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"I don't know what you want from her, but I'm sure you guys really choose the worst time possible to make your move," said Shin in an aggressive tone while releasing a powerful pressure from his body.

He was quite annoyed by some things that happened just recently. Especially when he was being the personal 'nanny' of the group at home. So, he was quite eager to find a target of his frustration. And these guys happened to come just right in time.

On the other hand, the opposing side started laughing out loud the moment they heard Shin's words. And from the looks of it, they seemed to be unaffected by the intense pressure that Shin was releasing.

After that, one of those guys suddenly said to Shin laughingly. "Kid, don't overestimate yourself. Do you think who we are?"

He wanted to say something more – but before he could even add more ridiculing words, he suddenly heard a cold voice coming from behind that was saying. "Do I even need to know a small fry like you?"

Then he felt that the back of his head was grabbed by the person behind him before planning to smash it on the ground.

Fortunately, they were standing on the soft sand of the shore, so it shouldn't hurt much even if he was smashed on it.

Or so he thought.

Because Shin suddenly created a wall of Mental Energy to cover the soft sand right before he smashed the head of the guy on it.

Bang!

Shin's movement was too fast for the opposing side to react. And that was the reason why they were completely caught off-guard the moment Shin made his move.

But that state of confusion lasted only for a couple of seconds before they immediately recovered themselves. After all, they were still professional mercenaries, so dealing with such things was not new to them.

Given that, they immediately started making their respective moves the moment they saw one of their colleagues was knocked down on the ground.

They immediately went into a formation to surround Shin since they knew that they couldn't easily break the barrier he made to protect Cloe.

Given the Mentalism Runes glowing on its surface, they were sure that it would take some time before they could break it. So, their only choice right now was to take down the caster since they were quite in a hurry.

Unfortunately, taking down the current Shin was easier to say than done.

Right after they took their respective positions, they suddenly felt a very strong invisible force that was locking them down in place.

'Mental Energy Restriction?' thought by the leading guy of the opposing side as he looked at Shin solemnly.

Doing such things could only be done by Mentalists who were at the peak stage of the Grandmaster Realm. And a Mentalist on that level was comparable to Martial-Artists in the 'Ethereal Opening Stage'.

Realizing that, the leader of the mercenaries immediately released his own pressuring aura to negate the pressure that was being released by Shin. And due to that, his colleagues regained their movements.

Then they immediately released their respective Internal Qi, getting ready to act.

Shin seemed to be strong but they were still thinking that he was not strong enough to take them down by himself. After that, their leader was a Martial-Artist in the 'middle phase' of the 'Ethereal Opening Stage'.

Unfortunately, that thought only lasted for a second because what happened next didn't give them enough time to respond.

Aside from the leader, all of the other mercenaries were sent flying by an invisible force and knocking them unconscious.

The leader of the mercenaries was too surprised to move after seeing that. He knew that Shin was not that simple given how their boss had warned them, but he didn't expect that he was this strong.

At the same time, Shin was currently looking at him with a cold face while saying with a chilling tone. "We don't have any distractions now. So, you don't have to hold yourself back anymore."

He paused for a moment and pointed at his eyes while continuing. "These eyes are quite special, you know? So, I can tell that you are not with these guys."

"Tell me, who are you? And what do you need from me?" he added while releasing an overwhelming amount of Mental Energy at the same time.

Due to that, a gusting wind suddenly swirled around Shin and created a mini-tornado that made the white sand on the ground fly alongside it.

On the other hand, the guy on the opposing side suddenly started laughing before saying. "You really are something else. Though, I am not obligated to answer your question, right?"

Right after he said those words, Shin suddenly appeared in front of him while throwing his fist forward.

Swoosh!

Bang!

But Shin's fist came into a sudden halt before it could even touch the face of his opponent. It was being stopped by the Internal Qi surrounding his opponent.

Shin knitted his eyebrows when he saw that because he could feel a familiar feeling from that Internal Qi. And his suspicions immediately became true when he saw the changes in the Internal Qi of his opponent.

The said Internal Qu suddenly turned black which made Shin realize that it was right. "Demonic Qi?"

Then the guy suddenly said. "It took us a lot of effort to locate you. Now, you can't either run or hide anymore."

After that, an explosive was released from his body which sent Shin flying backwards.

"A member of 'Shadow Alliance'? You guys sure are gusty. To think that you are still brave enough to show yourselves here? I guess the lesson that you got from that time is still not enough," said Shin right after his feet landed on the ground.

After that, he immediately took his battle stance while thinking to himself. 'During that time, I lost completely against the guy from that place. So, let's see how can I stand against someone in the same level.'

On the other hand, his opponent immediately made his move while Shin was slightly distracted by his thoughts. He kicked the soft sand beneath his feet and launched himself forward.

Boom!

His speed was quite fast as he immediately appeared in front of Shin with his fist in the middle of being thrown at the latter.

But before that fist could even reach Shin, his body was suddenly sent flying by a strong force sent from Shin's body.

Boom!

Swoosh!

And while he was still in the middle of the air, Shin suddenly disappeared from his spot and caught up with his opponent in an instant. Then he quickly swung his arm downwards, hitting his opponent's abdomen with it.

Bang!

The sand below them suddenly sunk downwards and created an inverted sphere crater with the two of them being in the middle.

After that, Shin kicked his opponent who was currently lying on the ground, and sent him flying up in the air.

Then he squatted his hips to lower his center of gravity while placing his clenched fist right beside his waist. And along with his actions, the Mental Energy surrounding was suddenly gathered on that fist and formed a concentrated energy.

At the same time, he raised his other hand in the air and faced it on his opponent in the air before doing a clenching motion. And that was the time when his opponent felt the air surrounding him suddenly contracted and started squeezing his body.

'Four Symbol Scripture: Blue Dragon's Entanglement'

And with a pulling motion, Shin dragged his opponent towards the ground along with an unstoppable force.

The series of movements done by Shin was too fast which made his opponent unable to react to each of his moves. And it was already too late when he realized that this young man that he was facing was completely different from the reports that they got.

All he could do at this moment was to watch Shin's fist greeted him as he fell from the sky.

'Four Symbol Scripture: White Tiger's Departure'

Boom!

Shin released all of the accumulated Mental Energy at the point of impact. And due to that, his opponent felt that his existence was suddenly erased right after getting hit by that punch.

Then his body was sent flying back in the air before falling at the surface of the sea not far from them.

After that, Shin calmly walked towards Cloe before saying with a smiling face. "Let's go. I don't think this is the right time to watch the sunset," while taking her hand.

On the other hand, Cloe just nodded her before letting herself be led by Shin toward his car. But from time to time, she was turning her head at the mercenaries who were lying on the ground.

Sensing that, Shin looked over his shoulder before saying. "I'm not sure what happened at your home, but I must say that I am quite disappointed since you are not telling me anything."

He then took a brief pause and directed his eyes back on their front while adding. "But in case you forgot about your promise – let me remind you that you can always count on me whenever a tough time arrives."

Cloe felt quite secured the moment she heard those comforting words from Shin. But at the same time, she was also feeling guilty for hiding something like this from him. After all, she promised him before that she would always tell him whenever she was in trouble.

Even if it was only a child's promise, Shin was always holding on to something like that. It was because he was always scared of losing someone without being able to do anything.

"I'm sorry," said Cloe with a very soft voice.

Hearing that, Shin suddenly halted his steps and turned around. Then he raised her chin up so that she could look straight at him.

He wanted to scold her a little more but he quickly rejected that idea when he saw the guilt in her eyes. So, he could only pat her head while saying. "What are you sorry for? You can still open it up to me when you are ready. I'm always at ears."

After that, he immediately turned his body around and resumed bringing her towards the car.

...…