Zenith Online: Rebirth of the Strongest Player

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Kieran's expression shifted slightly once he saw the notification involving a sub-quest. However, that was understandable because receiving a sub-quest was a rare occurrence. Only circumstances that weren't accounted for beforehand could spur a sub-quest. In short, it was an attachment to an already existing quest in a player's possession.

However, aside from the one aspect of the main quest that triggered the event, these sub-quests usually carried unique rewards.

While a sub quest was quite fascinating, it wasn't the entire reason for Kieran's shock. His astonishment came from the rank affixed to the sub-quest—SSS. Generally, sub-quests only carried a fraction of the main quest's difficulty because it was only linked to one part of the existing quest.

Yet, the quest forcibly handed to Kieran was the same rank as the main one!

All things considered, Kieran estimated that the Chasm of Apogeton's actual ranking surpassed an SSS Rank World Quest despite his lack of knowledge regarding a quest that could transcend this grading system.

'Everything about this quest up to this point seems crucial to Xenith's longevity. Are all of the Mythical Heroes hidden class quests this extreme?' Kieran wondered. After all, the only reason Kieran obtained this quest was because of Scar. Without him, Kieran was unsure whether this situation would have appeared already.

Then again, he couldn't overlook that aside from the week given to meet Agrianos, none of these quests he accepted held time limits. It could very well be an identical copy of the past save for one anomaly—him.

Since Kieran started late, he had no way of knowing the accurate timeline of the events that occurred before he graced the gaming scene. Therefore, Kieran could only continue to speculate while bringing up the quest distributed to him.

「 Unforeseen Deviations, Unusual Solutions (Special, Sub Quest)

Quest Rank: SSS

Recommended Party Size: 1

Recommended Party Level: N/A

Objectives: The Chasm of Apogeton displays unusual reactions despite Agrianos' recent intervention. A considerable rift is opening to a place where only chaos and destruction reside on the other side. Therefore, your help is needed to solve this issue. It is unusual, but difficult times call for difficult measures.

- Defend against the beings that escape the rift. 0/1

- Protect Agrianos during his period of vulnerability. 0/1

- Patch the weakness in the Nether Severing Hex-Seal. 0/1

- Repel the *Immortal phantoms. 0/1

Rewards:

- Agrianos' Recognition

- ???

- Ancient Crimson Aegis (Special)

Failure Penalty:

- Chasm of Apogeton's Rift Erupts

- Xenith's Vulnerability Skyrockets

- Character Wipe

Time Limit: Unknown

*Special Notes: Not every scenario can be foreseen; one should have a malleable mindset capable of adjusting at a moment's notice. 」

Reading through the quest information immediately raised questions in Kieran's mind. 'Are defending and repelling not the same thing? It should be… unless more than one type of enemy will emerge from this so-called rift?'

The deeper Kieran pondered this situation, the quicker something else dawned upon him. How was he supposed to fight against the beings if they were at least on par with the enemies Agrianos fended off earlier?

One attack, and he would be sent back to the lobby, suffering the quickest death ever experienced!

Additionally, the character wipe penalty made Kieran shudder.

If he were to lose his character, he'd lose his Soul Trait! Perhaps in a normal situation, it wouldn't be that bad, but the Arcane One was in no condition to open another dimensional rift, let alone activate the Akashic Seal.

In other words, if Kieran were to make another character, he would be forced to wait until he awakened to develop a Soul Trait. At that time, it'd be impossible to judge whether or not he would awaken the same Strengthened Trait!

Moreover, failing this quest meant he would also fail the larger one. Should that happen, the True Berserker lineage amongst the player base could very well be lost forever!

At least the rewards provided Kieran some comfort while his mind plunged down the "what-ifs" rabbit hole. The comfort primarily came from the Ancient Crimson Aegis. It was an indispensable defensive skill that Kieran sorely lacked.

It would make solo endeavors much easier if he possessed more means to improve his survivability.

"Boy, when the time comes, you'll have the support of I, Agrianos, so do not falter despite whatever you may witness. Is this something you can promise me?" Agrianos questioned while continuing to monitor the situation occurring deep within the Chasm of Apogeton.

"If it's with your support, then it is the least I can do," Kieran nodded. His expression was solemn, but he heaved of sigh of relief in his mind. Agrianos was the one person who could justify the tall task hidden inside the quest objectives.

After he received this answer, Agrianos then gestured for Kieran to follow because there was still a vast distance for them to cover. The Chasm of Apogeton was almost like another world that spanned deeper into the unknown than the Wildes covered.

Although it was situated underneath the Wildes, it seemed to pierce the subterranean level of all the continents. The only way for this to be possible was if the battle created an unusually shaped chasm, which it did.

Unlike the surface, the Chasm of Apogeton adopted an elongated rhombus shape. The center was the most spacious, extending to the west and east continents' subterranean levels. In contrast, the two endpoints were narrow and barely protruded into the northern and southern spaces.

Since it possessed the largest surface area, the center was also the most perilous zone in the chasm.

Knowing this information, Agrianos only intended to bring Kieran to witness the power of their path and judge his reaction, but he could no longer use a passive approach. Kieran would have to experience what sat beneath the Wildes firsthand.

While Kieran followed closely behind, Agrianos endlessly waved his sword left and right, felling these beings as they approached within 50 meters. The more he killed, the more displeased Agrianos' expression grew.

Generally, Agrianos didn't like or dislike killing; he was neutral about the matter. His faint disgust stemmed from a thought that dawned upon him. All the work he put in for millions of years was casually becoming undone in less than 10,000 years. This wasn't natural at all.

'Something is acting as a catalyst, but despite being so close to the source, I can't determine what the damn catalyst is….' Agrianos thought to himself. He didn't detect any foreign presence interfering with the seal, nor did he sense any unusual energy leakage from the seal's energy source.

"Are you killing them before they appear? I saw something before, but now, I can't even catch a glimpse of these things before you swing your blade," Kieran commented.

Although the blade in Agrianos' hand was gigantic, Agrianos wielded the thing as if it were a weightless kitchen knife. Kieran didn't want to guess how immense the weight difference between the Scarlet Steel Greatsword and this weapon was.

"For now, yes. There's no reason for me to allow them to interfere with our travel. Besides, they'll become an inevitable annoyance. It happens every time I venture to this place," Agrianos said.

Surprisingly, his tone sounded indifferent, as if he viewed these things like ants. There wasn't the slightest tinge of anger or frustration present upon his dignified visage. It was as if he turned into a completely different person now that they had entered the chasm's depths.

Soon enough, Agrianos brought Kieran to an area saturated in nefarious energy dense enough to obscure all vision. Kieran could also tell the energy had become palpable and almost liquid-like.

Simply taking a step forward became a struggle. 'And… here it comes—the reason for an SSS-Ranked difficulty,' Kieran sighed internally. But, his eyes widened in shock a moment later as he felt a faint rumbling present.

The energy present bubbled continuously until it produced a dark environment radiating unbearable heat. Despite the lack of perfected hyper-reality, Kieran's body perspired!

"The rest of the journey will no longer be as comfortable as it has been thus far. Prepare yourself," Agrianos commanded. At the same time, Agrianos lifted his palm towards Kieran. The same small sphere of blood that crackled with various colors of lightning made another appearance.

This time, however, it wasn't used for an attack. Agrianos gave it to Kieran.

Of course, he understood that this was a power Kieran's current body could not process. Therefore, Agrianos fed this blood orb to the Ancient Crimson Aegis coating Kieran's body instead.

This precipitated an indirect augmentation that Kieran could utilize without utterly destroying his body. The previously thin film surrounding Kieran's body expanded and transformed until it resembled a heavy armor formed from archaic blood.

However, the armor maintained excellent flexibility since it was modeled after Scar and Agrianos' tribal-style armor that highlighted using durable yet light material to protect only areas with naturally low defenses.

It was a primitive outlook, but it was understandable given how sturdy Scar and Agrianos' body was.

〈System: The «Ancient Crimson Aegis» has been empowered!〉

〈System: The «Ancient Crimson Aegis» has evolved!〉

〈System: The «Ancient Crimson Aegis» has transformed into the «Crimson Juggernaut Mantle»!〉

〈System: All Basic Attributes increased by 10,000%!〉

〈System: Hidden Attribute «Constitution» increased by 50!〉

〈System: All skill cooldown durations decreased by 50%.〉

〈System: Your regular skill bar has been sealed. In place of those skills, you have been granted the following temporary skills: Blood Wave, Crimson Current, Crimson Barrage, Fury Rush, and Wild Crash.〉

Kieran's jaw immediately dropped in awe as he marveled at the continuous notification stream. This was by no means a simple quest if it required his current parameters to be amplified a hundredfold.