Path/Killing Intent

At its most basic, Killing Intent is simply an indication that someone wants to murder somebody else, this can be faked and hidden, there's also some degree of skill related to being able to use Killing Intent in general or perceive if someone is doing either. The Killing Intent of an army can also be felt as they go into war. With mastery, the user will be able to freely use it regardless of the target and how they feel about it, though having legitimate emotions will empower it further or allow them to ignore some mental effects.

Killing Intent is accumulated through slaughter, the more someone kills the higher their killing intent will grow, though there's other unorthodox means to increase it. If someone does not battle for a long time, the killing intent they can display will be lowered, but this quickly comes back after they get back into the swings of things. In a similar fashion, someone who's been constantly battling recently will reek of Killing Intent.

Weapons and objects can also possess Killing Intent through similar accumulation and places where an enormous amount of slaughter has happened can be under a constant haze of Killing Intent that's constantly trying to infect the mind of people. It can also be used to empower skills, objects, people, or arrays/formations.

## Killing Intent abilities

### Mental Projection

Killing Intent can act as a sort of aura around the person or focused on an individual or group, indicating to others their combat experience to an extent which can be intimidating if it's especially high. It can act as a sort of mental attack if someone is especially weak to it or the difference in power is large enough (allowing someone to outright kill through just their Killing Intent), knocking them out entirely or reducing their battle prowess due to the fear it creates. It can also forcefully wake someone who's been knocked out.

### Physical Projection

At a much higher level Killing Intent has a physical impact on the world, literally pushing/vibrating it, damaging things or individuals around the person, or pushing people away. It can also be condensed into an edge which intensifies the damage dealt by a blow. When pushed even further it can act as a physical object, that's within someone's aura, blocking someone or a weapon directly attacking them.

### Aura Stacking

Killing Intent can be stacked or even fused with other aura based abilities like Dao Fields as well as simply push back against the aura of other people even by itself.

### Arrays

The highest level of mastery shown so far was by Kaldor, who's able to create arrays with his Killing Intent to empower himself or create other effects.

## References

The army gave Zac a holy feeling, but it also emitted a monstrous killing intent, which largely seemed to be focused on himself. The very air seemed to vibrate with resentment. **B1-P202**

The old man was both respectful and didn’t seem to contain any hidden killing intent toward him, but Zac still didn’t like the feeling of being trapped like he was entering the Thunderdome. **B2-P612**

Torrential amounts of killing intent, garnered from killing hundreds of thousands of beasts, poured out of Zac on top of his normal aura, and the beast quickly stopped in its tracks. **B2-P620**

After blocking another punch with his arm, Zac swung his axe overhead straight at the youth’s head, intentionally leaking some killing intent. **B2-P623**

“Do you think it’s easy to mask the killing intent from his senses?” David huffed. “More importantly, is he dead?” **B2-P655**

Even more surprisingly, there were four Spirit Tools in the collection. There was a large golden bow, a seemingly unremarkable sword that possessed a dense killing intent, a mage’s staff that seemed to continuously absorb the Cosmic Energy from the area, and finally a small paintbrush. **B3-P417**

However, he suddenly remembered that he had gained a few new cards, and his killing intent congealed into a spear that stabbed into the man’s back as Zac activated [True Strike]. **B5-P160**

With Zac’s amount of accumulated killing intent, the skill could barely be considered a feint any longer, but almost a compulsion. It probably felt like a D-grade Hegemon was bearing down on her from behind, and the general couldn’t ignore it, just as expected. **B5-P598**

The haze was made from the congealed killing intent of the army, and it smoothly entered the fractal spears, empowering them with conviction. The Punishment Spears sucked in more and more, and the first group of attacks finally soared toward the hive as Rhubat, Vanexis, and Raha each launched their spears forward with a mental command. **B6-P317**

His whole body hurt, but the pain was still muted and somehow distant thanks to the fierce killing intent still churning in his chest. **B6-P549**

He walked over to the unconscious girl as he took out a bottle of water. However, an idea struck him, and he released a burst of killing intent aimed at her. It actually worked. The girl groaned as her eyelids fluttered, and she woke up a second later. **B6-P699**

Zac’s only response to the inquiry was unleashing a roar at the top of his lungs, reinforced with his aura and billowing killing intent. The very air in the room vibrated, and two large screens that displayed some unintelligible data actually cracked from the pressure. **B6-735**

His killing intent and his Dao that focused on battle and conflict almost merged, and the area once more gave off the bloody aura of a pitched war. **B7-P389**

It was so far beyond any killing intent Zac would ever be able to unleash that it might as well be considered something completely different. The burning anger of someone as powerful as Leandra seemed to impact reality itself, and even the sun dimmed as the ocean started to boil. He was lucky her gaze was directed at the sky rather than himself, since he wasn’t sure he’d survive the attention.

Zac still felt his vision closing in on him as cracks appeared all over his organs. **B7-P554**

It was extremely condensed, and its killing intent even put Zac’s own to shame, especially now that it had been weakened after three years of inactivity. **B7-P698**

It felt like he was drowned in a sea of blood, and deafening screams of rage and suffering threatened to drive him mad. But Zac soon stabilized his mind and kept walking, guessing this was some sort of test. It was killing intent so condensed it had essentially turned into a mental attack, but his resilience against killing intent was far beyond normal by this point. **Chapter 810**

The aura that had descended on the square could only be forged through innumerable life-and-death battles. Neither the Ogre in the Big Axe Coliseum nor Greatest could even come close to the aura of supremacy that flooded the castle. The Havarok Autarch's killing intent might've been stronger, but it had been less condensed. **Chapter 810**It was the first time Zac had seen killing intent be weaponized to this degree. Zac himself had used it a few times before to suppress or even knock out weaker enemies, but that method was extremely crude compared to what Kaldor had done. The skeleton had actually controlled the intent somehow, then turned it into what looked like an array to amplify his power. **Chapter 825**

The reaver's strikes ignored everything as they went in for a kill. Technically, it should have meant leaving his body with numerous openings, but Kaldor kept unleashing those red arrays with his fists, feet, knees, and elbows in a furious barrage. **Chapter 825**

The killing intent was all-too-real, and every single strike was aimed at Zac's vitals with the intent to kill. If one of those array-empowered strikes was allowed to hit his body without its force dispersed, his Duplicity Core wouldn't be able to fake his death and save him. **Chapter 825**

“You know who I am, this insurrection ends now. Anyone who doesn’t comply will die, and their whole race will be implicated,” The Deviant Asura’s said, his voice empowered by a killing intent that sent shivers down Ra’Klid’s spine. **Chapter 840**

The doors swung open, and a cascading wave of killing intent immediately pushed Pretty back a few steps before she managed to regain her footing. She activated [Unflinching], and the world turned red as sanguine runes appeared over her bare arms. Space buldged inward as she unleashed a punch, and the killing intent was pushed aside as she rushed into the room. **Chapter 860**

Zac had quickly realized that Vai barely had any combat experience at all. It turned out she hadn’t been in a single life-death battle in her whole life, and his raw killing intent had been enough to render her unconscious. **Chapter 867**

If he could get her used to his killing intent, she hopefully wouldn’t freeze like a deer in headlights the moment a beast came barreling toward her. **Chapter 867**

“It’s too late for her to gain any practical combat ability, but getting anointed in killing intent will at least help her stay conscious during a beast tide. I am more curious about you, and why you have such a dense killing intent. It borders on the unorthodox.” **Chapter 867**

With a thunderous roar, it lunged for Zac, its claws veritably oozing killing intent as though it were poison. **Chapter 973**

Laz frowned, killing intent leaking out of his body to the point the whole castle shuddered. **Chapter 979**

The lingering mental imprint in the walls was doused and overwhelmed by Zac's murderous air, and the whole mountain started shaking as Zac no longer restrained his aura. It rose and rose, a storm to match the one raging outside. Even the Mana-empowered domain exuded by the leader was pushed back, and his smiling visage finally changed to one of concentration. **Chapter 1007**

Powerful waves of spirituality blended with his killing intent, but Zac pushed down the scenes of carnage that had appeared as he grabbed the lily. **Chapter 1007**