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[Celestial Weight (B Rank) – Active Skill: Condense a dark sun of shadow that generates crushing weight, making movement within its influence impossible.

The longer it persists, the heavier it becomes, scaling far beyond its rank if the user can withstand its burden.

> Effect: Immobilizes enemies in its range; weight intensity increases by +10% each second.

Prolonged use can evolve into [Sun of Desolation], allowing the dark sun to be hurled and detonated, deteriorating both the body and soul of your enemy.

> Cooldown: 2 Hours

> Cost: Continuous strain on body and spirit; scales with duration. Excessive use risks self-immobilization and injuries.]

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This was the skill used by Kurma to attack Balthor in his anger.

Although there was no mention of how much damage this skill could cause to his enemies, with his experience, Kurma knew that it could at least make this Giant's life miserable.

After all, his skill could affect both the body and spirit alike. Guarding against it without a proper counter artifact was nigh impossible.

But the situation today was drastically different from what Kurma thought.

No, not only drastically, but it was so outright dumb that not only him, even those who knew this skill's effect stood dumbfounded in their place.

"Kurma, accept your death."

As the Sun Of Desolation made its way forward, swirling restlessly and getting ready to detonate on his face, Balthor swung his massive Axe right at the middle of the Dark Sun.

Although he knew what kind of skill it was and that his axe could do nothing against it, he still swung without fear because that was the order Lucien gave.

"Swish!"

And sure enough, he wasn't disappointed as even to his surprise, his axe actually cleaved the Dark Sun clean in half.

The menacing sphere that was about to explode and engulf everything in darkness simply went poof just like that.

There was no massive explosion as he expected, nor any resistance. The dense black orb just split into two before vanishing without a trace.

It was as if before Balthor's skill Wrath Cleaver, the Dark Sun felt ashamed to remain and chose to fade on its own.

"How is it possible?"

While such a weird event left Kurma shocked and confused, Balthor on the other hand grinned ferociously with joy flashing in his eyes,

'Haha… so this was Sir Lucien's plan all along? Then, let's get that head off his shoulders for him, shall we?'

Balthor thought, not caring how Lucien with his Apprentice realm strength could ever affect Kurma's skill at all.

Rather, in his mind, all he saw was the window of opportunity given by Lucien that he had to use to the fullest.

"Swish!"

"Wait… No…"

As Balthor swung his Axe without stopping even for a second, Kurma finally got out of his extreme shock. But by the time he reacted, it was already too late.

His greatest arsenal was destroyed just like that, and now he couldn't muster up enough power in time to stop that menacing axe of Balthor.

In haste, all he could do was place his new Scythe in front of his neck, trying to stop the attack just enough to get out of its range.

"Puchi…"

But today, Kurma's luck wasn't on his side at all, or rather his body seemed to give up as he felt it grow weaker by the second.

While a rare-rank Scythe was an impressive weapon on its own, a rare-rank Axe fully charged with mana stood on another level.

And Balthor wasn't looking to make a single mistake today.

In the end, all Kurma managed to do was tilt the axe slightly before his Scythe was blown away by the violent force, while the Axe continued on without pause, severing his head in the process.

Blood flowed like a river, dyeing the floor red as Kurma's head rolled across the ground, his eyes still wide open at how ridiculous everything looked.

Before his death, all he had in his mind was, why?

Why?

Really…why did his perfect skill that never let him down suddenly leave his side?

Why did his perception suddenly get so dulled that before he could react, Balthor's Axe was already on his neck?

What was the reason he felt so weak all of a sudden that he was dead against an enemy who was in the same realm as him?

Even if he was at a dire end, he had his trump card of his own…but still, here he was on the ground lifeless like this against his will.

Kurma hated this; he hated this sudden weakness that caused his doom. But what could he do as he was already dead?

'I shouldn't have been greedy.'

These might be his only thoughts that he wanted to express.

If he hadn't been greedy and didn't attend this meeting, he would still be alive, wouldn't he?

But what use did such thoughts have?

After all, no one, not even Viscount Aldren, thought the situation would suddenly turn deadly like this.

It was a simple meeting arranged by the heir of the Goldveil family intending to retaliate against Lionheart.

But out of nowhere, an Early Weaver rank Assassin suddenly lost his life.

Although it was a rogue one that didn't compare to his strength, Aldren was still shocked by how easy it looked.

'Lord Aldren, should we…leave?'

Brock couldn't help but ask as the situation turned eerie all of a sudden.

Just to stop Kurma from leaving this place, he was killed like this right in front of them.

Now besides Velmara, there was also Balthor they had to look out for, especially his Axe that seemed extraordinary.

'No, let's wait a while…that person is almost ready.'

Aldren also thought about Brock's proposal but finally shook his head. Now that he was here, he couldn't leave just like that.

He already gave a promise to that Duke, and if he chickened out now, he might make a very formidable enemy on both sides.

That would be very bad.

Not to mention, he didn't want to lose that chance for his Class Ascension.

Although Lucien's move of recruiting ahead of time surprised him a little, he felt that as long as he was careful, he could still kill that guy.

After all, he wasn't alone, and he had an army of Crimson Ants ready to take his command.

Aldren looked at that dense army of ants hidden everywhere in the entire chamber, taking a favorable position, and breathed a sigh of relief.

If push came to shove, he could always use those ants to bring chaos and leave safely.

The only reason Kurma died was because he was careless.

At least he thought so.

"Haha…Kurma, that's what you get for going against my words. Tch…dying in such a worthless way. Did you like it?"

Balthor was overjoyed at seeing the severed head rolling on the floor and laughed loudly, ignoring the absolute silence in the entire chamber due to his deed.

"See? This will be your fate if you dare to leave this place. Why can't y'all wait until the meeting is over? Why make useless excuses?"

After laughing for a while, he finally lowered his head and looked at everyone coldly and warned.

"Is there anyone else who wants to leave?"

He asked at last, scanning everyone with his cold eyes, but got no answer.

How could he get one when he literally killed one of the strongest people here right in front of them?

To be honest, the crowd of mercenaries and assassins was already restless, but nobody dared to come forward to refute Balthor at this point.

That would be foolish. If they could leave after the meeting was over, they didn't mind waiting for a while.

Heck, they didn't even want the weapon Lucien gave them, as it now felt like a gift straight from the god of death; ominous.

"Okay, Balthor, no need to act like a bully. They aren't your enemies, why are you targeting them?"

Just when everyone didn't know what to do, suddenly, Lucien's soft voice broke the silence.

"I just told you to stop anyone from leaving early but didn't say to kill. Why are you so reckless?"

Lucien said again, reprimanding Balthor lightly. From his expression, it seemed he really didn't like his behavior.

"Haha…I am sorry, Sir Lucien. I was…a little too excited."

Surprisingly, once Balthor heard Lucien's words, he immediately deflated like a balloon and lowered his massive axe.

He even lowered his head a little while his fierce murderous aura disappeared like it wasn't there to begin with.

Balthor's instant change in attitude was a sight to behold as it surprised everyone.

"Okay, I don't care about this mistake this time, but don't do such things without my permission in the future."

Lucien waved his hand as if he didn't want to argue.

Instead, he finally looked at everyone standing awkwardly looking at the drama and smiled amiably,

"Guys, don't be afraid. This Balthor just took the opportunity this time to kill that guy Kurma when he was caught off guard. It is just his decision and has nothing to do with me."

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