The sheer force of Kieran's punch left everyone staring in awe.

They only caught Castan's silhouette shooting out in a blur.

Before they even knew what was happening, he was already thrown off into the distance.

A large cloud of dust mixed with smoke rose up into the air.

And as it cleared, they could see Castan.

His long hair had been burnt, half of his face charred by the hot flames.

There was no blood, as it sizzled away instantly from the intense heat.

"Arrrghhhh! I'll kill you, bastard!" Castan roared, his eyes wide with rage.

In a blink of an eye, he covered the distance between him and Kieran.

His gauntlets came down with great power.

The divine energy radiating off the weapon spread out like waves.

'Shit! He didn't even spend a moment to recover? He's really mad at this point,' Kieran winced as he raised his hands to block.

The golden gauntlet slammed right into him.

CRACK!

~BOOOM!

He was blasted off in an instant.

He felt the currents moving straight past him.

'The strength of those gauntlets... Shit!' Kieran cursed, trying to regain his footing, yet unable to.

"How dare you weakling stand up against me?!" Right as he was still in the middle of his thoughts...

Kieran's eyes snapped as he saw the punch heading straight for his head.

Castan's golden eyes glowed with hatred and anger.

His punch came down like a hammer.

Kieran, still unable to find his footing, was unable to dodge the incoming attack.

He could only bite his lips, readying himself for the brunt of the attack.

Just then, a large tree root came from the side, carrying with it a powerful gust of wind.

SLAM!

It struck him like a hot slap to the face.

In an instant, Castan was flung to the side with intense force.

Castan grunted, gripping the large root tightly.

Kieran looked at Bethar with a thankful look.

He had no idea how he was going to escape from that punch.

Kieran turned his gaze back to Castan, who had finally managed to steady himself, tearing the tree root apart with brute force.

The veins on his charred face popped out.

His eyes were wide with anger.

He shot a sharp glare at Bethar.

"You betrayer!" he hissed.

Kieran supported his shattered arm with the other hand.

"I don't think you have the right to say that," Kieran said calmly, his gaze dark.

He could feel the searing pain going through his veins.

It had been a long time since he had felt such intense pain.

He gritted his teeth.

"Keep quiet! You all should just stop talking and die!"

As he roared, several runes appeared all around him, shooting out several spikes in seconds.

Kieran held his arm as he dashed straight into action.

He ran, dodging the metallic spikes that were coming for him.

'He clearly has more Aetheris reserves than I do... If I use all my Aetheris, then I'll leave the rest of the work for Alexa and Bethar. I only need to do one thing. Thankfully, leaving him with an injury doesn't go against my promise...' Kieran thought, his gaze fixed on Castan.

He was a man of his words.

Surely, he had to keep to his words, even when the other side was clearly trying to kill him.

It didn't matter though.

Kieran paused, pulling the blade from the holster.

As his hands grazed the hilt, he felt an immense energy surge through him.

His eyes brightened up, shining with life.

A blast of energy shot out of him, throwing the spikes that were coming for him into disarray.

A strange air filled the entire field, mixed with a strong smell of blood.

'This amount of bloodlust... Rage and anger....' Kieran could feel the strange energy emanating from the sword.

He could feel the anger, sorrow, hatred of all those that had been slayed by the blade.

The blade reverberated with energy as though alive.

As he held the blade, Kieran took a moment to calm his mind, drawing a line between the emotions from the blade and his.

{Aetheris: -10}

'I'll lose a lot of Aetheris after doing this... But this should be the fastest way,' Kieran steeled his resolve.

Seeing Kieran with the blade, Karin's eyes brightened up with disbelief.

She didn't need anyone to tell her what the sword was.

Similarly, Nasha's pendant brightened up momentarily.

Even Castan was left stunned by the sudden surge of energy.

In Kieran's sight, all the spikes darting straight at him had slowed down significantly.

He could see them moving through the air, ripping it apart as they inched closer.

Kieran took a deep breath, placing the blade in front of him, similar to when he had fought with Amaya.

It felt as though time had been paused.

He could see the shocked looks, the curious stares, and the looks of hope on the faces of the villagers.

But none of that mattered to him at the moment.

He slowly shifted his right leg forward, pressing his left leg against the earth behind him.

BOOM!

With an explosive sound, he blasted off the earth, making it cave meters deep.

Cracks spread across the earth like cobwebs.

Castan had been thrown almost three kilometers away by the force of the root.

But in a blink of an eye, the distance was covered in what looked like a single step.

Time only seemed to play again as Kieran's blade was right above Castan.

Everyone stared in confusion.

To them, all they saw was Kieran disappearing and appearing right next to Castan.

Castan's gaze dilated, his life flashing before his eyes.

His death was imminent.

So close.

He could hear his heartbeat in his ears.

He could feel the blood flow through his veins.

But...

'I can't.... No, I won't....'

"I won't die here!!" he roared, his hands moving in a split second to block the attack.

But to his surprise, the blade never came for his head.

"I'm a man of my words, of course... When it's important," Kieran said with a dark grin as his blade made a clean cut through Castan's leg.

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