...…

Boom!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Explosions were being created every time Arthur and Nicolas' attacks clashed against each other. And due to that, the whole place was already blasted into ruins.

Bang!

Arthur threw a powerful punch forward while enfolding his fist with his multicolored Internal Qi. Nicolas managed to block that punch with his crossed arms in front of him, but due to the very strong force behind that attack, he was unable to completely negate the power of that punch which sent him flying backwards.

At the same time, the bones of Nicolas' arms were broken by that punch. And despite his insane regenerative ability, his arms still took a few moments before they completely healed themselves.

Nicolas suddenly frowned his eyebrows as he felt that there was something odd going on. After all, it was very strange why his powerful regeneration suddenly became slow the more he exchanged some blows with Arthur.

On the other hand, Arthur looked at his fist while muttering to himself. 'Looks like this little trick is really helpful. Not only it helps me lessen the usage of my 'Eternal Flame Internal Qi', but it is also able to deliver some destructive force at my opponent's body without them realizing it.'

Then he looked at Nicolas who was still in the middle of regenerating his arms. 'Should we try ending this now? If I can't defeat him by breaking a limb or two, then let's see what will happen if I blasted him into pieces.'

After that, he took his battle stance once again with both of his fists having the middle knuckles of his index fingers stuck forward.

He took a deep breath after taking that stance while waiting for his opponent to come after him once again. And as if complimenting his actions, Nicolas suddenly disappeared from his spot and reappeared right behind Arthur.

Nicolas speed was still insane to do some instantaneous movements, but Arthur seemed to be expecting where he was going to appear and was already throwing a punch to where he was going to appear before he could even throw a punch of his own.

Bang!

Arthur's fist landed at Nicolas' exposed waist since the latter was still in the middle of throwing his own punch. And after getting hit, Nicolas also felt a stabbing sensation on the spot where Arthur's fist landed.

Meanwhile, Arthur released a bunch of Internal Qi after landing that punch. And those Internal Qi were released from the tip of his pointed middle-knuckle.

"Ugh!" Nicolas felt a burning sensation inside his body due to the Internal Qi that suddenly invaded his body. At the same time, he also felt that his own Internal Qi flowing in his meridians suddenly ran in chaos due to the invading Internal Qi causing havoc on his system.

But that was only the beginning, because Arthur took that opportunity to throw a few more consecutive punches of the same type, taking advantage of his opponent's stunned state.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

And when Arthur felt that the Internal Qi he sent inside his opponent's body were already enough, he took a couple of steps backwards to create some space while pulling his right arm backwards.

At the same time, he gathered a bunch of Internal Qi on his fist while making them revolve around that fist at the same time. And when the accumulation of powers reached its peak, he threw his fist forward in a rotating motion while releasing all of the Internal Qi that he gathered alongside that punch.

'Springfield Secret Arts: Raging Dragon Retribution'

And when that Internal Qi landed at Nicolas, the Internal Qi that Arthur built up inside his body earlier suddenly reacted with it and caused a powerful explosion.

BOOM!

This time, Arthur was sure that he really blasted Nicolas into pieces.

After that, Arthur took a deep breath to calm himself down. This was his first time killing a person in real life so he needed some time to recover himself. Especially when he felt a very unpleasant feeling after throwing that last attack – it was as if he wanted to vomit right now.

But this was not the right time to think about his feelings right now, the operation was still ongoing and there were still a lot of enemies hiding in the dark so he couldn't afford to let his guard down even for a moment.

First, he retrieved the 'Eternal Flame Internal Qi' back inside his body. He could only maintain this state for a limited time after all, so it was better to converse more of his energy as much as possible.

After that, he swept his gaze at his surroundings, trying to see if he could find the hidden opponents who were observing them from the dark. But he immediately frowned his eyebrows when he couldn't find any of them. 'Still not willing to show yourselves, huh? I wonder what these guys are up to.'

Realizing that it was pointless to concern himself with them for now, Arthur decided to help Molton deal with the other agents for the time being.

But before he could even move away from the spot that he was standing, he suddenly felt a dangerous threat coming from his back. 'How!?'

Arthur wanted to turn his body around to block the incoming strike from behind him. But he knew that it was already too late to do that, and all he could do for now was to protect his body with his Internal Qi while bracing himself for the incoming impact.

But before that attack managed to land on him, he suddenly heard a voice that seemed to be mocking him. "Tsk! This is why I can't leave you alone when doing these kinds of missions. You are always getting yourself in trouble."

Bang!

Then Arthur felt that the person standing behind him was sent flying by someone. After that, he turned around to look at the newcomer before saying. "Tch! You messed up with counterattack once again?"

Shin managed to arrive in time before something unpleasant happened to Arthur. And when he heard Arthur's words, he suddenly shook his head a little while smiling bitterly. "Yeah, yeah, you're welcome. You always come up with a unique way of saying thank you."

After that, he turned his head at the direction where he sent Nicolas flying before saying. "Tsk! And can you at least do some of your homework? I already told you before that you need to destroy the core of someone with Evil Powers if you really want to defeat them –…"

He trailed his words for a moment before adding. "Or else, they will always come back to life no matter how hard you try to kill them."

Arthur clicked his tongue when he heard that and said. "Tsk! Of course, I know about that. Do you think I am going to try blasting him into pieces if I am not aware about that? I just don't expect that the so-called core is able to survive that kind of explosion."

After that, he stretched his neck a little before saying. "Alright, let me finish this job properly this time."

But before he could even make his move, Shin suddenly blocked his way and said. "No, leave this one to me. You already expend a lot of energy fighting this guy earlier, so you need to have a little break for now."

Then he swept this gaze on their surroundings before whispering. "I know you can feel those cunning guys observing us from the dark. You need to conserve more of your strength so that we can deal with them later."

After that, he turned his head back to Nicolas before pulling out his flexible sword from his sleeve. "What's more, I am not going to play with this guy. I already told you, if you can't kill someone then you can leave that job to me."

Arthur wanted to say something when he heard those words, but when he felt the cold aura leaking from Shin's body, he immediately swallowed back those words and prevented himself from talking.

Then he stared at Shin's back while having a bitter look on his face. 'Don't tell me those memories are triggered once again. Tsk! Doing these types of missions are really not good for him.'

After that, turned his body around and at Molton before walking towards that side. "Let's help this kid for now."

Meanwhile, Nicolas wanted to chase after Arthur when he saw the latter walking away. "Hey! Where do you think you are going? We are not done yet!"

But before he could even make his move, Shin suddenly blocked his path while saying. "Oi, oi! I am going to be your opponent this time."

Seeing him, Nicolas suddenly became furious and shouted. "And who the hell are you? No! That is not important now. Since you want to die that much, then I am going to grant your wish."

After that, he suddenly appeared in front of Shin in an instant while swinging his fist forward. But before he could even land his punch at Shin, he suddenly felt that he lost his control over his right arm.

Then he saw his arm fall on the ground after being separated from his right shoulder.

"What!?" Seeing that, he immediately jumped away from Shin as soon as possible. And when he finally created some space between them, he looked at Shin with an astounded look on his face.

On the other hand, Shin looked at him with a cold gaze while pointing his sword at Nicolas before saying. "Let me tell you. I am not a softy like that stupid guy, so I guarantee that I can kill you without blinking my eyes."

And when Nicolas heard those words, he was suddenly dragged into an illusion where he saw a huge white tiger standing behind Shin while at him with a very fierce gaze.

"Who the hell is this guy?" thought Nicolas to himself as he felt a deep feeling of fear while staring at Shin.

...…