...

Despite winning the match, Shin didn't have much time to celebrate his victory since he still had a lot of things on his plate. He couldn't even afford to reflect on the match nor assess his previous performance.

Right after winning, Shin immediately teleported himself back to the core part of the Ancient Ruins to proceed on the next part of his plan.

"You're back?" said Solus the moment she saw Shin appear in the hall.

On other hand, Shin slightly nodded his head before taking out the core that he got from Immortal. And when he took out that core from his inventory space, the entire hall was suddenly illuminated by a brilliant light which was also giving out a very warm feeling.

Seeing that core, Solus suddenly became overjoyed as she quickly took the core from Shin and held it with both of her hands.

Then she positioned it in front of her chest before channeling a part of her consciousness on it. A moment later, the core started to float in the air while absorbing all of the Fire Elemental Mana from the surroundings before falling back on Solus' hands.

After that, Solus fused the core with her body which led her body to emit a very powerful aura.

Boom!

And due to the sudden burst of aura, the surrounding space seemed to become agitated; especially when a gorgeous flame was suddenly revealed from her body.

Meanwhile, Shin slightly raised his eyebrows when saw that scene before muttering to himself. "Looks like another overpowered elemental spirit is added on my Reaper's Retainers."

Solus then looked at Shin and bowed. "I'm very grateful for your help, descendant of Zheptus and the previous Sun God."

"But please excuse my impudence, my liege, as I still need to need your help for my rebirthing ceremony," she added while taking yet another deep bow.

Shin just waved his hand when he saw that while saying. "Please save the courtesy; I am not worthy to be addressed that way. And I am just doing my job as a descendant of my ancestors."

Though, he was actually thinking another thing in mind. 'But I actually am not going to do all of the troubles if you are just an ordinary NPC and not a soon-to-be Elemental Spirit.'

'What's more, you gave me a quest which is linked to my other quest. So, it is impossible for me not to accept such a good offer.'

After that, he knitted his eyebrows for a moment before asking. "So, are we proceeding to the ceremony next?"

Solus immediately nodded her head after hearing that while saying. "Of course, we are. The sooner I can rebirth as an Elemental Spirit the better. After all, those spawns of the Demon Lords still have their eyes on us."

Shin pursed his lips a little before nodding. "Alright. So, what are we waiting for? Let's start now! I can't wait to get out of his Empire since dealing with those lunatics are quite troublesome."

He was about to contact Legolas after saying that. But before he could even open his friend list, Solus suddenly stopped him by saying. "Didn't you also get the Darkness and Holy Cores from that True Undead? Are sure that you're not going to take advantage of this place to use them now?"

Shin suddenly knitted his brow the moment he heard that before asking confusedly. "Use them? But I don't have any suitable Elemental Spirits that can consume them."

"But those cores are not only meant for Elemental Spirits to consume. They can also be used by other beings as long as they have enough life force and strong bloodline to endure the burden of the conversion," replied Solus almost instantly.

She then took a quick pause to nod her head before adding to her words. "Though, the vessel also needs to have a suitable element that can complement the cores."

Shin couldn't help but take another look at the descriptions of the two cores to see if he read them wrong. But no matter hard he stared at those descriptions, they still didn't say anything about what Solus had said.

Though, he indeed remembered that Immortal said the same thing before. But he couldn't help but feel a little doubtful after reading the descriptions that two cores had. He even thought that Immortal tricked him during their deal.

Fortunately, it seemed like it wasn't the case based on what Solus had said. And to make sure that he was not just hearing things, he asked for another confirmation. "So, you mean that these cores had another function that I'm unable to see."

"Not only that, those cores are not weaker than mine. So, that True Undead seems to spend quite a lot of effort just to acquire them," replied Solus while nodding her head.

But he still knitted his eyebrows despite hearing the confirmation. "But I don't think I have a pair of Elemental Spirits or other beings that can be the host of these cores."

He first thought of his Shadow Spirit and continued. "Maybe, Grimerace can have the Darkness core since his Shadow Element is completely compatible with it. So, he can ascend into a higher being after consuming it."

Grimrace suddenly became overjoyed after hearing those words. And due to that, the black speck of light circling around Shin started dancing excitedly.

On the other hand, Shin ignored him and continued. "But I don't have anyone who is suitable for the Holy Core."

"Using the Darkness Core to that Abomination Elemental Spirit is a good choice," said Solus while nodding her head. But her agreeing look only lasted for a moment before she rejected the idea after a moment. "But that is not the best choice that you currently have."

"Eh!?" Shin suddenly became confused when he heard that, so he asked. "What do you mean by that?"

At that point in time, Hanzo suddenly got away from the other specks of light circling around Shin and transformed into his humanoid form. "What she wanted to say, it is going to be a huge waste if you give the Darkness Core on that idiot."

Shin was surprised when he saw Hanzo able to transform into his humanoid form despite not being summoned. 'Eh!? This old spirit is able to break free from my control once again? Does it mean he regained more of his original strength?'

While he was in the middle of those thoughts, Vladimir also transformed into his humanoid form and stood beside Shin with his arms crossed in front of his chest while nodding his head. "Yeah, that is right. So, it is better if you give that Darkness Core to me instead."

"And since Blood Elemental Mana is somehow related to Darkness Element, it is going to be perfectly suited for me. I'm sure that it will be a magnificent dress that is personally tailored just for me."

"What's more, I am the most awesome Elemental Spirit that ever existed. So, giving it to me is even more reasonable since everything should be centered around me," he added while flipping his long silver hair.

Shin was about to say something about that when Grimrace also took his humanoid form and appeared in front of Vladimir. "Heh! Aren't you being too confident in yourself this time, Mosquito? You dare to take away something that is meant for me?"

Hearing that, Vladimir nodded his head and replied with an indifferent tone. "Why not? You are useless anyway. So, it is better to make me even more awesome than waste that Darkness Core to a Clown like you."

"Are you picking a fight?" said Grimrace in an aggressive tone alongside a sharp glare with his eyes.

On the other hand, Vladimir just smirked at Grimrace as a response to the glaring look that the latter hand. From the look on his face, he seemed to be inviting the Shadow Spirit to make his move first.

With that, an invisible spark suddenly appeared in the air between the two Elemental Spirits especially when their gazes met each other.

Sensing the familiar atmosphere surrounding them, Shin could only shake his head helplessly as he could already see what was going to happen next. And just like what he was expecting, the two troublemakers were immediately engaged in an intense battle before he could even have the time to stop them.

Clang! Clang!

As always, Vladimir quickly summoned his blood rapier and entered his 'Blood Sovereign' state while Grimrace materialized a bunch of shadow daggers floating around him as he initiated his 'Yaksha Transformation'.

Shin took a helpless sigh and chose to ignore them since he knew that he currently didn't have the power to stop those two.

Instead, he looked at Solus and Hanzo once again before asking. "Let's just ignore them and continue on our topic."

"What you do mean when you say that giving the Darkness Core to Grimrace is going to be a waste. And what about my Holy Core that I had?" he added while knitting his eyebrows.

Hearing that, Hanzo couldn't help but wear a mysterious grin with his lips before saying. "Have you forgotten about your 'tiger cubs'?"

"Whitie and Blackie?!" replied Shin out of instinct before falling into another confusion.

But after a brief moment of pause, he immediately understood what they were saying. "Ah! So, are you telling me that I can use it for them?!"

But at the same time, he also became even more confused which also made him ask. "But they are my pets and mounts. Can I really use those cores to them?"

This time, it was Solus' turn to explain. "Of course, you can. Because they are not just ordinary pets. Their bloodlines and life rating are quite high."

"In fact, they are more capable enough to carry such cores. Moreover, their bodies are too perfect to be the hosts of the Darkness and Holy Cores."

Shin's eyes suddenly turned wide the moment he heard that and said in an excited tone. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's immediately start the rebirthing ceremony!"

He even ignored the existence of the two Elemental Spirits who suddenly stopped fighting the moment they overheard the conversation of the three.

No matter how hard they plead at him, Shin just ignored them totally as he started completing all of the preparations needed for the said ceremony.

"Looks like my luck is on a roll today," muttered Shin to himself while wearing a huge grin.

He then turned his head at the two Elemental Spirits who were currently sulking on the corner of the hall.

"I just hope that those two will not jinx it later," he added before contacting Legolas.

But unknown to him, there was an impending doom was currently looming around the Ancient Ruins at this point in time. And he also noticed that after hearing the words that Legolas said from the other side of the call.

Due to that, Shin suddenly ended the conversation with a deep and solemn tone. "I understand your position but you should also understand mine. So, no hard feelings on what is going to happen next."

After that, a deadly glint suddenly flashed on Shin's eyes under the mask while a dangerous aura was suddenly released from his body, which made the temperature inside the hall drop drastically.

Then he said with a very cold tone. "It has been a while since I felt this way. So, they better brace themselves for facing the price of going back on their words."

...