Chapter 57 – Earth Shattering

All the teams of the Thundershields guild had gathered at the gathering point that Kade had given them, but instead of relief, only a shiver ran through the body of each member.

There were 320 members at the beginning of this expedition for the secret realm, but now only 130 people were gathered here, and no other members arrived, no matter how much time passed.

They were all pale and scared. Some were crying, while others stared blankly at the ground.

"What happened? Where is Kieran?" Kade asked as soon as he arrived at the gathering point.

"We couldn't find him anywhere. We don't know where he is," said a member of the guild.

"It's bad. He must be near us," murmured another, trembling on his knees while holding his head in his hands.

"I hope you're wrong."

"We were 300 when we came to this island, but now we only have 130 survivors left."

"We've lost half our numbers..."

"We've lost so many members! There's no way we can defeat him!!"

The cry of despair from the members of the Thundershields guild rose all around Kade, plunging the area into chaos.

"Calm down!!!"

Kade's powerful voice echoed.

"We need to regroup and keep looking for him," Kade said as he took a deep breath.

"But Chief... We can't do that..."

"You heard me. We need to regroup and keep looking for him. He may be strong, but he's alone. He can take on a team of 20, but we're over a hundred here. Stop trembling and raise your head. You're a member of the Thundershields guild!!"

The guild members looked at each other with blank eyes.

"Are you ready?" said Kade.

The members nodded mechanically like robots and began to follow Kade slowly.

***

Kieran was looking for members of the Thundershield guild inside the forest.

He had already killed over 150 of them but he was still filled with rage every time he saw the scene of Luna dying in front of him in his mind.
He was going to kill them all and tear them apart without leaving any corpses intact. He wanted this image to be engraved in their souls so that even if they reincarnated, they would be haunted by this memory as much as the pain they had inflicted on Luna.

His body moved quickly in the forest. His claws shone in the moonlight.

His eyes were red from anger, his fur was covered with the blood of his victims, and his heart was filled with the desire for revenge.

Runihoril silently followed Kieran. He fully understood his feelings and did not try to dissuade him.

'They brought this catastrophe on themselves...' he thought in his mind.

Seeing shadows in the distance, Kieran slowed his steps, leaping into the air. He climbed to the top of a tree.

He didn't attack the members of the Thundershields Guild this time. His crystal sense had discovered over 40 people moving together, and that number increased as they came within the range of his crystal sense.

His claws opened and closed as if he was trying to stop himself from throwing himself at them. When he felt a distinct presence entering his crystal sense, his gaze fixed on a point in the distance.

Moving toward it, he soon arrived at a distance of 100 meters from the presence he had felt. He could see Kade, who was positioned in the middle of the small army so that he could avoid any ambush from him.

A light suddenly shone above Kieran, revealing his position.

"He's there!"

"Attack him!"

Kieran felt the rage of the Thundershields guild when he saw them running towards him, he knew their attack would be fierce and furious, but his mind was calm as he focused on the enemy.

Dozens of abilities flew towards him. Water arrows, wind blades, lightning spears, earth spikes, all kinds of abilities were used to kill him.

He jumped back into the darkness, his body vanishing in an instant as attacks rained down on the area he was standing before, destroying the trees in their path.

The Thundershields guild members were surprised by this sudden change of events, their attacks were useless, and they were unable to hit him.

The melee fighters who couldn't attack from afar had already arrived in the area but couldn't find any trace of Kieran.

Kieran clearly felt everything that happened through his crystal sense. As he moved from tree to a tree, his body turned in the air. The giant transformation transferred in his legs before leaning against a tree.

*boom*

The tree exploded under the power of his legs. He seemed to teleport in front of the melee fighters of the Thundershields guild, who were stunned at his sudden appearance. The giant's transformation moved in his body again until it reached his right arm.

"Crystal Essence Claw!"

A golden blue light shone, and ten bodies fell to the ground cut into pieces.

Without any hesitation, he ran at the other melee fighters, their abilities were mostly reinforcement type, but none of them could compare to Kieran's physique.

Like a wolf in the middle of a flock of sheep, he ends the life of one cultivator after the other. After killing thirty more members, he escaped back into the forest as many abilities fell again in the area he was in the moment before.

"Where is he?" shouted Kade.

"I can't detect it anymore!"

"Keep looking!"

Kieran could hear the sounds of the Thundershield guild running in the forest, but he was already gone.

"Chief! We can't find him!"

"We have to return to the ship and get off this island! It's a monster! He will kill us all if we stay here!"

Kade could see the despair in the faces of his guild members. Their eyes were filled with tears, and their expressions showed the fear of losing their life at any moment.

"Re... Retreat! Return to the ship!" Kade shouted as rage welled up inside him.

"Retreat!"

The guild members rushed towards the ship as fast as they could.

But a silent shadow crept through the forest around them.

"Do you really think I'm going to let you leave this island alive?" Kieran whispered coldly while looking at each of them.

He appeared behind the fleeing Thundershields guild members, starting a carnage among them.

Kade watched the entire scene from afar, his eyes filled with hatred and rage as a cannon appeared beside him.

His mind was lost in his rage towards Kieran. He paid no attention to his surrounding guild members and pulled out several crystal essence stones to activate the X-521 cannon.

"Die!" he shouted madly.

A ray of incandescent light larger than the one he had used on the ship against Luna crossed the forest taking everything with it. Whether it was a tree or a member of the Thundershields guild who had the misfortune to stand in front of it was reduced to nothing.

The Thundershields guild members began to panic when they realized the attack would not stop. They couldn't run away because they were surrounded by trees.

The moment Kade pulled out the cannon, Kieran sensed it through his crystal sense and left the area long before the beam could reach him.
Unlike the sea, where his movements were limited, he was now on land where he could easily dodge the cannon attack that came in a straight line.

When the ray disappeared, only a zone of destruction remained. The members of the Thundershields guild watched this scene in disbelief as they could see that their numbers had drastically reduced to a measly 37 people.

A crazy smile appeared on Kade's face.

"Ha.. Hahaha, he's finally dead! He's dead!"

As Kade rejoiced, Kieran appeared about twenty meters in front of him and the surviving members of the guild.

"It's impossible..." Kade's face went white.

"I've already seen your cannon enough times to avoid its shots," said Kieran.

A light flashed, and Shard of a Broken World appeared in Kieran's hands before he rushed at Kade.

"A... Attack him! All of you attack him!!" said Kade in a trembling voice while raising his right arm.

"Lightning orb discharge!"

Dozens of lightning orbs flew toward Kieran, who easily fended them off with his double-bladed sword.

A wall suddenly appeared in front of him, but he didn't stop. Surrounding his body with crystal essence, he broke the wall continuing his rush in the direction of Kade dodging or fending off the attacks raining down on him.

Kieran could see the terror in Kade's eyes as he moved closer and closer to him. He lifted Shard of a Broken World above his head before bringing it down on him.

"Ba... Barriers!!"

Kade joined his hands together, forming a lightning orb all around his body. At the same time, the members of the guild behind him created several barriers to protect him.

*crack*

A dull cracking noise was heard as several barriers shattered on impact, but three layers resisted, protecting Kade within them. Kieran quickly circulated the crystal essence inside his body as he used everything he had to break down the last barriers when a barrage of attacks appeared above him, forcing him to step back.

"Hahaha, is that all you got?! Barriers!!" said Kade.

The barriers that had been shattered were reformed as a hideous smile appeared on Kade's face.

Kieran frowned for a moment. He tightened his grip and rushed toward the other guild members who were helping Kade.

As he approached them, Kade ran to him, surrounded with barriers.

"Reinforcement!!"

Following his command, a golden halo formed above him, his speed suddenly increasing. Kieran turned his attention to him, spinning Shard of a Broken World in his hands, his height shrinking before his arms grew larger.

*boom*

A loud explosion sounded as the two made contact, the barriers around Kade breaking one after another, but his guild members forming new ones each time one disappeared.

The same situation happened again. Kieran was forced to step back in front of the many attacks that targeted him when a gust of wind left a gash on his left arm.

"Hahaha, you can't do anything to me! You're going to die here like your crystal beast!!"

Kade's voice was tinged with madness, a high-pitched, almost hysterical laughter that grated on Kieran's nerves, echoing in his ears.

Kieran's body shook violently at this instant. A strong killing intent was emitted from his body as he released his crystal essence outside his body, his right hand tightened on Shard of a Broken World.

Suddenly, all the crystal essence escaping from his body was concentrated on the blades of the Shard of a Broken World. Like a ravenous beast, the two blades greedily absorbed his crystal essence, dyeing them with a golden-blue sheen.

He watched Kade with a cold gleam in his eyes as he swings his right arm forward, drawing a horizontal line.

"Earth Shattering!!"

Kieran's voice echoed in the minds of the Thundershields guild members before their vision was filled with a golden blue light. The world seemed to vanish before them as only that light remained.

Kade still had that crazy smile on his face, his eyes reflecting the golden blue light. All he could think of right now was the image of Kieran beaten under his feet, begging for his life.

However, the moment the golden blue light passed through him, he felt his body become dizzy as he was losing feeling in every part of his body, but it didn't matter to him. He was protected by many barriers. How could he lose?

Yet it was at this moment that life faded from him, but he still did not realize what was happening to him, even in his last moment.

When the colors returned to their world, the members of the Thundershields guild saw Kade's body cut in half, his upper body slowly falling to the ground with a look of madness still on his face. A few meters behind his body was a long gash in the ground that stretched for several meters.

Shock filled their minds when they saw that Kieran hadn't moved and was still standing more than ten meters away from Kade's corpse.

Kieran let out a long breath, his right arm trembling slightly. He felt a slight exhaustion from losing a considerable amount of crystal essence all at once, but his eyes carried a cold glint in them, still staring at Kade's corpse.

"Congratulations Kieran, you managed to use the first form!" Runihoril's voice echoed in his mind. Joy could be heard in his words.

'Just a slash had consumed 50% of my crystal essence, but I was able to break all of his barriers in one hit, thanks to that.'

His eyes finally landed on the rest of the Thundershields guild members. Taking a step forward, he began to walk towards them slowly.

Waking up from their shock, all the survivor members turned around, quickly fleeing from this monster.