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Shadow Ranking Cup, First Stage

At the battle arena no.25, Shin threw a final hit to kill the last opponent that he had and put an end to his battle against the Potential Titled Rankers of the game.

And right after throwing the killing blow, he turned his head at the other side of the battle arena and saw that mysterious knight was also done dealing with the guys on his side.

"Looks like he is also done with his warm up," muttered Shin while sheathing his sword.

At the same time, the knight happened to look at him before saying. "Now I remember, you are the famous 'Nameless Swordsman' of the Saint Heaven Kingdom. It looks like this is going to become even more interesting."

Then he rolled his shoulders a little to relieve some tension on it before saying to Shin. "We actually don't need to fight anymore at this point. All we needed to do was to sit back and wait for this stage to end, and we are going to advance to the next round of the tournament. But-…"

He trailed his words a little and walked towards Shin before stopping a few meters away from the latter. "…-it is going to be a huge waste if we didn't grab this chance to exchange some blows, right?"

Hearing this, Shin took a quick glance at the Arena Clock and saw that there were still 10 minutes remaining before the first stage of the Shadow Ranking Cup ended.

After that, he turned back his attention at the mysterious knight before saying. "And our warmup is going to be for naught if we walk away just like that."

Then he took his signature sword drawing stance while adding to his words. "But since we still have enough time for this, how about we take this chance and have a little bout?"

"Exactly my thoughts," said the mysterious knight while also assuming his battle stance.

First, he moved his left foot forwards while raising his round shield in front of him and hiding the pointed tip of his longsword behind it. Then he suddenly introduced himself as a sign of respect. "You can call me 'Owen'. Though, most of the people from my Empire are calling me the 'Dark Knight'."

"Then you can just address me as the 'Nameless Swordsman'," said Shin before taking a deep breath, trying to regulate his breathing.

Hearing the short introduction, the mysterious knight calling himself Owen couldn't help but click his tongue and said. "Tsk! Such a cold way of introducing oneself."

He said it with a little displeased tone, but he didn't actually mind it since he could tell that Shin didn't want to reveal his real identity for some reason; after all, every expert player had their own secrets and troubles. And since he was not a busybody, he just threw that negative thought at the back of his head before focusing his mind for the battle that was about to come.

The stare down continued for a few more moments before Shin finally made his move. He slid his right foot further forward before kicking the ground so suddenly, sending himself striding towards Owen.

Swoosh!

"Fast!" said Owen as he saw that Shin's sheer speed was unbelievably fast. This speed could even make things hard for the camera to completely follow his movements; it was as if he suddenly disappeared from his previous spot before reappearing right in front of his opponent almost instantly.

But even if that was the case, that didn't mean Owen couldn't do it too. In fact, he could clearly see Shin's movements from his perspective.

Seeing his opponent was calmly looking at him, Shin became a little shocked; especially when he felt that this guy's sight seemed to lock at him.

"He can keep up with this speed? Now, this is interesting," muttered Shin before changing his direction and circling around Owen. 'Let's see how long you can keep up then.'

But too much of his surprise, Owen was able to follow his movements once again. And this time, it was not just a simple feeling of being followed anymore. Shin even tried to circle around his opponent for another time and confirmed that Owen's gaze was really locked on his movements.

Whistle~♪

Shin couldn't help but release some whistles the moment he realized this point. So, after gauging his opponent's senses, he then proceeded to test Owen's strength.

Having that in mind, he suddenly transformed into a streak of silver light that rushes towards Owen while also unsheathing the [Yamato] in the process. At the same time, he was planning to swing the at his opponent as he was about to pass through the latter.

Swoosh!

Shing!

'Class Fighting Style: Moonlight Splitter'

Clang!

But right before Shin managed to get near Owen, his path was suddenly blocked by a round shield that was currently glowing with a deep blue light. And what surprised him even more, his charge suddenly came into a halt while his sword was completely being blocked by the glowing shield.

'Class Fighting Style: Celestial Block'

"Huh!?" that sudden block completely caught Shin off-guard, he did not expect that this opening skill that always been successful was suddenly going to be blocked this easily.

Though, he kind of expected that this skill was bound to get countered or blocked in the future since he already saw some NPCs were successful at achieving that feat, he still did not expect that he would encounter someone who could do it in the early stages of the tournament.

While Shin was still having that train of thoughts, Owen grabbed that opportunity to throw a lethal counter.

First, he swung his shield to the side and made Shin's arm to be thrown to the side, creating a huge gap of his defense. And further catching his opponent off-guard, Owen quickly thrusted the longsword hidden being his shield in a smooth series of action.

But even if that counter was too fast to respond, Shin was still able to regain his composure in time and quickly used the momentum of Owen's previous actions to turn his body away from the trajectory of the incoming sword thrust.

At the same, Shin also used the sheath on his other hand to further guide the trajectory of his opponent's sword at missing its target; and it was also to make sure that Owen would not be able to hit him if ever this guy was clever enough to swing his sword at his direction.

Shing!

A high-pitch metallic sound was created when the blade of the Owen's sword and Shin's sword-sheath gridded with each other, together with some burning sparks that flew in the air.

In that brief moment, the pair of eyes under Owen's helmet suddenly squinted a little as their sights met the eyes behind Shin's mask. And in this little span of time, the two seemed to exchange some words.

"Nice moves coupled with fast reactions, you are really good!" said Owen as he could understand the hidden meaning behind Shin's moves.

At the same time, Shin seemed to be acknowledging his opponent's words and gave his reply. "You are not that bad either. That perfect block and quick counter is quite impressive."

After that quick mental exchange of words, Shin borrowed the momentum of his previous movements for another time and did a quick spin-turn while swinging his sword to throw a horizontal slash at his opponent's waist.

Being led by Shin's movements, Owen was currently brushing past his opponent while Shin was doing all of those with one swift motion. From the looks of it, it was impossible for Owen to block this attack; especially when Shin was quite confident that he was going to land the first hit from this attack.

But against Shin's expectations, Owen gave Shin yet another surprise; the former also borrowed his frontal movement to take a quick forward step with his right foot, making his position to be perfect for blocking.

Clang!

And with yet another metallic sound, Owen's shield was successful at blocking Shin's sword once again.

Seeing that, Shin couldn't help but frown his eyebrows and thought to himself. 'Looks like this is going to be a tough nut to crack.'

After that, Shin quickly hopped away from his spot and dodged his opponent's follow up attack. But before his feet could even land at the ground, Owen suddenly gave chase and quickly swung his sword forward the moment he caught up.

"Tsk!" Shin clicked his tongue when he saw Owen's quick transition from defense to offence. 'I thought he is a defensive type of fighter with a good skill in counter-attacking. But from the looks of it, he also has a good sense at taking the initiative on attacking.'

Understanding that his feet wouldn't be able to land on the ground in time, Shin quickly kicked the air below him and moved backwards to escape from his current situation, while also doing a midair flip in the process.

'Legacy Skill: Mondi's Jump'

Owen suddenly frowned his eyebrows when he saw that Shin was still able to escape from that perfect opportunity that he managed to create. 'Tsk! Quite fast at running, huh?'

But he still refused to let Shin get away from him just like that. Then he quickly started rushing towards Shin while positioning his shield in front of him. At the same time, the speed and power of his charge were quite strong, which was the reason why he was sending some air fluctuations on his path as he continued moving forward.

'Class Fighting Style: Celestial Charge'

Meanwhile, Shin just landed back on the ground when he saw Owen charging towards his way. And the moment he saw that, he immediately moved backwards while putting the [Yamato] in one swift motion.

Tak!

Then he quickly pulled out the sheathed sword once again while also swinging it rightwards. And right after he did that sword swing, a crescent sword wave with a black blazing wave was released from his sword and flew forward to greet the incoming opponent.

Shing!

'Class Fighting Style: Solar Flare'

Boom!

A powerful explosion was immediately created when Owen collided with Shin's sword wave. But despite the raging flames created by that explosion, the 'Dark Knight' was still able to charge through it without suffering any kind of damage in the process.

Right after walking through the explosion, Owen immediately leaped forward in a very strong manner before descending towards Shin with a seemingly unstoppable force.

At the same time, the longsword on his right hand was currently releasing a powerful electric force with a purple color. And while descending at Shin, Owen was swinging this sword downwards as it created a trail of lightning tracks on its path.

'Class Fighting Style: Electric Smite'

Seeing that his opponent was coming at him with a great force, Shin sheathed his sword of another time while gathering power of the Sun at the same time. Then he quickly pulled out the sword from its sheath before swinging it at the descending sword of his opponent.

Shing!

From the surface, this skill was the usual 'Quick Draw' that Shin was using. But with a closer look, this 'Quick Draw' was quite different from its usual version; this time, the sword was blazing with a raging black flame.

During the time that Shin had spent in his awakening quest, he was able to enhance the 'Eclipse Wielding' Combat Technique. And due to this, his control over the powers of the Sun, Moon and Eclipse improved drastically, which also gave him an ability to empower some of his skills with these three powers.

And one of those improved skills was the one that he was currently using.

'Class Fighting Style: (Modified) Quick Draw: Sunshine Strike'

Clang!

Boom!

Then, on the next instant, the katana blazing with a black flame and the longsword empowered with purple lightning finally collide with each other. And right after that collision, a powerful shockwave was sent in all directions while also creating some spiderweb cracks at the ground beneath Shin's feet.

After the slight Shin put more strength on his right arm before forcing Owen to fly back in the air and landing a few meters away from him.

Shin looked at his opponent with cautious eyes before muttering to himself. "Looks like this is going to be a satisfying fight, huh?" while also sheathing his sword.

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