sithik and blinked wordlessly. The first thought that came to their minds was simple. This boy was undoubtedly a memer that spent his days on the GRC platform watching several streams.

…

Approximately two minutes later…

"Healers, heal up the Knights," Despot commanded furiously. 

However, his brows furrowed when he noticed the volumes of the heals had dropped dramatically. At first, he thought this was due to poor Mana management, resulting in the inevitable consumption of Mana Potions. 

But, when it persisted, Despot felt something was amiss.

After turning to his distant rear, where the healers were positioned, Despot noticed the numbers had thinned. 'That definitely isn't the boss's doing. We haven't experienced any long-range attacks. Have some healers branched off to heal the perimeter parties?'

Regrettably, after asking around, he learned the parties didn't utter a single request. In fact, a large part of the perimeter was radio silent. This made his expression incredibly gloomy.

Due to the nature of Zenith Online's communication system, dead players couldn't send messages to members who were alive and there was a timer between death dependent upon one's Infamy rating.

Seeing as the Shadow Cartel was notorious for acquiring Infamy, it wasn't difficult to understand that those who died in battle were mute for quite some time, unable to alert Despot to the current situation.

One could be revived by a Cleric after the limbo timer elapsed, but that was a Lv.20 and above class. Furthermore, one had to be extremely lucky to stumble across the cherished Resurrection Skill Book. 

Sadly, finding that Skill Book was virtually impossible. The preconditions to getting it to drop would make any player despair.

Of course, players could also choose a heavier penalty and revive in a Shrine within their respective town, village, or city but that didn't mean their message would reach its destination.

Depending on the situation at hand, contact with players that were embroiled in combat could be potentially delayed until the matter at hand was dealt with. 

While one could bypass this by triggering Zenith Online's emergency function, accepting the emergency contact would automatically eject the recipient from the game.

Moreover, if this emergency contact request was accepted, both sides would face an hour-long bar from re-entry into Zenith Online. Thus, this feature was reserved for true emergencies.

As a feeling of uneasiness crept into Despot's mind, he narrowed his gaze and detected movement at the back of his formation. The movement was quick, but Despot caught glimpses.

'Silver armor and quick movements? Is this…'

Despot immediately pulled up the stream menu and sifted through the emerging Zenith Online streams until he located the most popular one. Reading the stream's title made his eyes redden with fury.

"Damn it!" Despot screeched frantically. "It's him!"

Despot's eyes reddened as he read the stream contents and realized how easily his healers were being picked off. 

"Healers, fall back! Hunters and Mages, attack the rear and get rid of those rats scurrying amidst our flank!" Despot ordered. 

His furious voice came across as a snarl that made his members shift their attention toward Kieran and Altair.

All of the Shadow Cartel's members immediately became enraged.

"Vermin! You dare?!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A rain of arrows and spells fired upon Kieran and Altair once Despot ordered an attack on them.

"Hahaha," Kieran chuckled softly.

Though exposed by the separation of the healers, Kieran and Altair nodded to one another. 

Swoosh!

They separated instantly and while Altair employed his weapon effect and Swift Steps to weave through the falling projectile like a ghastly revenant, Kieran took a more simplistic approach.

"Force Slash!"

The strong gale from his sword's swing knocked a considerable amount of projectiles away. For those that made it past, Kieran sidestepped or executed some fancy footwork that resembled him dancing.

Not all of them could be handled this way, so Kieran sometimes waved his sword to knock away the projectile while suffering minimal damage.

Fortunately, when his Health grew low, a heal from Cygnus came in as she smiled charmingly.

After realizing that Kieran's movement and deflection skills were a problem, Despot could only look toward the Sunset Triad for assistance. "Horizon Break, I need your help! If not, it won't be possible to clear the boss raid!"

"Oh? I'll help you, alright! But, that's only possible if we alter the ratio to a 25-75 split," Horizon Break grinned.

"Motherfucker! And you call my Shadow Cartel dogs? You're a damned bandit!" Despot snarled.

"Yes, and you're in quite the predicament. So, can a beggar really be a chooser right now?" Horizon Break chuckled whimsically.

Despot could only concede and agree to the new terms upon watching his members get mowed down. Once he did so, Horizon Break sent over his minions without fail.

However, Kieran looked over with a cold gaze. "I'll give you three seconds to tread carefully and recall your minions. Otherwise, you'll be treated just like the Shadow Cartel—an enemy that must unmistakably perish!"