...

Boom!

The battle between Arthur and Mammon already reached a degree where the whole place around them was completely devastated. The walls, the ceiling, and the floor were full of cracks and also showing some signs of collapsing.

The two were completely unstoppable in their battle to the point it was impossible for Shin to join them even if he wanted to.

Each of their moves was almost executed flawlessly. Even their skill and combat technique executions were perfectly linked together where their previous moves were a set up for their next attacks.

Whether it was a feint to bait their opponent or an impromptu counterattack, their moves would always have an immediate response for any kind of situation.

Shin was not surprised about that since he already learned about 'focal points' from Professor Plum and Grandmaster Benn. But what really made Shin interested in this battle was the way they messed up with each other's talents; especially Mammon who kept on juggling his weapons from time to time to confuse Arthur's eyesight.

Shin was not surprised at Arthur's moves since he was quite familiar with him. The 'Foresight' talent that the latter had was quite dependent on the information that his eyes were seeing. And with its help, Arthur was able to throw the most optimal counter on every attack that was thrown at him.

But by mixing a lot of complex moves, Mammon was practically increasing the information that Arthur needed to read which made it hard to predict his next moves.

To make it even worse, Mammon even took out a few more daggers from his inventory and mixed them on the weapons that he was already juggling. And what was more surprising about it was the power, speed, and accuracy of Mammon's attacks didn't diminish at all. In fact, they even became more fearsome and reached a much higher degree.

But despite being assaulted by such a fearsome barrage of attacks, Arthur was able to keep himself calm; too calm to the point Shin had mistaken him for another person.

There was no rush on his actions nor any signs of being impatient due to the rapid attacks that were assaulting him. He was just calmly blocking all of the attacks thrown at him. He was even throwing a counterattack of his own from time to time.

"Ho~! Looks like someone became mature in battle, huh?" muttered Shin to himself as he watched their battle.

"There are no extra movements on his actions. He is not being distracted by those daggers flying in the air either. I wonder what kind of training Uncle Nathan gives to him," chuckled Shin a little before taking his eyes from them and looking behind him where the Head Keeper was.

"Hmm… He is not moving even an inch after everything that he had done to this place?" mumbled Shin with a knitted brow while looking at the Head Keeper.

And after a few more moments of observing, Shin suddenly squinted his eyes and muttered to himself. "Something is off. But I can't figure out what it is yet."

He then put the Spying Stones in automatic mode before walking towards the direction of the Head Keeper, wanting to check something.

"That is how far you can go, Envoy of the church of Sun and Moon," said the Head Keeper coldly when Shin arrived ten meters away from him.

'Huh? He is now aware of my Title? There is definitely something wrong with this,' thought Shin to himself before tightening his grip on his sheathed sword while taking a few steps forward.

"You-…!" The keeper opened his mouth, trying to say something. But he quickly swallowed his words and back when he saw Shin suddenly appeared in front of him, ducking and unsheathing his sword.

Shing!

Shin swiftly drew his sword in a single flawless motion, cutting the body of the Wingman standing in front of him. But that body immediately faded away a second after Shin split it in half.

After that, Shin put his sword back to its sheath before turning his head to a certain direction where the Head Keeper went. "Say, you are not the real one, right?"

"Oh~! So, you figure it out already? Man~! And here I am trying not to act suspicious," said the 'Head Keeper'.

'This guy is definitely an NPC given the threat level that I'm getting from him, but there is something strange about him. I barely can sense any hint of hostility from this guy, but he doesn't look an ally either,' thought Shin to himself as he squinted his eyes while looking at the Wingman.

"Who are you? And where is the real Head Keeper?" asked Shin in an aggressive tone. He didn't care if he couldn't read the details of this particular NPC since he was quite confident that they were not the main target of whatever he was scheming.

Or at least that was what he believed.

After all, this guy should have attacked them already when Shin and the others had their guards down. Moreover, it was pretty much obvious that he could wipe them out easily if he wanted to; especially that he had unreadable information.

"Oh~! Sharp, observant, and cunning, not bad," said the 'Head Keeper'.

He then paused for a couple of moments before adding. "Well, you don't have to be too cautious of me. We may not be on the same side, but we are also not against each other either."

"Huh?" Shin frowned his eyebrows when he heard those words, confused.

Seeing that, the 'Head Keeper' chuckled a little before saying with an even more mystifying tone. "Well, my job here is already done, so the rest is already up to you. Whoever wins the reward is no longer my concern."

"See you around, Envoy who governs the Night and Day," then a black smoke suddenly enfolded his body before disappearing without a trace.

"Sh*t! I didn't even get a clue," cursed Shin as he watched the black smoke dissipate in the air.

After that, he quickly ran towards the metal door, trying to confirm something. And just like what he was expecting, the door was not even locked when he tried to open it. Noticing that, he quickly pushed the door open to see what was behind it.

BOOM!

Then a powerful aura immediately greeted Shin which almost made him kneel on the ground. 'What powerful pressure!'

Even Arthur and Mammon who were currently in the middle of an intense battle couldn't help but stop their attacks to protect themselves from the sudden appearance of pressuring aura.

After withstanding the powerful pressure crushing at him and regaining his footing, Shin forcefully raised his head to see what was happening.

Then he saw a gigantic egg-like cocoon with golden color stood at the center of the hall. It was devouring all of the surrounding mana at incredible speed. And since Shin just opened the door, a strong gust of wind suddenly rushed towards the room alongside the mana in the air.

"D*mn it!" cursed Shin before quickly unsheathing his sword and digging it on the ground, preventing himself from being dragged by the strong suction force.

A moment later, Arthur suddenly appeared beside him and quickly asked, full of annoyance. "Hey, smartass! What did you do this time? Didn't I tell you not to interrupt my duel?"

"F*ck your duel! And I didn't do anything! It is just us falling on yet another scheme of this f*cking game!" snarled Shin who was also seemingly annoyed.

Meanwhile, Mammon suddenly clicked his tongue before cursing. "Tsk! So, I'm still late after all."

After that, he quickly took out some strange items from his inventory space. One of them was a pair of Silver Wings alongside a human-like hand with razor-sharp claws. He then threw them in the air, letting them get sucked by the strong wind current. It only took an instant for those items to reach the cocoon before fusing at it immediately after.

Seeing that, Shin knitted his brows for a moment before taking out the golden horn from his inventory after a moment of hesitation. And just like the previous items, the golden horn also fused with the golden cocoon right after he threw it in the air.

Then the golden cocoon started throbbing as if it was a giant heart beating. And quickly after that, an even more powerful suction force came out from it, trying to devour everything around it.

"Hey! I'm not sure what is happening but I am pretty confident to say that we need to get out of here," said Arthur before swiftly hanging his shield on his back and quickly grabbing Shin with one hand to leave.

Seeing that, Mammon also executed a series of movement techniques to charge out of this place.

Given their current speed, it didn't take long for them to arrive at the entrance of the floating castle where Cloe and the others were currently battling the spawns of the Three-Headed Snake.

"Hey! We are getting out of here!" shouted Arthur when he saw the group from a distance. At the same time, he also waved his hand in the air to summon his golden dragon pet.

Roar!

The trio of Cloe, Chaotic Luck, and Daulla was quite confused at his words but they quickly used their respective Blinks to teleport on the dragon's back when they sensed the urgency in his voice.

Not long after, they fly up in the sky while riding the dragon. And while it was drawing a long curve in the air, the group watched the floating castle crumble.

"Hey! What's happening!" asked Daulla with a little panic after witnessing that scene.

"We also don't know," replied Shin in an instant. He wanted to add something when another commotion suddenly happened on the ground.

Roar!

The gigantic three-headed snake started acting strangely for some unknown reason.

"Let's just hope that it is not against our favor," added Shin while wearing a stiff smile.

...