...

Shin immediately noticed the foreign auras invading the innermost part of the Ancient Ruins when Immortal bypassed the defensive formation guarding the entrance. At the same time, there was also a group of 12 powerful individuals surrounding him.

"Tsk! Looks like you guys are right. I indeed underestimated Immortal's decisiveness and care for his reputation," said Shin with a solemn tone while looking at the entrance of the corridor.

Arthur and Leonard were somewhat taken aback at his words since they couldn't exactly get the mean of his words. But when they also felt the powerful auras moving towards their direction, they immediately understood what he was talking about.

"Now, we really are caught in a troublesome situation," said Arthur while getting up from his deck chair while picking up his weapons.

At the same time, Leonard also took out a pair of war-axes from his inventory before asking the other two. "So, are we still going with our initial plan?"

"No, let's scrap all of that and go with Arthur's initial suggestion," answered Shin immediately while summoning his Eclipse Clone once again and letting them use his 'Sickarius' identity for another time.

"The fact that Immortal brings all of his apostles right now can only mean a single thing, they don't care about anything else but take the three of us down. And his sole target is me," he added as he switched back his items to the [Apocalypse Equipment Set] alongside the [Yamato] and [Dawn's Mantle].

He then turned his head toward the two before asking. "You two are going to be fine, right?"

Both Leonard and Arthur found that question funny despite Shin only asked about that out of concern.

"I already told you, if our only job is to defend this place and not to defeat them, then we can assure you that we can at least do that much. It is going to be hard but not impossible," answered Leonard while holding out his laughter.

"Heh! You should be worrying about yourself since you are going to deal with that lunatic alone," said Arthur with a sneering tone.

"Don't worry, since Immortal is showing some impatience by doing such a rush decision, then I can at least use it to my advantage," said Shin sneeringly before quickly adding. "All I need to do is to stay alive until the ceremony is done or until Big Sis and the others accomplish their task. Anything after that is all up to us whether we are going to continue fighting them or retreat."

"How does it sound?" he asked while looking at the entrance of the corridor.

"Sounds good to me," said Arthur without any hesitation.

"Since you two finally decided, then I have no other choice but to go with you, right?" said Leonard with a helpless tone and bitter smile.

At that point, the three of them were now able to see the silhouettes of the incoming group. Each of those figures was emitting a very strong aura that would not lose to Arthur and Leonard.

Seeing that, the expression on Shin's face suddenly turned solemn. He couldn't help but feel worried at the two now that he saw how strong their opponents were.

But with their current predicament, all he could do was to trust them and worry about himself. After all, his opponent was the one with the strongest aura among the group. And based on the killing intent that Immortal was emitting, Shin could immediately tell that this was going to be a real pain in the *ss.

Taking a deep breath, Shin locked his gaze at Immortal before saying to the two. "I'm off!"

Right after those words left his mouth, the surrounding space seemed to become distorted for a moment due to Hanzo manipulating the void.

Snap!

And with a flicked of Shin's fingers, the power of the formation suddenly locked on Immortal in an instant.

Immortal was taken aback by the sudden appearance of spatial distortion around him. But he still managed to remain calm since he knew that it was only due to the activation of a teleportation skill and not planning to put direct harm at him.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

In the very next instant, Shin and his clones alongside Immortal simultaneously disappeared from their respective positions and reappeared on an open field in the outer part of the Ancient Ruins.

Immortal's Apostles didn't even flinch despite seeing their guild leader's sudden disappearance. Their eyes were solely locked on the two figures standing a few meters away from them.

A few moments later, one of them suddenly walked forward and stood at the forefront of the group before saying with a commanding tone. "Go!"

Hearing his order, the other Apostles immediately made their respective move and charged towards Arthur and Leonard without any hint of hesitation.

During their charge, two of the Apostles suddenly accelerated forward and left the others behind. And while they were running, both of them immediately used their transformation skills from the get-go.

One of them called out a group of skeletons from the ground before attaching them to his body, transforming himself into a two-meter humanoid monster covered with armor made of bones.

On the other hand, the other apostle who was charging alongside that bone-armored guy released a dense black smoke from his body. And after a moment, the black smoke surrounding him suddenly transformed into a set of full-body armor and a huge greatsword.

Meanwhile, the apostles behind them chanted out a series of necromantic words to cast some buffs on the two leading their charge.

"Tsk! They sure are rude as always. They didn't even bother to greet an old acquaintance." muttered Arthur the moment he saw the incoming group.

But he quickly assumed a battle position before muttering with a soft voice. "It is your time to shine, Oceana."

Quickly after he said those words, a blue-colored speck of light floated up behind him before transforming into a figure of a serpent dragon with ocean-blue scales and razor-sharp fins running on its back.

Roar!

That dragon released a deafening roar for a moment before fusing with Arthur in the very next instant.

'Elemental Spirit Possession (Ocean Dragon): Tide Bringer'

After that, the full-body armor that Arthur was wearing suddenly got a drastic change. Its color suddenly turned into a deep blue with the same golden lining on its edges. At the same time, the plating of his armor also became like the scales of the fish.

Meanwhile, his weapons also took a sudden transformation. His spear became a trident while his round shield changed into a kite-shaped shield that could cover his entire arm including his upper shoulders if he held it horizontally.

At the same time, his crimson cape suddenly disappeared as a long tail of a serpent extended out from the back of his waist.

After his transformation, Arthur's eyes under his helm suddenly flashed with a cold light as he activated one of his Elemental Skills.

'Elemental Skill (Ocean Dragon): Perfect Replication'

Then the water came out of the ground before turning into a transparent humanoid figure that stood beside Arthur. A moment later, it suddenly transformed into a clone that looked exactly like himself.

Without further ado, the two of them immediately charged at the incoming duo and stopped them from their charge.

Bang! Bang!

And right after they halted the apostles, the two 'Arthurs' simultaneously thrust their tridents forward to force their respective opponents to take a couple of steps backward.

On the other hand, another pair from the ranks of their opponents rushed out of their group before launching themselves at Arthur and this clone.

Their speeds were quite fast as they didn't have any plan to give Arthur to respond. And given that with their current speed, they were able to arrive in front of their targets in no time before thrusting their weapons forward.

But no matter how fast they were, it didn't mean they could catch Arthur with a simple attack like that.

Splash! Splash!

Their weapons managed to pierce through their target's body. But right after getting hit by those, Arthur and his clone suddenly transformed into a pair of translucent figures that let the weapons pass through their bodies.

And quickly after that, those figures suddenly transformed into a bunch of tentacles made of water that wrapped themselves around the bodies of the two apostles, preventing them from moving anywhere.

The moment their bodies were locked in place, a deafening bestial roar suddenly exploded in front of them while being accompanied by a powerful shockwave.

Leonard, who was standing behind Arthur earlier, finally used one of his skills the moment he saw that chance.

'Extra Skill: (Modified) Havoc Howl'

Boom!

Unfortunately, that shockwave was blocked by a sturdy energy wall made of dark elements and saved the pair of apostles from being hit by it.

At the same time, the bone-armored guy earlier, finally able to regain his footing and quickly freed his teammates from being entangled by the water tentacles.

A moment after that, the apostles immediately regrouped themselves and looked at the duo with an aggressive look on their faces.

Meanwhile, Arthur and Leonard were standing side by side while staring back at them with calm gazes.

"You guys sure have a unique way of greeting someone," said Arthur with a sneering tone.

"So, how about you try our own method of greeting?" he asked as quickly assumed a battle-ready position.

BOOM!

Then a powerful aura was released from his body while saying with a provoking tone. "I'm pretty sure that you guys are going to like it."

...