Fate's Reversal: The Divines Return

....

Staring at the numerous notifications before his view with the blank gaze, Kaiden's already sickly countenance paled even further. The immediate aftereffects of his earlier twofold Double Release paled in comparison to what actually took place in his body. He now understood why the system sent a message as soon as he entered the state.

[System: Double Physique Release and Double Soul Release has taken place. Take heed, this state is extremely dangerous. I repeat, this state is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. Relinquish hold of this state as soon as possible.]

[W A R N I N G: Physique is under immense strain. Your muscles can't contain this state for long. 10 seconds; that is the limit before your body fails.]

'Those words didn't mean I had 10 seconds until the damage began to build up..it meant there were 10 seconds until this damage was almost irreparable,' bitterly smiled Kaiden as Genesis' earlier once again repeated in his mind.

[Master, the state of your body is horrible. No...that might be an understatement; whatever you just did, you overloaded your body and not just in one instance. I don't suggest you do that again...maybe ever. No no, perhaps you can do that after you reach that level.

[W A R N I N G: This is your 9-second warning. Release your state, it is sacrificing your foundation. Bodily Attributes; Strength, Agility, Vitality, Intelligence, Spirit, Endurance, and Dexterity have permanently decreased by 1%.]

[W A R N I N G: This is your 7-second warning. Release your state, it is sacrificing your foundation. Bodily Attributes; Strength, Agility, Vitality, Intelligence, Spirit, Endurance, and Dexterity have permanently decreased by an additional 2%.]

[W A R N I N G: This is your 5-second warning. Release your state, it is sacrificing your foundation. Bodily Attributes; Strength, Agility, Vitality, Intelligence, Spirit, Endurance, and Dexterity have permanently decreased by an additional 3%.]

[W A R N I N G: This is your 3-second warning. Release your state, it is sacrificing your foundation. Bodily Attributes; Strength, Agility, Vitality, Intelligence, Spirit, Endurance, and Dexterity have permanently decreased by an additional 4%.]

Smiling bitterly, Kaiden had yet to approach the bad messages yet. 'My Attributes have reduced by 10% in total?'

Based on the immensity of his stats, that was synonymous to losing over 1,200 stat points in a matter of 7 seconds. Or to put it in different terms, with the current rate he gained points, it was equal to losing 60 levels.

[Master, your Soul...it's...it's regressed to the 3rd Tier! And your temple...it's nearly shattering.]

Genesis' words caused Kaiden to look at the next set of notifications which nearly caused him to cough up blood. The system was simply too hateful; he would need to spend too much time to remedy this.

[System: Both your Vital Core and incomplete Soul Temple has suffered drastic damage due to your asinine action. Since you are so reckless, bear the consequences. Both of these vital parts of you are left in a weakened state. Recovery time: 100 days. Use isn't forbidden, however, the more you draw upon these things before recovery is complete the more the period extends. In other words, find other ways to battle without using these two things.]

[System: Warning, this message will serve to humble you. Now, onto your devasted physique. Instead of the usual additive weakened effects, not only did you virtually almost cripple yourself, you used your Soul to harness it within yourself. As a result, your Weakened has turned double compounded and multiplicative.]

'Oh, this shit just gets worse and worse. However, I don't regret my action one bit. My heart won't falter when challenged. You can step to me but the moment you seek to harm my own; I will venture to the depths of Hell to eradicate you.'

Mentally vowing and glancing at these messages, murderous intent tens of times more potent than Grewl leaked from Kaiden.

[System: Extremely Weakened state has evolved to Mortally Weakened. The duration of this state has increased from 10 hours to 1,000 hours; 40 days. Attribute reduction increased from 70% to 80%. This process can be sped up, however, you would need to find suitable items.]

[System: Your Energy Channels and Energy Center has suffered substantial damage. Based on the calculations; the max volume of Inner Energy you will be able to move until completely healed will be ~5%. As a result, your Inner Energy capacity has been temporarily reduced by 5% for 40 days as well.]

'So you mean to say. Not only has my ability to utilize Inner Energy and my Soul been horribly crippled...my physique has also be reduced to basically well...a regular player. This is insane! Wait a minute, why is this all bad news? Where is the good?! I killed a Grandmaster for god's sake.' .

Swiping all the already read notifications aside, Kaiden continued to read, praying for the good news. He sought any type of news that would serve to placate otherwise frenzied thoughts in the slightest. On the other hand, at the same time, Kaiden's feat caused two types of grand shockwaves to billow through the world.

…..

In the Pendragon Kingdom, on the deserted outskirts of Pendragon City where life looked to be thin. A large mausoleum emitting a deathly energy stood erect. Surrounding it were crumbling pillars that looked to be decayed by this deathly and decrepit aura. 

Inside a special room, with crystals housing a tendril of a murky aura, a robed figure opened their eyes. Glancing in a certain direction, he observed a crystal cracking until shattering into splinters. The tendril of murky aura then flowed into the finger of the individual.

"Oh? Crescent Wake Town? Grewl? Someone had the gall int that small backwater town to kill an Elder of our League of Shadows? Interesting; let's play a fun game then shall we," forming a succession of hand seals followed by the snap of his finger, the individual spoke again.

"I summon the Shadow Elders, and Dusk Followers, appear before me," spoke the individual.

Within 5 minutes, one after the other, shadows began materializing into black-cloaked fingers with the same attire. The only difference was the color of their insignia and hems of the black robes. One was purple while the other was red. It was clear the red ones were the Elders as this was the same attire Grewl was wearing.

"League Master, you have summoned us," spoke a ghastly voice.

"Yes. One of our own and a fine one indeed has perished; Grewl has suffered his demise in Crescent Wake Town. I am unaware who has done it as the last instances of his life seem to have been burnt away."

"Grewl? He was the 2nd strongest Elder. Who in the world could kill him in that small town?", muttered the ghastly voice. Under his hood which concealed his face lied a puzzled expression. Not to mention, his tone also gave away his shock.

"That is your purpose; I am tasking you to locate the culprit of Grewl's death. This stone holds the trace of that culprit's aura. Once they are located, deal with them accordingly or bring them back to me. Actually, I want you to bring him back to me alive; I don't care about his condition—I would like to see who is so capable and doesn't place my League of Shadows in their eyes."

"Roger League Master, we will sort this matter out and also exact our revenge. We will claim countless times more lives and cause dismay," evilly chuckled the earlier voice.

"I await your good news, Psyko," chuckled the League Master. It was clear from the small meeting that the Heretics felt offended. After his last words, the shadows began to fade into the deathly aura as the League Master's eyes fell upon the shattered crystal.

"You would have been the 4th Emperor Realm expert in our ranks if you had succeeded, now we run the risk of losing our footing against the Corrupt Jackals," his eyes gleamed with a tinge of insanity, "whoever you are, I will torture and mutilate you for ruining my plans."

…..

Kaiden's feat instantly became the talk of the town but it wasn't as well informed as one would think. For starters, the area in which the battle took place was horrifyingly damaged. Any passerby who didn't witness the battle remained dumbstruck. The seared corpse in the ground was more disturbing than the warped ground from the extreme heat.

However, most of the people who did witness weren't online at the moment. At least the spectators who were too close at least; Genesis' special ability had done them in when the sea of flames consumed. With that being said, WarCry and First Outlaw stared at the scene with twitching eyebrows.

"What was the rank of the NPC that Unsheathed just killed," muttered WarCry. He was amongst the crowd of spectators. However, due to him being a Tyrant expert his senses were stronger so he witnessed this from a further distance. Unfortunately, he was a Berserker and didn't possess a skill to inspect the rank of Kaiden's opponent.

Furrowing his eyebrows, First Outlaw and looked at him stupidly, "How the hell would I know if you don't?" Being a Rogue, he focused more on offensive and didn't possess a potent enough inspection skill either.

"Tch, you've been feeling real ballsy lately. You've got something to say? We can take our problems to the physical level, I have no issue," snarled WarCry as he glanced at First Outlaw who scoffed in return. Engaging in a small argument that was beginning to happen more often than prior they were interrupted by a noise.

However, their questions were soon answered as a system notification blared alarming everyone within Crescent Wake Town. No, the Sanctoria World.

「Pendragon Kingdom System Announcement- 

Congratulations to Adventurer Unsheathed for being the first user to kill a Grandmaster Tier (Epic NPC). They have been rewarded...」