...
Shin and Steve engaged in an intense battle, which somewhat surprised Shin. He knew that this opponent was somewhat skilled, but he was not expecting that this particular young agent was able to put up a fight until now.
There was also Chris, who was quite seriously injured, but still able to up good support for Steve during the battle. He was able to save the latter quite a few times, making Shin unable to finish off the guy.
But despite that being the case, Shin remained calm as he knew that it was mostly because he was not showing his real capabilities during the battle. He was hiding most of his strength just to lure out the real snake hiding in the dark and waiting for the right opportunity to strike him.
Shin continued to exchange a few more blows against the combined forces of Steve and Chris until he finally found the right window to end the battle.
Bang!
Swoosh!
Shin stomped on the ground and strode forward with a sudden burst of speed. He closed the distance between Steve and himself, reaching it within a blink of an eye.
Steve seemed to have expected that to happen and quickly stabbed with the dagger that he was holding with precise timing. He had been exchanging blows with Shin since earlier, so he was pretty much used to the tempo of the latter, especially when it came to the sudden ambushes that Shin was throwing from time to time.
Having that in mind, he was always on guard when it came to these kinds of these surprise attacks and even planned to use them against Shin. He was planning to use the card that Shin was using to counter a devastating blow against the latter.
Little did he know, Shin had purposedly set that tempo of battle earlier to trick Steve and Chris, making them fall into the hidden trap that he meticulously hid during their exchanges.
He was purposely showing a 'mistake', which would become the bait that he could use to lure Steve toward him. And once the latter took the bite and jumped onto him, it was time to strike the target without any mercy.
Swoosh!
There was a huge grin, coupled with a mocking smile, on Steve's face when he saw Shin charging at him with the same pattern of surprise attack. The smug look that he had on his face was perfectly maintained as he watched Shin approached him confidently.
He had been waiting for a while now. He endured quite a lot during the previous exchanges just to land this attack. He wanted to see the expression that Shin had as he dug his dagger at the skull of the latter.
Unfortunately, the confident and smug look that he had on his face immediately turned stiff the moment when he saw his dagger pass through the latter.
He watched his dagger hit nothing but air as the figure of his opponent turned into a blur before slowly fading away.
"An afterimage!"
He immediately understood what just happened. Though, he still remained confused due to the unexpected turn of events.
He had been keeping an eye on his opponent the entire time during their exchanges. He even took note of the attack pattern and the insane speed of the latter to make sure to keep everything under control.
He might be on the losing end earlier, but he was still confident that he would be able to win in the end since he could no longer sense that dangerous feeling coming from Shin.
At first, he thought that Shin was on the same level as those monsters that he had seen in the gathering of the young executioners stationed on this continent. But upon a closer look, he realized that he might have been mistaken due to the earlier ambushes that had succeeded.
But after a few more exchanges, he realized that it was not the case. And the earlier success was nothing but a mere fluke that caught them off-guard.
Or at least consecutive flukes since Chris suffered almost at the same time.
After seeing the fading image of his opponent right in front of him, Steve quickly understood that he had been led by the opposing party, which made him fall deep into a trap.
He wanted to escape and saved himself, but he knew every than anyone that it was no longer possible. With that current speed that he was seeing, he knew that it was already too late to prevent his demise from coming after him.
His arm was still in the middle of being outstretched due to his previous stabbing action. And it was impossible for him to stop it from continuing forward due to the momentum that he had accumulated just throw this supposedly counterattack.
His mind, body, and reaction had already been in synch just for this attack. And when he realized his mistake, this synchronization was immediately thrown into a mess that he would not be able to fix within such a short amount of time.
All he could do was watch the next course of events take place without being able to influence it.
His eyes slowly lowered as he could sense an immense threat coming from there. And it was at that moment that he saw Shin in a ducking position and was currently in the middle of throwing his next attack.
Shin did not wait for his opponent to react in time as he quickly swung the dagger upwards, throwing a seemingly uppercut attack with it.
The dagger flew straight to the back of the chin of his opponent. With his current speed, Steve could not respond in time despite his highly trained body and extremely sharp senses.
From Steve's perspective, his body was moving in an extremely slow motion as he watched the tip of the dagger steadily approach him.
Pu-chi!
"Argh!" Steve could only groan in pain as the dagger plunged itself into the back of his chin and right in front of his throat. It continued to move upward and reached his brain from within, firmly planting itself on Steve's head.
Steve tried to open his mouth to say something, but he could no longer force out any words from his throat. Instead, blood continuously gushed out of his mouth, making it look like a fountain.
It was at that moment that his body finally reached the impact of that attack Shin. His body was slowly lifted in the air and about to fly in up.
Shin coldly watched Steve fly in front of him. And while he was doing that, he forcefully pulled his hand back alongside the dagger that he was holding within it.
Splash!
More blood came out from the wound of Steve as he was thrown in the air by the force of Shin's previous actions. It left a crimson trail in the air as he continued to fly in a specific direction.
Chris, who was about to provide him at that time, suddenly halted in his tracks as he was too stunned at the sudden turn of events. Everything happened a little too fast, not giving him any time to digest all the scenes that he just saw.
Serra, who was completely used to the entire battle, could only watch blankly at the scene with wide eyes.
Wasn't Steve supposedly one of the most talented people within their group, almost reaching the level of those monsters they had encountered within the organization, yet he just ended up like that?
No matter how hard the two had thought about it, they still could not accept the fact that such a talent was defeated in a very underwhelming manner.
They were still in the middle of processing what was happening when they saw Shin's figure suddenly turn into a blur once again before a gust of wind flew past their bodies.
Within that short span of time, experienced a lot of things. The rest of their lives flashed through their eyes, particularly their experiences within the Black Serpent Mafia Training Camp.
After enduring such hell and emerging as one of the victorious survivors, they thought that they finally going to have some freedom.
They spend quite a few years working as an undercover agent and spend their time in a leisurely manner.
Then they were called out all of a sudden before discovering that they were relieved from their respective posts.
They were then dispatched to this place for a supposedly 'easy' mission.
Everything happened in a flash before they sensed that their bodies were unable to move. Or to be more precise, they had discovered that they could no longer command their bodies to move no manner how hard they tried.
Not long after, a thin line slowly appeared on their necks almost at the same time and manner, before a flash of light suddenly illuminated their vision and quickly blinded them in a literal manner.
They could no longer see what was happening since their visions had already become dark, but their heads were severed and separated from their bodies.
Shin, on the other hand, was no longer concerned about the two. He appeared a few distances away from them and continued to stand on his fight while closing his eyes.
During the final moments of the battle, he seemed to have undergone an epiphany. It might only be a flash of inspiration, but he could feel that he had 'formed' something.
And when he suddenly burst in speed and executed the other two, the knowledge that he had, the 'thing' that he was pursuing, and the guidance that he had received from the Head Priestess earlier, seemed to have combined into one and formed an entirely new 'being'.
While he was trying to remember this feeling, he was also in the middle of digesting everything and consolidating his foundation, making his strength stronger and his style firmer.
Pu-chi!
But it was also at that moment when something unexpected happened. An intense pain suddenly interrupted his thoughts, dragging him back into reality.
With a pained expression, he slowly lowered his head and saw a blade of a sword piercing through his body.
It came from behind and came out on his chest.
Then he heard a voice coming from behind.
"It is such a pity. You have experienced such a rare moment, yet it is also what cost you your life."
...…
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l