Chapter 1291 Retreat and Invation
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BOOM!
With this explosion, the whole place was immediately affected. The ground shook as it sank, creating a deep and huge crater. The surrounding trees were swept away by the shockwave and were burned to ashes by the raging flames that were spreading in every direction.
A firestorm as tall as a ten-story building and as wide as it was formed and shot toward the sky. This firestorm spun rapidly and burned everything around it, not sparing anything. Even the earth's surface was scorched red due to the heat that it had.
In the middle of this, Shin and Mephisto remained in their respective positions as they held their ground and did not want to lose to each other.
The ground beneath Shin continued to crack, spreading in every direction. Gravels and rock fragments also flew in the air as the powerful impact repeatedly bombarded them. These fragments were also burned by the intense heat of the surroundings; some were scorched black while the smaller ones were completely melted.
Mephisto on the other hand was gritting his teeth as he pressed the blazing sword in his hands down. His wings spread wide as it was supporting him with his actions. The blazing wings repeatedly flapped as he pushed his weight down, trying to overwhelm Shin with it.
The air around him repeatedly exploded as the blazing wings continued to move. This created another circle of spinning tornadoes, smaller than the raging firestorm that was created by their initial collision.
Bang!
The two put more strength in there as they pushed the opposing side away.
Shin was sent skidding backward, leaving a deep trail on the scorched land, while Mephisto was sent flying into the air by their actions.
Shin bent his legs down as he tried to stop himself from being pushed further while Mephisto flipped a couple of times in the air to lessen the burn from the earlier exchange before spreading his wings wide to stop himself from flying further away.
Bang! Bang!
As if they had a silent agreement, both made their respective move.
Shin kicked the ground and sent himself in the air, flying straight to his opponent. Mephisto, on the other hand, flapped his blazing wings strongly and dived down, planning to meet the opposing side in midair.
Shin released the [Summit Shaper] and the 'Meteor Form' of the sheath on his left hand and returned it to its original form before putting the [Yamato] back in it during his flight.
Channeling the fire elemental mana into the sheathed sword and reinforcing it with the metal elemental mana, Shin left a blazing trail behind him before unsheathing the sword and swinging it horizontally.
Clink!
'Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw (Fire and Mental Form) – Blazing Splitter'
Shing!
Mephisto held the blazing sword with both of his hands and channeled his demonic mana into it. He then raised it over his shoulders as blazing wings flapped with a strong force and sent him down with greater speed.
When he was about to reach Shin, he suddenly swung the blazing sword down like a hammer or a greatsword, bearing unimaginable strength and unstoppable momentum. He swung it down, leaving a thick blazing arc in the air.
'Class Fighting Style: Splitting Heaven'
Swoosh!
Bang!
The two sides stayed suspended in the air for a brief period as their swords and powers clashed against each other. Their swords released a repeated explosion as the two types of flames clashed and tried to overwhelm one another.
This lasted for a couple of moments before the two sides were separated from each other once again.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Bang! Bang!
The two landed on the ground a short distance away from each other. They withstood the strong impact before pounching and lunging at each other for another time.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Shin had gotten the upper hand this time as he was already thrusting the [Yamato] forward before Mephisto could even have a suitable position to attack.
Seeing that, Mephisto calmly deflected the sword and redirected it to the side before twirling his blazing sword and about to counterattack with a strong diagonal slash.
Shin let his sword move forward as he used that momentum to turn around before swinging the greatsword form of the [Summit Shaper] that magically appeared in his left hand.
Swoosh!
Bang!
The two sides were momentarily jolted by the impact and forced to take a couple of steps back to relieve the burden of their muscles.
Then they charged at each other once again, brandishing their swords at one another.
Bang! Bang!
Their figures turned into blurry silhouettes as they ran around the place while fighting, destroying the already ruined part of the forest even more.
Sword flashes could be seen from time to time as they two disappeared and reappeared in different places. Huge and small explosions constantly erupted with each clash that they had, changing the landscape for a more devastated state.
During these exchanges, Shin had finally gotten a more favorable position as he tried to suppress Mephisto with his 'Myriad Transformation Swordsmanship'.
He shaffled between regular swordsmanship and quick-draw style while also swapping the forms of the left-hand sword between three different swords; a greatsword, a longsword, and a rapier.
The corresponding Elemental Spirit Possession was also being used during the changing of forms as Shin utilized all the advantages of his complex swordsmanship to the fullest.
But despite all of these, he must admit that this opponent called himself Mephistopheles was not an easy picking either.
Despite being in a less dominant position, he was defending himself with extreme calmness and responding with each move accordingly.
He was trying to find a window that he could use for his 'Secret Skills', but Shin repeatedly closed all of them before he could take advantage of anything. The latter was suppressing him with an unstoppable onslaught and complex combinations so that he could not properly find an opening to counterattack.
Realizing that he would most likely lose in this situation, Mephisto finally showed his real capabilities. He started using the other powers that he had gotten from the Elemental Spirits that he had devoured before.
He started switching between them similar to what Shin was doing.
His swordsmanship which included punches, kicks, and other close-combat attacks further increased in variations. He even included some magical attacks that gave him a slight advantage occasionally.
His left arm was covered with dark energy that was constantly changing its form according to the situation. At times it looked like a gauntlet and battle braces while other times it transformed into demonic claws or a huge dark fist.
His legs were in a similar position as they were being covered with a dark and eerie aura while moving or kicking with some leg techniques.
With these changes, the two sides started to exchange more complex assaults with each other, regularly shifting the flow of the battle. Both sides had their turn to get the upper hand or be pushed into a disadvantageous position.
But what surprised Shin greatly was the fact that Mephisto was able to contend against him in brute force even though he supposedly had the advantage in terms of overall stats.
It was as if they both had equal stats.
Or they both were in the third tier of their respective class, which was more unlikely.
After a few more exchanges, Shin later had to accept that it was almost like the case. Even though he refused to believe it since he did not hear nor see the latter's name in the list of the players who had passed their Promotion Quests.
He then realized that the reason was most likely because of the Elemental Spirits that the opposing side had devoured. Mephisto seemed to have absorbed their powers and gotten a portion of their stats during the process.
His Elemental Spirits supported this theory, especially Hanzo and Solus, who were the most experienced among them.
Shin then realized that there were still some odd players that could still contend against a Tier 3 Class with their unconventional means. He had to take note of this to make sure that he would not fall into any accidents in the future.
Although, he knew that this was most likely
…
Mephisto was starting to laugh manically as the intensity of the battle grew. He was like a crazy demon that knew nothing but to fight.
Bang! Bang!
Boom!
Devastating explosions continued to erupt and changed the landscape of the surroundings as they continued with the battle.
Shin and Mephisto separated from each other and assumed another battle-ready stance right after regaining their respective footing.
Shin knew that he had to end this fast now since he was sure that the battle had already attracted quite a lot of players. With such a huge commotion, it was impossible to avoid any attention from the others, especially with the loud explosions during their exchanges.
If he stared here longer, it would be hard to get out of the mess, especially when the 'Big Three' of the Sacred Light Kingdom would most likely make their move against them.
Taking a deep breath, Shin glanced at his health bar and saw that it was only a fourth of its total value.
He had blocked most of the deadly attacks from his opponent and avoided getting more damage from them, but the flames and heat of the surroundings still caused him some minor damage despite him activating the [Divine Constellation Possession]. The demonic flames of the opposing side were quite problematic too as they burned him regularly during their previous exchanges.
The strong impacts from their clashes and the devastating forces behind the attacks of his opponent still made him receive some damage even though he blocked most of them, which resulted in the current state of his Health Bar.
But at the same time, Mephisto was most likely in a similar position, so he was not that worried either.
With this, Shin was planning to end this battle by using a powerful skill. He first wanted to use his Tier 3 Skills, which would most likely guarantee his success. But he hesitated since he could feel that Mephisto had also a similar card under his sleeve.
The cooldown of those two skills was quite long. He was worried that he would be wasting his skills if he failed to guarantee the death of the opposing side.
Moreover, the activation of the Tier 3 Skills was not as simple as the regular skills such as Tier 1 and Tier 2 skills due to how powerful they were. He had to meet certain conditions in battle first before he could activate them, so the risk of failure would only grow higher.
He just received his Tier 3 Skills recently, so he did not have the time to properly test them yet. He was planning to practice using them later when Arthur and Leonard were free, so he set aside studying them for later.
With this, Shin could only settle with the killer moves of his Tier 2 Skills and convert them into a Mentalism Technique from the real world. He also had the perfect technique for them already, especially now that he had mastered the 'Divine Yellow Dragon' method.
Shin was about to make his move when he saw Mephisto suddenly pause. He then saw that the expression of the latter turned dark along with an extreme unwillingness mixed within.
He then saw Mephisto click his tongue with a dark expression.
"When I am starting to enjoy this battle!" said Mephisto with a cursing tone. He was quite unsatisfied with the current state of this result.
Even though the state of the battle was in a deadlock from the observer's objective, he felt that he was on a losing end. He had already expended almost everything under his sleeve. Aside from the few hidden cards that he was holding, which would cause him serious drawbacks when used, he no longer had anything to show.
Moreover, he felt that his opponent's style was yet to reach its absolute perfection, so he could not accept this result since he had been doing his best all this time. He felt that he lost if he retreated now.
But when he remembered the agreement that he had with Lucifer, he could not disobey Paimon's order right now.
Mephisto turned to Shin and said. "It is a pity, but I guess we must stop this battle here. It is my loss this time, but I will make sure to take you down when we meet again."
After seeing his piece, he spread his wings wide before leaping in the air and flying toward a certain direction.
"Planning to run? I'm afraid that I can't let you go no matter what," shouted Shin as he was about to summon his wings and give chase.
But before he could do that, Lorraine suddenly appeared in the distance and shouted at him. "Shin! Forget about that guy! We must rush back to the Maze Forest as soon as possible! The base is being attacked by the Corrupted and Demonic Creatures again!"
Shin paused when he heard that and turned to her. He was about to say something when he turned his head toward his left and saw Diablo materializing out of thin air.
Diablo did not bother to waste his breath for any greeting and went straight to the point. "Paimon, the one leading this operation this operation, has set a trap. If I were you, then you better go back with your friends and ignore Mephistopheles for now."
Shin halted his actions and stared at the latter for a couple of moments before asking. "Are you coming with us?"
Diablo knew what Shin was trying to ask and just shrugged his shoulder. "There is no harm hanging out with your people for the time being and seeing what your team looks like before deciding."
Shin smirked as he knew something must have happened on the other side when he was gone, which made Diablo more interested in Empyrean Talons.
After hesitating for a moment, he took out a black book from his inventory and tossed it to Diablo. "Take this and learn its content. I heard from Senior Benedict that you are looking for a good Martial Manual. This one will be good enough for your needs."
Shin was planning to invest in Diablo now and slowly lure him to their side. "If you decide to join us, I will give you a better one which is perfect for your style."
He was originally planning to give the 'Shadowless Art', but he decided to save it later when he convinced this guy to join them.
Diablo caught the manual and read its cover. "Soundless Assassination Technique."
He was impressed that Shin managed to find such an advanced Martial Manual.
He was quite interested in how Shin had gotten his hands on this one. Even with his rich connection, Daiblo could not find anything that would fit his taste and the requirements that Professor Henry had given him, much less as advanced as this particular Martial Manual.
And based on what Shin had said, he seemed to have in possession of another manual, which was no inferior to the one that he was holding or even better.
He gave Shin a complicated look for a moment before keeping it. He then followed Shin to meet Lorraine, who was running toward them.
"Let's have a closer look at your friends and see if they have the same goals as mine," he mumbled while hiding his expectations.
...…
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