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"This is going to be a boring fight if there is nothing at stake. So, how about we have a little bet before continuing," said Shin as he put the [Yamato] back to its sheath.

'Do this little rat think that he can beat me now that I can't summon my higher undead?' thought Immoral to himself as he looked at Shin with his knitted brows.

After a brief moment of thinking, Immortal suddenly smirked before looking at Shin with a mocking look on his face. "Heh! Sure! I happen to be quite fond at gambling."

He then waved his left hand as he took out a glowing sphere with a golden flame surrounding it. "If I am not mistaken, this is what you want, right? So, what can you offer in exchange?"

'Quite sharp,' Shin knitted his eyebrows after hearing that. He already knew that Immortal was a sharp individual which was why this negotiation was not going to be easy.

Shin took a quick check on his inventory back, trying to find something with an equal value. But after sweeping his gaze at everything, he couldn't find anything aside from one.

Taking a deep sigh, Shin took out a black book from his inventory space before waving it in at Immortal. "Is this thing enough?"

Seeing that book, Immortal suddenly raised his eyebrows as he looked at the black book with great interest. But after a quick look at it, he looked at Shin with a huge grin while saying. "That thing quite piqued my interest. Unfortunately, it is not enough."

Shin frowned his eyebrows and asked. "Not enough? It seems like you are being a little too greedy there, huh?"

Immortal started chucking when he heard those words and replied. "I guess you are still a rookie when it comes to this world."

He then took a quick pause and pointed at the black book that Shin was holding before continuing. "I know that it is quite a powerful item. But the problem is, it is not yours in the first place. That thing is stolen from us by one of the spies planted by the 'Pandemonium Descendants' in our guild."

"So, I am just taking back what is originally ours. What's more, it is a guaranteed drop once I kill you which means I can still take it back after I am done killing you."

"Should I thank you for saving the trouble of finding it then?" he added while wearing a sneering look on his face.

On the other hand, Shin started chuckling after hearing those words. Then he put the black book back in his inventory before saying. "Then let's forget about the bet since you seem to be uninterested in it. After all, I can also make that core a guaranteed drop since you are in this place."

"Ah-ah~! That is a total waste," said Immortal while waving his index finger.

After that, he wore an even wider grin before taking out two more spherical items from his inventory which were quite similar to the one that he took out earlier. The only differences that they had were the color and aura that they were releasing.

One of them was shining with a brilliant white light that seemed to be bearing a holy power similar to the priests and paladins of the Church.

Meanwhile, the other spherical object was completely pitch-black in color and was releasing a very heavy dark aura. If the white core was basked with holy light, then this core was carrying the power of darkness.

A single look at them was enough for Shin to realize the importance of those items. 'There Elemental Cores? Tsk! Looks like I can't refuse this kind of offer.'

Immortal waited for Shin to fully recognize the orbs floating above his left hand before saying. "As you can see, I have three Elemental Cores with the highest quality. You can use them to further enhance the powers of your Elemental Spirits or find some special creatures that can host them and transform them into Elemental Spirits."

"Either method is fine as both can give you powerful allies that can help you in the future and strengthen your battle prowess. So, what do you think? Not a bad betting stakes, right?" he added while turning his grin even wider.

Hearing that, Shin started wearing a solemn face as he could already guess what Immortal wanted from him. "And you want my Elemental Spirits in return."

"Bingo!" said Immortal as the grin that he was wearing was turning higher and higher. "So~?"

Seeing that Immortal was purposely trailing his words, Shin took a deep breath to calm himself a little before saying. "If that is the case, then let's form a contract and have an official duel."

Immortal chuckled a little after hearing those words and said. "Are you challenging me with your 'Godly Challenge Rights', to prevent me from taking that black book from you?"

"Not bad. But are you sure about that? Challenging me in an official duel will make all of your preparations gone to waste," he added while squinting his eyes.

Shin couldn't help but smirked when he heard those words. "Don't act as if the penalty given to you will go away after accepting that duel. Forbidden Skills are forbidden for a reason, so don't play dumb on me. I know where advantages lie."

"Looks like you've done your research properly, huh? But do you honestly believe that it is more than enough to defeat me?" said Immortal while raising his eyebrows.

"I would like to give it a try," responded Shin almost instantly.

Seeing the confident look on Shin's face, Immortal nodded his head repeatedly before saying. "Let's form a contract then."

After the two of them simultaneously summoned the system to form the contract. And at the same time, he also used his 'Godly Challenge Rights' to invite Immortal into an official duel.

Everything was going according to the plan, but Shin was still feeling unease for some unknown reason. His instincts were telling him that there was something amiss but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

It was until he saw Immortal signing the contract and accepting the challenge while wearing a huge grin.

Having a bad premonition about it, Shin quickly turned his head to the virtual screen where the panel for the challenge was being displayed. And that was when he saw the mode of the challenge set in default.

"What?" Shin stared at the panel for quite some time as he realized that he too had fallen into a trap.

"As I said, you are still too green for this virtual world," said Immortal as he chuckled a little. And after a brief moment of pause, he continued. "Using a 'Challenge Right' can be used by whoever you like and the one who is being challenged can't refuse it since they will lose a massive amount of 'Reputation Points' if they do."

"But at the same time, the opposing side can choose any mode that they like in exchange of that unrefusable challenge."

Immortal chuckled for a little more as he added to his words. "It is a hidden mechanic which is only available to use Godlike Players who are being challenged."

"The other modes are too disadvantageous to me since the penalty that I got after using the Forbidden Spell will still be in effect. But doing it in default mode is a little different. It may weaken myself a little but it is more than enough to deal with you."

Hearing that, Shin quickly opened the information regarding the mode of the challenge and saw that it was quite tricky.

Based on the information, the levels of both fighters were going to be set in '99' which meant that they couldn't use their awakening skills in this battle. And at the same time, all of the existing buffs and debuffs that were cast on the bodies of each side were going to be canceled until the end of the duel.

"D*mn it! He got me there," cursed Shin to himself before looking at Immortal with a heavy expression on his face.

On the other hand, Immortal just waved his hand at Shin before saying. "Then let's meet in the independent world later."

He then ripped a teleportation scroll and disappeared after being basked by a pillar of light. At the same time, all of his undead monsters also disappeared alongside his disappearance.

Shin stared at the spot where Immortal suddenly disappeared before clenching his hand. "On the brighter side, I can at least fight a Godlike Player in an equal footing. Let's see how this is going to work out then."

*********

Meanwhile, Shin was actually oblivious about the fact that this challenge was going to be broadcasted in the whole virtual world. And since it was an official match, it was natural for the game to announce it to everyone.

And when everyone saw that system notification, all of the online platforms immediately burst in an uproar as everyone started discussing that topic.

Though, a lot of players were also quite disappointed when they realized that the challenge was set into default mode. It was because they couldn't see the real battle prowess of both fighters.

Regardless, this matchup was still interesting to watch. So, all of them were quite excited about this upcoming battle. – "The Angel of Death vs The Lich God, Immortal." –

...