...…
The idle people, who did not have anything better to do and waiting for the news regarding the Shunkai Forest to arrive, saw a certain post of an anonymous person in the online forums. They then clicked it out of curiosity, especially with the title that it had that was saying – "The reason for the strange events of Shunkai Forest" –
Right after they played the video and saw the intense battle between the two sides, the views immediately went wild.
"Woah! What is this? Is this really from the sgthat we are playing?"
"Holy! Look at that guy 1-vs-3-ing three people! The heck! He is dodging and blocking bullets while throwing slashes at the other dude."
"D*mn! He can cut magic spell magic spells too!? Who the heck is this dude?"
"Dude! Look how he dodged those bullets and cut those spells while fighting. He is such a badass! Does he have multiple eyes to see everything? Does he even have a blind spot?"
"That Assassin is doing great as well! He is preserving his life against such a powerful opponent."
"That Holy Mage is quite skilled too! Look at her saves that are always on the clutch. Her heals, barriers and holy spells always cat the right time."
"Man~! Look at those shots! It is fired with high-level gun-fighting techniques! That marksman is really good."
"But that dude fighting the three of them alone is such a monster! He is suppressing them without breaking a sweat! He looks like someone taking a casual walk in the park!"
The comments immediately flooded in as they saw the battle. They were quite surprised but stunned as such battles where a single person fighting against a group was a common occurrence these days, particularly when elites and experts of the gwanted to showcase their capabilities.
It was not until speople managed to recognize the three people fighting the mysterious expert.
"Wait! Isn't that Phantom? That Assassin looks like Phantom."
"Holy Sh*t! It is really 'Phantom'! The 'Fleeting God' Phantom! What the heck? He can't shake off his opponent no matter how hard he tries! Who is this guy they are fighting?"
"That Holy Mage! She is the champion of the last Challengers Cup! The new goddess!"
"'Goddess of Sacred Magic' Sylvie!"
"No wonder her spells are on point. But she still can't save Phantom even with her skills? This is nuts!"
"Now I remember! That gunslinger! That gunslinger is that dude from Mercenary War Incident!"
"Claude! That must be Claude, the Maverick God."
"Wait! There are also those two other people! That guy near Claude must be his brother! Wolf, a top-class Maverick Ranker.
"And that guy protecting Sylvie is Valdez! Maverick God Valdez!"
After recognizing the people fighting Shin, these people beceven crazier. They were losing their minds after realizing the facts. They were also now looking at Shin as if he was ssort of a monster.
They also started guessing his identity.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"The heck? Three godly players and two highly skilled ones yet they still can't defeat a single person!? Just who is that dude exactly?"
"Holy Cow! This is madness! Two Godlike Players and a Maverick God ganging up against a single person, but they still can't win and lose instead? That dude must be a powerful Godlike Player too!"
"Must be one of the top gods of the game! Who is he?"
"He is using dual-wielding swords! He must be one of the top swordsmen of the game!"
"And he is using lightning? Who among the top godlike swordsmen has such mana?"
Due to the top players using their unique methods and showcasing their special mana manipulation techniques, the players realized that there were such techniques were quite common in high-level battles.
In the current time, you could not be considered a true expert if you could not harness a unique version of your mana manipulation. It becone of the requirements to beca true expert within the game.
It also becthe identity of the top players, particularly those guys sitting at the top of the rankings.
Sof the bored people even created a list where they showed the unique mana manipulation of stop players within the game.
But when the viewers tried to compare the black-and-white lighting to the list, they could not find anyone with such a mana manipulation technique. There were a couple, who had similar lightning properties, but they were still far from this one.
Regardless, this did not stop the viewers from clicking on the live feed that the anonymous person, who posted the video clip.
They watched the intense battle, sitting back and enjoying the show.
…
Meanwhile, the elites and experts under the SuprTemple and Martial Alliance, who were still looking for the traces of their target, also received the news.
They temporarily paused their search to watch the video in the post before quickly heading toward the direction where they thought the battle was taking place.
They were rushing toward that location, afraid that they would be late as they were sure that the others were also heading toward the sdestination.
…
At the stime, the top guilds, who were keeping an eye on the news, also got an update from their people scattered in the Shunkai Forest.
They had also received news about certain posts in the official forums of the game, making the higher-ups of each guild watch it.
Unlike most of the people in the forums, these guilds somewhat had an idea of who this mysterious expert was. Given that they all received the warning from the Assassin Union, they could at least guess the identity of this person.
Then, after seeing how strong the so-called mysterious expert was, these guilds becmore confident of their suspicion.
Due to this, they quickly adjusted their plans.
…
Aside from these groups, there were also others, who seemed to be waiting for this particular opportunity. They had been waiting since the very beginning when they received the special quest from their faction.
The members of Corrupted Cult and Demonic Churches also started making their way toward the said location. But unlike the people of SuprTemple and Martial Alliance, they were not in a rush. Instead, they were bidding their tas they were plotting something more aside from catching the target.
They wanted to use this opportunity to grow their forces while also weakening the two opposing factions.
…
In the meantime, the person, who 'leaked' the news to the public, was currently enjoying the battle that he was watching.
At the stime, he also adjusted his position while letting the spying stones scatter in different directions to cover the entire place.
"I guess it is already enough. I should make my move now," mumbled Pogo as an evil smile appeared on his face.
He even licked his lips as he continued talking to himself. "Taking down such a sensational character always givesa great thrill."
After that, he suddenly jumped down from the tree batch that he was sitting on before disappearing like a ghost.
…
The battle, Shin, who was enjoying the battle, could not help himself from smiling as he could see how powerful his new swordsmanship could be just by applying the principle that Old Ryong had taught him.
After 'playing' around for a while, he felt that it was tto end this. He had already spent quite a lot of ttesting his new techniques and polishing them at the stime.
It was quite rare to find suitable 'test subjects' for this, so he could not afford to miss this chance to test his newly acquired techniques on these guys.
Due to the sudden change in the air surrounding Shin, Phantom instantly realized what was going to happen next. He could tell that Shin wanted to end this battle now.
Sylvie and Claude could also sense the sudden change in the atmosphere, making them feel the urgency of the situation and the crisis that they were about to face.
Phantom executed a series of movement and combat techniques, but none of them were able to help him get away from Shin as the latter continued to stick to him without any intention of letting him go.
Then, all of a sudden, Phantom felt that his entire body was paralyzed by something, preventing him from doing anything, much less going anywhere.
Sylvie wanted to save Phantom when she saw the strange actions of the latter. But before she could even cast any of her spells, she sensed a sudden threat coming from behind.
This threat seemed to cout of nowhere, making Valdez unable to sense it until the final moment. When he turned around, he saw a pair of 'Shins' heading their way – one heading straight to Sylvie after transforming into a streak of light while the other was coming at him very aggressively; these were the Moon and Sun Clones that Shin had released since who knew when.
Without any tto properly respond, Sylvie and Valdez were forced to prioritize protecting themselves over anything else.
On the side where Claude and Wolf were located, the Phantom Clone of Shin also appeared. Unlike the two clones on the other side, this Phantom Apparition used the 'Phantom Dance' without any hesitation, surrounding the pair of brothers with multiple copies of Shin.
Wolf wore a solemn expression when he saw that they were surrounded and nowhere to run.
Claude quickly responded, jumping over his brother and starting to spin in the air while firing in every direction. He was using 'Random Firing' to shoot all the Clone Phantoms.
Unfortunately, his bullets only went through the bodies of the apparitions as if they were nothing but illusions.
Sensing that his allies were currently occupied with something, Phantom immediately realized the predicament that he was in. He knew that he could do nothing but watch himself get killed by Shin.
But before the scene inside his head played out, something strange suddenly happened.
Clank! Clank!
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShin, who was about to swing his sword at Phantom, suddenly heard a very subtle sound of chains that seemed to cout of nowhere.
Then, when he swept his gaze at his surroundings, his eyes suddenly turned wide while his pupils shrunk greatly.
He suddenly realized that there were pitch-black chains surrounding him. They suspended in the air and formed a spiral with him at the center.
They were just a meter away from his body, making Shin wonder when they appeared.
Clank! Clank!
Then when Shin was still confused, the chains suddenly tightened and rapidly shrunk, seemingly trying to wrap themselves around him.
Swoosh!
Shin used 'Void Steps' without any hesitation and appeared a few meters away from his previous location.
But before he could even catch his breath, he immediately sensed an incoming threat coming to his side and seemingly heading toward his neck.
Swoosh!
Shin quickly ducked forward, barely dodging the sickle that flew past over his head. It even left a trail of crimson light in the air, signifying that it was no ordinary attack.
Shin did not have the tto think whether the one, who ambushed him was working with Phantom and the others, as he quickly retreated once again after sensing the slight trembling of the earth underneath him.
Bang!
Right after he left, another sickle suddenly shot up from the ground along with the chains connected to the bottom of its handle.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A few more attacks tried to catch Shin, but none of them managed to even touch the edge of his cloak as he skillfully maneuvered himself while dodging each of them – jumping, backflipping, hopping, spinning, and cartwheeling in the process.
The attacks only stopped when he distanced himself far enough from the range of the chained sickles.
"Hoo~! That is close," when Shin stabilized himself in the distance and raised his head to look at the person, who just ambushed him.
That was when he heard the latter talk. "Tsk! Tsk! You sure are a slipper b*st*rd. To think that you are still able to escape such a perfect ambush!? I just missed the perfect opportunity!"
"I must admit that you are worthy to be hunted," he added while laughing maniacally.
Pogo, the Killer Clown, suddenly appeared a couple of distances away from Shin, catching the chained sickles that cat him before licking its curved blade.
Shin instantly recognized the guy as he had seen the video of the battle between this clown and his senior brother.
He then slightly knitted his brows deeply, finding that the situation was getting a little troublesome.
But, at the stime, it was also getting more interesting.
He smiled under his mask before fixing his grip on his swords, preparing for another round.
...