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"Looks like this is going to be somewhat different compared to before, huh?" muttered Shin as he looked at the cloud of dust created by the previous explosion.

A moment later, the cloud of dust started to settle down and showed a huge crater that was formed due to the powerful impact. At the very center of this crater, Shin saw Owen's longsword stabbed on the ground.

Shin squinted his eyes as he looked at that sword. On the surface, there seemed to be nothing unusual with that sword. But when he started using his 'True Sight' ocular skill, his eyes were able to perceive something that couldn't be seen by the naked eye; there was an invisible aura enfolding the sword.

"Is that some sort of mana? Or is it another type of in-game energy?" mumbled Shin as he observed the invisible aura surrounding the sword.

He wanted to make a move against Owen since the latter didn't have his sword. But he immediately stopped himself from doing so because he suddenly felt a threatening feeling surrounding Owen.

What's more, he could also feel that there was something unknown connecting Owen and his sword. Or to be more precise, it was as if that Owen and his sword were a single entity.

At first, Shin thought that it was the 'One with the Sword' state of enlightenment. But the more he looked at it, he realized that it was not the same as the feeling that he was getting from Arthur when they were having some sparring matches with their weapons.

Having that kind of uncertainty, Shin chose not to make any rushed movements so that he could observe the strange state of his opponent a little more.

At the same time, Owen also didn't make any follow up movements after his previous attacks. Instead, he started walking towards his sword in a calm manner. And since Shin just let him walk over his sword, he was able to pick it up without problem.

After that, he turned his head at Shin and said. "I guess you are underestimating me a little too much, my friend. If you are going to treat this match just like your previous matches, then you might regret it sooner or later."

He didn't wait for Shin to give his reply after saying that, he just took his battle position and immediately set his shield and sword blaze with a golden light. Together with it, the Aura Manifestation behind him with the form of a black-fur bison, was also enfolded with the similar golden flame.

Seeing that, Shin started smiling bitterly before saying. "I guess there is no playing around this time, huh?"

'I still haven't perfected my sword-drawing style yet. So, let me use this style that I am more skilled at using in response to your seriousness,' thought Shin to himself before unsheathing his sword.

After that, he immediately transformed the sheath into its longsword form with the use of his 'Mondi's Style' legacy skill. And right after doing that, he quickly enfolded his swords with the opposing powers of the Black Sun and Silver Moon respectively.

Then he started taking his battle stance while releasing a very powerful pressure from his body. At the same time, the winged white tiger behind him also released a very heavy suppressive aura; it seemed that the majestic tiger suddenly became provoked.

The two of them had a staredown just like before the start of the match. From the looks of it, these two seemed to plan resetting the match back to square one.

Due to that, silence descended on the whole battle arena once again. Even the live audience and the other players watching from the live broadcasts didn't dare to make a sound; none of them even wanted to blink their eyes as they were too afraid that they would miss a single moment.

And after who knew how many seconds, the two contenders finally made their respective moves.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Shin kicked the ground beneath his feet and launched himself forward with a great speed. And in just the blink of an eye, he immediately arrived right in front of Owen while swinging the [Yamato] downwards.

As a response to Shin's quick movements, Owen slightly leaned his body forward while raising his shield at the same. At the same time, his other hand was already moving his sword backwards and getting ready to thrust in at any given moment.

This was his original plan; but the moment his round shield came in contact with Shin's sword, he felt a very massive force pressing down on his shield.

Bang!

Because of that, he immediately abandoned the immediately of counter attacking for now and immediately adjusted his center of gravity, so that he could properly withstood the massive weight pressing down at his arms.

Right after giving his greeting, Shin immediately moved his feet with some strange footwork.

First, he did a quick spin while changing his position towards Owen's other side. And together with that, he was also swinging the longsword on his left hand at the same time.

The entire series of moments were quite fast and executed perfectly. But Owen was still able to respond with that with the help of his 'Extreme Senses' personal trait.

Given that, he moved his round shield alongside Shin's movements and made him successfully block his opponent's sword.

Cling!

But Shin was not done yet. After doing the quick spin slash, he immediately jumped to the side which made him to position himself at the exposed side of Owen. Then he immediately used the momentum of his previous spin to throw a forward stab at his opponent.

Swoosh!

Clang!

Unfortunately, that sudden move failed to hit its target since Owen was able to give his response in time. With a flick of his wrist, he managed to successfully redirect the course of the incoming stab with the help of his sword.

Since he missed his attack, Shin was left in an awkward spot in the air. And due to him having a brief moment midair, Owen immediately grabbed the opportunity and quickly threw a counterattack.

He held his round shielded very tightly before swinging it horizontally at Shin in a very powerful manner. With his movements, he seemed to be swinging his shield as a sword with a very sharp edge.

Seeing the incoming edge of the shield, Shin took a quick but deep breath in the air before forcing his right foot to kick the air so that he could do a spin-roll midair that barely dodged his opponents' counterattack.

After that, he used the momentum of his spin-roll and the gravity that was pulling him towards the ground to throw a powerful downward slash.

At this point, Owen understood that it was impossible for him to block this certain attack. So, he immediately kicked the ground below him and quickly hopped away from his current position.

Bang!

Shin's slash went straight to the ground, missing its target. And since he failed to properly control his center on gravity during his fall, he was left kneeling on the ground after throwing the attack.

Owen saw another window this time, so he immediately kicked the ground right after his feet landed back at it. While charging, he was also thrusting his sword towards his front and pointing it forward.

The moment Shin saw that, he immediately forced legs to launch himself forward. From the looks of it, he was planning to face his opponent head-on.

Together with his charge, Shin was also swinging his left-hand sword upwards while traveling with a tricky angle.

With Owen's Extreme Senses, he was able to predict that this incoming swing was going to pass through the gap between his shield and sword; what's more, it was also going to hit him first before his sword could even land at Shin.

Given that, he immediately changed the trajectory of his sword and let it collide with Shin's sword so that he could escape this current predicament.

Clang!

A metallic sound was created the moment the two swords collided against each other. Along with it some metal sparks that flew in the air due to some friction.

Owen wanted to use the positional advantage of his charge to hit Shin with his shield. But he didn't have a chance to do it since the latter immediately used the momentum of his previous actions to do a craftly spin while moving forward; which let him avoid Owen once again.

After brushing past each other, the two of them simultaneously turned their bodies around to face each for another time. But they refused to do any sudden movements this time and observe each other once again.

And the moment they took that pause, all of the audiences watching the match finally had a brief moment to release the breaths that they were holding and burst in an uproar.

Those were just a simple exchange of moves to gauge each other's strength, yet the intensity of their battle already made everyone hold their breaths. Moreover, the match had just started which meant more were about to come.

If the intensity of the battle was already this high from the start, would the next exchanges that were going to come could make everyone have a heart attack?

Thinking about this, all of the spectators couldn't wait to find out what was about to come next.

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