Zenith Online: Rebirth of the Strongest Player

As the stream watched Kieran fight against a Mini Boss like Moribun, they were thrown into an instant uproar, which consequently made the number of concurrent viewers balloon past 500,000 within fifteen minutes of the stream being online.

Within those fifteen minutes, Kieran somewhat toyed with Moribun, but that was only because he was forced to watch over Bastion and the others to ensure they didn't face a ridiculous swarm of enemies at once.

If that did happen, Kieran unleashed either a Crimson Barrage to knock them aside or unleashed several Blood Waves at once. 

Despite being two different skills, they achieved the same effect thanks to Kieran's adroit usage of the latter.

Though the Blood Wave was intended to be a single-release skill with a slight delay in its execution process, Kieran discharged them as if he were a machine designed for the sole purpose of dispensing Blood Waves. 

The only limitation Kieran faced was the skill's overall cooldown period, which was forcibly activated after reaching the capacity of Blood Waves.

As a result of Kieran's interference, Sera was given time to heal those who sorely required the assistance. But because she healed her teammates very often, her Mana Pool was strained to the point she began feeling bouts of weakness.

One downside of rapidly consuming Mana was a consequence known as Mana Fatigue. It didn't start out overly invasive, but it eventually grew out to be. 

Depending on how frequently an individual nearly depleted their Mana Pool within a short timeframe, the extent of the Mana Fatigue could be quite severe, even going as far as causing a player to fall unconscious. 

Of course, such an extreme consequence required a level of burden far beyond what Sera currently withstood. 

Nevertheless, as a Cleric, Sera's Constitution was her primary weakness so it was best to err on the side of caution with a class like hers.

Following a deep exhale, Kieran delivered a deafening order. "Bastion, I know you can do better than this! Tank better! Don't let Sera be overly burdened by your actions."

"Understood loud and clear! I will pick up the goddamn slack!" Bastion bellowed back. After that, he turned toward Sera and noticed her somewhat pale expression, which then led to a fire being lit within his eyes.

'Damn! My tanking really has been unacceptable. I must do better. I can't allow our precious Sera to become overwhelmed by the situation,' Bastion muttered inwardly. 

Even though he understood Sera's skill as a healer better than anyone else and understood what she could withstand, Bastion sympathized with his cherished teammate.

After all, Zenith Online was unlike any of the other VR titles they experienced together. The bodily exhaustion attached to this game was so unreal that it became too real!

Following the deliverance of his command, Kieran looked at Moribun somewhat differently. 

"You're responsible for those unsightly Deranged Maimed Chimera. With that in mind, if I kill you, they'll probably become easier to handle. I suppose you must have some type of authority over their movements."

The look in Kieran's eyes continued to change until it morphed into one of extreme bloodlust, which was necessary for his upcoming actions.

With that, Kieran lifted his right hand and balled it into a fist before slamming it against his chest heavily. The sound of him punching his chest echoed throughout the room in layers, though it wasn't just the sounds that were layered.

The force Kieran injected into his body traveled to his heart and ricocheted several times. Normal people would find this extremely dangerous, but Kieran had no qualms with it.

After learning of the symbols on the soles of his feet, Kieran noticed a strange connection that stemmed from his heart. As his blood began to rush, Kieran felt his four limbs swell alongside his body as his hair began to sway and rise with torrential might.

"Abhorrent… Paroxysm!"

Swoosh!

A surge of demonic gory energy deluged the area, which soon precipitated the appearance of a thick bloody mist that swirled around Kieran's body at a constant rhythm. Surprisingly, this rhythm matched his accelerated heartbeat.

As soon as he activated Abhorrent Paroxysm, the stream chat was set ablaze as many people ran to get their friends to drag them over to this mind-boggling stream.

Consequently, this domino effect resulted in Kieran's concurrent viewership skyrocketing to over 1.5 million viewers.

〈System: Due to the effect of «Abhorrent Paroxysm», your current STR has reached the limit of your Constitution. Further increase of this attribute is highly unadvised.〉

〈System: Your Attack Speed and Movement Speed have been further enhanced due to your feat of reaching your Constitution's limit.〉

〈System: Due to your Imprint of Might, you temporarily have an increased chance of landing empowered «Critical Hits».〉

Once these messages appeared before Kieran's eyes, he swiped them away with a pleased grin. The Imprint of Might was truly a marvelous blessing that kept on giving subtle surprises.

Boom!

Now empowered, Kieran leaned forward and performed what seemed to be an effortless Surge Step, though it led to two deep indents being left in the ground. The appearance of these two indents was simultaneously accompanied by a sonic boom, which Intermediate Beings rarely accomplished.

A sonic boom using pure speed was a sign of incredible power. 

As if it sensed mortal danger, Moribun shirked back as six pointy limbs grew from its grotesque back, forming a cage meant to provide additional protection. Sadly, Kieran had no intention of drawing out this battle any longer.

Now that Abhorrent Paroxysm was active, he intended to end this battle in under a minute. And to ensure that happened, Kieran coupled his already terrifying actions with another skill, creating a predicament that could only be described as overkill.

"Dread Culling!"

Ooom!

The ominous sound that generally accompanied the creation of the Dread Circlet resonated throughout the air like a nightmarish omen of death. 

Once the circlet finished materializing around Kieran's torso, Kieran leapt into the air and slashed with Crimson Ashrune, creating an attack with a truly terrifying range.

Not only was the power of the Dread Circlet alarming, even capable of instilling fear in some of the most mentally resilient enemies, but the effects of this attack also augmented one's range by close to 1,000%.

It was truly deserving of its identity as an S Rank Skill hailing from a Mythic Class.

Although Moribun raised a somewhat notable defense against Kieran's incoming attack, it proved futile against the dreadful reddish-black energy that somewhat resembled a condensed lightning strike.

However, describing it as such was also incorrect because it similarly exuded the feeling of reddish-black flames. 

When the aftermath of Dread Culling's first use receded, Kieran and the stream were similarly appalled by the outcome. Roughly 12% of Moribun's Health vanished and this was without any Critical Damage being applied.

With the combined effects of Blood Mania, Abhorrent Paroxysm, Tormented Beliefs, and the Imprint of Might, Kieran's base Phys. Atk had attained heights simply unreachable by most, if not all Intermediate Beings. 

The only way to bridge the gap would be by wielding a Legendary Weapon.

Nevertheless, though Dread Culling was a reliable burst damage skill, its lengthy cooldown greatly diminished its value. 

So, while it was a remarkable power in the eyes of the viewers, its finite duration was both somewhat underwhelming and truly unfortunate in Kieran's opinion, which was why he used it sparingly and at times where its worth was maximized.

After having a considerable chunk of its Health shaved off by Kieran's single attack, Moribun rushed toward Kieran at breakneck speeds, revealing a new ability—a type of poisonous flame breath.

The breath enveloped a large area including, restricting Kieran from jumping above it. Having learned from Kieran's earlier attack, this Hellion Mutation crafted a way to deal with the ability of its opponent.

This predicament led to Kieran considering another use of his Dread Circlet. 

However, after some much-needed deliberation, Kieran advised against this wastage. A lot of the energy would be lost dealing with the poisonous flame, so it wouldn't inflict its ideal damage.

Then, it hit him. 

The wording of this skill explicitly stated that his skills couldn't be empowered by the Dread Circlet, but it mentioned nothing about forbidding the activation of any of them.

Once he stumbled across this loophole in his mind, Kieran sifted through his available skills until he found two that could resolve his current predicament. 

With that, a sphere of blood converged above Kieran's palm almost instantly as he pointed it forward in the direction of the incoming poisonous flame. Once it had reached its optimal size, Kieran unleashed the attack.

"Blood Pulse!"

Fwoosh!

The sphere in Kieran's palm released an outward pressure, feeding upon some of the sanguine winds that swirled around his body from the active Abhorrent Paroxysm.

A war waged on between the two attacks as Kieran created room to search for a weakness that he could exploit. Though, he soon realized that he didn't need one. He could create an opening through his own actions.

With that, Kieran raised his sword above his head with a stoic expression before dropping it a second later. Soon, a crimson line split open the sky a few meters above his head as a torrent of bloody energy gushed out a second later.

The rapid torrent rammed against the combatting skill and caused the evaporation of everything. 

In response, a  gust of toxic winds assaulted Kieran's body. Fortunately, his body negated it for the most part thanks to its inherent resilience gained from going through his Diabolical Rebirth.

Quietness seemed to envelop the surroundings, only for it to be torn to shreds by Kieran's body ripping through the mist with Crimson Ashrune encased in a dense layer of the Dread Circlet's energy.

"Die!" Kieran bellowed! 

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Moribun's body slammed throughout the laboratory scene, forming a crater on the ground as its reinforced body bounced along the floor and ended up embedded in the wall with over 40% of its Health missing.

-19,101,666! «Critical Hit»

At that moment, a pained squeal erupted within the large room as all of the Deranged Maimed Chimera gathered their attention on Kieran. That squeal was naturally Moribun's call to focused assault.