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While the intense match between Shin and Immortal was reaching its peak, shocking news shook the official online forum of the game.

The Central Order succeeded at taking over the Ancient Ruins. And all of the players who were keeping an eye on this war quickly heard about this news right after it spread online.

A lot of players were quite confused about what happened during that time. After all, the Blind Abyss Empire was the home turf of the Undying Guild. Moreover, they also brought a lot of sieging machinery to the Ancient Ruins.

Given that, the players residing in the said empire couldn't understand how the invading guild managed to emerge victoriously. Especially, that they couldn't bring their own machinery to defend the Ancient Ruins.

But it didn't take long until a detailed report was leaked to the public.

From the information leak, it said that the people of the Central Order took advantage of Immortal's absence to make their moves.

Moreover, Legolas himself personally led an elite group of the guild to destroy the sieging machinery of the Undying Guild. And at the same time, they also used a guerilla tactic to take down as many experts of their opponents as possible.

Realizing their current situation, the Apostles of Immortal made their respective moves to lead a counterattack.

Unfortunately, the opposing side was already a step ahead of them. After learning that they were already in control, the Central Order sent a few of their Godlike Players as their reinforcements.

Due to that, the Undying Guild was unable to fight back the repeated assaults of the Central Order. All they could do was to give up the right to control the Ancient Ruins for the time being while waiting for their guild master's return.

**********

Meanwhile, the ongoing battle between Shin and Immortal was already reaching its peak.

The melee exchange between the two was still intense and continuously increasing with no signs of stopping.

Immortal was clearly at a total disadvantage in this kind of battle. Especially when Shin was keeping an eye on his every movement no matter whether they were small or not. It was for him to look out for every hint of summoning skills that Immortal might use.

Due to that, Immortal was feeling the pressure that was being pressed on him. Moreover, Shin was a Battle Genius who was continuously growing and becoming stronger the longer the battle lasted.

But despite all of the advantages that Shin currently had, he still felt that there was something amiss. His instincts were telling him that something was up. And even if he couldn't pinpoint it yet he was sure that it was something big and dangerous.

Given that, Shin was keeping one of his trump cards ready to make sure that he was not going to be taken by surprise.

It didn't take long for some of Shin's premonition to come true.

Boom!

The ground beneath their feet suddenly exploded as a huge figure emerged from it.

Fortunately, Shin was able to get away in time, since he immediately moved backwards right after he felt the slight vibration on the ground earlier.

Standing away from his previous spot, Shin stared at the huge figure that came from the ground earlier and observed it.

What he saw was a serpent-like monster with a body made of bones from different species and a head that looked like a skull of a horned dinosaur.

"A Boneyard?" muttered Shin as he stared at the newly summoned undead monster. And from what he could see, this undead was as strong as the Blaspheme and Dullahan that were summoned earlier.

Seeing that, Shin took a deep breath to focus his thoughts and clear his mind. And after a moment, he waved his hand to recall the Sun and Moon Clones to his side while waiting for the next move that his opponent was planning.

On the other hand, Immortal was standing on the head of the Boneyard undead while staring down at Shin.

He smirked a little before summoning the Blaspheme and Dullahan on the side of the Boneyard before sneering. "Playtime is over. Let's end this right now."

Shin pursed his lips a little before muttering to himself. "I guess I need to switch targets for now."

He then looked at Immortal before ordering his clones to make their moves. "Go!"

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Right after that, the Sun and Moon Clones suddenly jumped in the air before transforming their respective cloaks into a pair of wings. Then they flew straight at Immortal with great speed.

At the same time, Immortal couldn't help but sneer after seeing that since he could tell what Shin was currently planning. "Unfortunately, I don't plan to play anymore."

With a wave of his hand, he summoned three of his Abomination Elemental Spirits before fusing them with his undead monsters.

'Elemental Spirit Possession'

After that, he ordered the three undead monsters to charge at Shin and ignored the two incoming clones. And at the same time, he jumped up in the air before using an equipment skill that could help him flying in the air.

Roar!

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The undead monsters rushed at Shin as soon as they received their orders. And from the look on their eyes, Shin could tell that each of them was now possessing a high level of intellect.

"Hanzo," muttered Shin to summon his Void Spirit.

After that, Hanzo fused with the longsword that Shin was holding on his left hand and transformed its appearance.

'Elemental Spirit Possession (Void Reaper): Dimension Cutter'

And quickly after the transformation, Shin crossed the swords in front of his chest while bracing himself for the incoming impact.

Boom!

And that was the time when the Dullahan arrived in front of him while thrusting its sword forward.

Shin slid backwards due to the impact of the collision. But at the same time, he was able to negate it in an instant by sending all of the force towards the ground.

Hu!

He then took a deep breath and planned to do a counter-attack but he quickly abandoned the idea when he felt the Blaspheme descending from the sky and planning to smash its fist at him.

Shin wanted to jump away when he saw the falling undead. But before he could even hop backwards, he suddenly noticed that his body was being held by black chains.

And when tried to locate where it was coming from, he suddenly saw that the tip of the sword on Dullahan's hand was currently releasing some dark gases which transformed into a bunch of chains to tie him down.

"Tch! They even have new skills now?" clicking his tongue, Shin immediately gathered the power of Eclipse from his body and quickly released it to create a dome-shaped barrier around him.

'Slayer Skill: Eclipse Pulse'

Boom!

The barrier shook violently after getting hit by the strong punch that came from above. And due to the strong force accompanying that punch, cracks started to appear on the surface of the barrier and showed some signs of being shattered.

Fortunately, the barrier managed to withstand the force and maintained its form after receiving a devastating blow.

After that, Shin suddenly shouted with a very loud voice to make the barrier explode outwards. "Ha!"

'Slayer Skill: Eclipse Counter'

Boom!

A circular shockwave was released and flew in an outward direction the moment Shin detonated the barrier. And since this explosion was carrying the power that the barrier withstood earlier, both the Dullahan and the Blaspheme suffered a devastating blow after getting hit.

That window was the perfect time for Shin to kill either one of the two undead. But before he could even make his follow-up move, he suddenly felt an intense vibration coming from the ground underneath his feet which also forced him to jump away from his current location.

Bang!

The Boneyard suddenly flew out from the ground with its mouth wide opened. And if Shin didn't manage to get away in time, he was sure that he was going to get swallowed by that monster.

"Tsk! Their teamwork is quite good. And coupled with the new skills that they gain after the Elemental Possession, this battle is going to be much harder than I thought," muttered Shin to himself before taking a quick glance at the ongoing battle in the air.

"The fastest way to win this battle is to take down the summoner itself. I guess I need to find a good opportunity to ambush him later," he added before doing another combined attack from the three undead.

While he was doing that, he was also formulating a good plan where he could take down Immortal without dealing with his undead monsters. "I am pretty sure that Immortal is only testing my limits on this round, so I need to save as many trump cards as possible for the next rounds later. After all, this is a best-of-three series."

"But at the same time, I also need force to score a win in this round since it is too disadvantageous to me if I lose. At least, I can go all-out on this next round if I take the lead right now."

After that, took a quick look at his skill bar while trying to find a good combo that he could use. And that was when his eyes landed on a certain skill from the 'Elemental Skills Panel'.

Seeing that, Shin took another glance at the aerial battle between Immortal and his clones. He then cast his gaze back at the skill that he saw before forming a huge grin with his lips. "I guess, it is worth giving it a shot."

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