Zenith Online: Rebirth of the Strongest Player

Chapter 632: Northern Aegis



Once the translucent screen bordered with an ornate gold motif appeared before Kieran's eyes, the heap of sand remaining from the Sentinel of the Northern Sands body was blown away by a sudden out-of-place breeze.

Though this scene should be familiar to everyone present while utilizing the Automatic Loot feature, everyone was slightly taken aback but the unexpected breeze appearing this deep underground.

'Note to self, keep in mind that the Zenith Frequency sometimes doesn't abide by logic. It is the soul of the Boundary or World... and that in itself does not conform to logic.'

With that thought, Kieran shifted his attention down, taking note of the drops the Sentinel offered. It was a single immense foe, so Kieran wasn't quite sure what to expect.

On the one hand, loot from one enemy should be underwhelming. On the other, Kieran felt if the size played a role in the loot volume, then it should be much higher than standard-sized monsters.

So, when he saw what was present, Kieran wasn't sure if he should be delighted, or if his expectations weren't met.

[Loot Overview]

You have received the following:

- 3 Northern Jade (Rare, Crafting Material)

- 4 Tainted Sands (Uncommon, Crafting Material)

- 3 Ore of the Sandheart (Rare, Crafting Material)

- Essence Fragment of the Northern Aegis (Epic, Material)

[The monster killed lacks blood to be extracted.]

After looking at the list, Kieran wasn't surprised by what he saw. Based on past occurrences, monsters only dropped loot that either related to them or the region they were situated within. Each piece of loot was either related to something about the Northern Sands or the Sentinel itself.

Crafting materials dominated the loot pool, but that wasn't unusual considering the massive shift that occurred. Professions had grown increasingly valuable, which is why all of the guilds scrambled to cultivate their production teams or tapped into massive war chests to begin poaching talented players.

Kieran recently learned the Godhand Consortium also suffered an attempted wave of poaching. Luckily, there weren't many people who defected from his side. Not many people could promise the rapid progress that the pleasant atmosphere of the Bazaar provided.

Of course, that didn't mean there weren't a few who were enticed by extremely large salaries irrespective of their initial performance inside Xenith. Some organizations placed their bets on the fact they had honed their Profession skills for quite some time and used that assumption to draw a tempting offer.

Those who left, Kieran paid them no mind, shrugging it off. Sorcia, Aspaira, and a few others kept detailed logs of all the Godhand Consortium staff, which also included ex-staff who abandoned the organization.

Needless to say, the list served as an indicator of who not to let back in during later recruitment events.

Out of all the loot, what caught Kieran's eyes was the last item.

[Essence Fragment of the Northern Aegis (Epic, Material)] - The Northern Aegis once protected the Northern Sands, offering it a coherence and stability that was considered unmatched during an ancient Age. Spread across the generations of protectors, many guardians were forged and a fragment remains inside them all. When all is lost and forced together, the First Guardian shall open its eyes and claim its spread essence.

Kieran looked at the item description and rubbed his chin in thought.

'Many guardians were formed...'

Curious, Kieran summoned the Essence Fragment of the Northern Aegis in his hand.

A piece of metal appeared in Kieran's hand so closely resembling the dark sand in color that he almost didn't notice it. Deep inside the dark luster was a mix of beige and azure veins flowing through its insides.

When holding it up, Kieran felt some of the sand beneath his bandaged feet quiver, spiral, and rise from the ground in a thin spire.

"The Northern Aegis... belongs to the Northern Sands," Kieran muttered.

If this small piece could cause the sands to react so intensely, what would the First Guardian

cause when all of the scattered fragments came together as one?

Was that an opponent an Adept - a group of them could handle?

The thought was worrisome, yet Kieran shrugged it aside, tossing the Essence Fragment back inside his inventory.

The others caught up to him, questioning him about the loot and items he picked up, however, he simply shared the details with all party members, letting them scan the

information freely.

In the meantime, Kieran peered further into the same darkness, his enhanced eyes glinting with motes of mystic sharpness and indescribable profundity.

Altair approached from his side, copying Kieran's actions by focusing on the darkness that had been momentarily disintegrated by Alice's burst of magelight. With her robust Mana Pool, it wasn't odd to say her earlier sphere illuminated the area like a miniature sun.

Sadly, it was too demanding and voraciously consumed her mana, forcing Alice to dispel the technique after Kieran finished off the Sentinel.

Thankfully, that wasn't too limiting.

The layout ahead was burned into Kieran's mind during his descent. He remembered that a couple steps ahead, the staircase transitioned into an overpass. It was secured in place by several thick columns jutting out from walls far below what could be seen.

After a few more seconds to calm to voices in his mind, bringing them to a tolerable yet still nagging whisper, Kieran rounded up everyone and proceeded forth.

Despite having finished off the Sentinel of the Northern Sands, everyone remained tense and vigilant. Altair's warning about a massive number of golem being down here rang out in their minds, reminding them with every footfall.

If one Sentinel could suddenly appear, then so can another.

And just that happened.

From within the darkness, a number of resplendent azure lights appeared and burned with astonishing radiance. Kieran could tell by the height of the light that it belonged to more Sentinels, however, he didn't discard the idea that there were things besides Sentinels down

here.

The description revealed Sentinels were the lowest of the low in terms of protectors of the Northern Sands. While Kieran didn't know how vastness or depth of said ranking, he was inclined to believe that it went fairly high.

Everyone got into position, with Kieran and Altair acting on their own. There was no longer a single opponent to deal with.

The overpass trembled faintly as giant footsteps shook it with a slow approach.

"I count as least 4," Alexandria said.

She unsheathed twin swords from behind her lithe waist. The blades being drawn produced a sonorous screech similar to the whine of metal grinding on itself.

Kieran squinted and responded with a grunt and a nod before bounding across the overpass with a Grand Stomp. He launched himself over the team of Sentinel, which he confirmed with the Zenith Frequency once close enough, then landed safely and turned swiftly on his heels.

Two of the Sentinels reacted to his approach.

Their large jeweled eye tracked his movement through the air and followed his landing. By the time he spun to begin his assault, Kieran noticed growing shadows blotting out the sparse light provided by the nearby azure glow.

Kieran moved like a spry cat, rolling back and leaping from an awkward position. He evaded the physical aspect of their massive hands slapping against the floor, but he swept out Crimson Ashrune in a flurry.

His rapid slashes combated the sharp, imperceptible grains of sand surging through the darkness. Those grains were the second half of the Sentinel's attacks and there was something incredibly strange about them.

At the cost of his blood, he kept the lethal sands away. Though he spent time refining the hardness of his Vampiric Hardening, Lingering Blood helped increase the range of Kieran's attack by creating a liquid edge without compromising the underlying sharpness. Interestingly enough, blocking the sands in this way taught Kieran a peculiar lesson about his blood. He... could sense this through it while it was detached from his body. It couldn't compare to his actual senses, but it was surprising nonetheless.

Maybe it stemmed from a Fiend's attachment and obsession towards blood, but a bizarre emptiness assailed him when he sacrificed it or put too much distance between him and his blood. And that emptiness relayed choppy information.

Touching his heart, Kieran looked at the sand and blood mixing to form a gruesome, unsettling sight. Pulling that back into his body without separating it from the sand would

prove a challenge.

But there was a glimmer of hope in losing that blood. He could feel a...

'What is that? A consciousness?'

As his blood seeped into the sand and a yearning was birthed deep in his core, Kieran noticed

his blood wanting to go on a rampage and wreak havoc on what attempted to imprison it.

Kieran grinned, revealing a vile expression.

Like him, his blood despised being imprisoned. No, if he was being honest, his blood was even more despicable and obdurate in that regard. For it was mixed with the blood of Argexes,

who before his birth was already shackled.

"A double whammy," Kieran said.

Then, he held up his hand, feeling the Fiend's Carnage thrum with power inside his Realm. A

frenetic pulse surged through him, tingling at his fingertips before drawing upon his

"Break," Kieran commanded.

The bloodied sand suspended in the air shuddered but didn't fracture as expected. However, Kieran could sense his blood thrash against a film wreathing the sand. Something had supreme control over those sands, and Kieran suspected that authority belonged to the Northern Aegis. The Essence Fragment had revealed that much. And the control was surprisingly stronger than the authority he could impose on his blood.

Kieran frowned at the denial, and something ghastly began bubbling up from inside him. He stepped closer while the shell around Crimson Ashrune underwent changes. He had always wondered if the abilities attached to Fiend's Carnage were identical to Blood Mania.

As it turned it... they weren't.

The tip of his blade changed to resemble a cleaver and then opened up as if the maw of a

frightening beast was opening.

Then, Kieran closed the distance with a burst of terrible speed, dodging the rain of massive palms and sandy downpours.