...

Silver stared at the player who just appeared behind him out of nowhere and started to stutter. "You-… You are-… that Messenger from the Corrupted Cult!"

Unfortunately, that person just ignored him and stared at Shin who was busily fending off the Twilight NPCs around him while also throwing some skills at the floating gate above him. "So, this is the person that took the interest of the Council. He indeed looks a little troublesome. No wonder Immortal and Hoawin are quite wary of him."

He then raised his eyebrows slightly before quickly muttering to himself. "But what's with this guy? He always appears in the places that the Cult put their eyes onto. First, it is in the Saint Heaven Kingdom, then it is followed by the incident in the Blind Abyss Empire. And now, he is causing yet another trouble here in the Elven Kingdom?"

"He is constantly getting in our way now, so we can no longer ignore his existence," he added as his raised eyebrows turned into a deep frown.

After that, he started walking forward and took the battle-axe hanging behind him before saying to Silver. "Oi! Go deal with the Elemental Goddess. You can leave this guy to me. After all, I also want to personally experience how good this so-called superstar of the Saint Haven Kingdom is."

...

Shin already had a lot on his plate since the time he arrived here. Even if he was able to easily defeat a lot of NPCs already, it was still useless due to the seemingly inexhaustible number of the Twilights that kept on arriving one by one.

Regardless, he was still not having any trouble dealing with them since he had some high-level techniques such as the improved version of 'Sensing Circle' and the enhanced style of 'Infinity Edge'.

With those two skills, none of the NPCs were able to land any hit at Shin as it looked like an impenetrable defense.

Boom!

Yet another skill landed on the metal gate floating above Shin, further increasing the number of cracks on its surface. And with that attack, the metal gate was not showing some signs of collapsing as there were now some metal fragments falling from it.

"Alright, one more hit and it will fully collapse," muttered Shin as he channeled some Powers of Eclipse on both of his swords.

But while he was in the middle of executing his skill, he suddenly sensed an immense Killing Intent that was coming from no particular direction. And since he couldn't clearly pinpoint where that hostility was coming from, Shin couldn't help but put his guard in the highest level while heightening his senses to their maximum potential.

"Not bad, you seem to be really different compared to the reports that we got recently," said the newcomer as he appeared behind Shin like a ghost.

Shin's eyes suddenly turned wide the moment he heard that unfamiliar voice and quickly turned around while swinging his sword at that person.

Clang!

"You should have died once there already," said the newcomer while blocking Shin's sword with his battle-axe.

After that, he quickly hopped backward to dodge the next attack thrown by Shin before resting his battle-axe on his shoulder. He then looked at Shin provokingly before saying. "Your senses and reaction speed are pretty good, so how about we try testing how good you are in battle next?"

"Tsk! How about introducing yourself first?" said Shin while looking warily at this person who just popped out of nowhere.

The guy had a quite muscular build and seemed to be fully trained in Martial-Arts based on the dangerous aura that was being emitted by his body.

He was wearing a sleeveless leather shirt with thick fur wrapped around his shoulders. And coupled with his black martial-art paths and leather boots, it was pretty easy to tell that he had a special class unique to him.

On top of that, there were also the bestial furs on his arms alongside the unusually long fangs sticking out on his mouth. And aside from that, there was also a pair of longhorns on his forehead. That look alone was more than enough for Shin to know that this guy also had a strange race which seemed to be a hybrid between Beastman Race and Demon Race.

While Shin was still weighing up his opponent's appearance, the latter suddenly opened his mouth and replied. "Oh! That was rude of me. Let me introduce myself even though it is already late."

"I may not be as famous as the other Messenger, but I at least have a decent reputation in the gaming world. The name is Thirio, one of the Messengers of the Corrupted Cult."

He trailed his voice for a moment before quickly adding with a smirking tone. "I am pretty sure that you already know about us since you already meet my fellow believers; Immortal and Hoawin in particular."

Hearing that, Shin's eyes turned even wider as he further strengthened his guard. He clearly understood how dangerous this person was in front of him. And if he really put him on the same level as those two lunatics, then it was pretty clear that he was not someone that could be underestimated.

Seeing that Shin was not responding to him, Thirio suddenly smirked and quickly asked. "Heh! Are you an Archenemy of our Cult for you to keep on bumping with our operations? You really are giving us a lot of trouble."

Shin still didn't reply to him as he remained quiet and unmoved. Instead, he set his swords ablaze with two different auras while getting ready for an intense battle.

One of the swords had a brilliant white flame with some patches of dark aura on the surface while the other sword was emitting a cold and abyssal light.

'Lesser Legendary Combat Technique: Eclipse Wielding'

At the same time, he was also regulating his breathing to activate one of his special Breathing Techniques, the 'White Dawn Boundary'.

After that, a battle spirit without a district form but had a very powerful aura suddenly appeared behind Shin and stared at his opponent with cold-hearted eyes. And while all of this was happening Shin was also taking a battle stance, signifying that he was not planning to go all out from the get-go.

When Thirio saw that, he immediately raised the corner of his mouth before quickly releasing his own battle spirit to negate the incoming pressure that was coming from the latter.

His battle spirit might have a more distinct figure than Shin's battle spirit but the pressure that they were emitting seemed to be on equal terms.

"This guy!" muttered Thirio when he saw how strong the aura surrounding Shin before quickly adding. "I really can't fully trust those reports that are passed to us, they have always been inaccurate."

After that, he ignited his weapon with a strange dark aura before assuming a battle stance.

Boom!

Then he suddenly kicked the ground and launched himself forward before arriving in front of Shin in an instant. And right after he arrived, he quickly swung the battle-axe at his opponent without a hint of hesitation.

Bang!

A shockwave was immediately sent in every direction the moment Shin swung his sword at the incoming axe to prevent it from advancing forward.

Crack! Crack!

The ground under Shin's feet even sank quite deeply as he tried to nullify all of the force that he got from the impact.

At the same time, all of the Twilights in the surrounding area were sent flying away from those two due to the explosive power of their collision.

After that, Shin put more strength on his arm to push his opponent away from him. And right after he forced Thirio to retreat, he quickly gave chase and suddenly unleashed a series of sword strikes at his opponents.

But to his surprise, Thirio was still able to block all of his attacks despite having a large and heavy weapon.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"That's right! Show me how you did you defeated Immortal and forced Hoawin to run away from you!" said Thirio while wearing a huge grin with his lips.

"Tsk! Another lunatic!" cursed Shin before adjusting his breathing technique once again before quickly attacking with the 'Infinity Edge' technique on top of the other Combat Techniques that he was currently using.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

With that, the two were engaged in a very intense battle where the Twilight NPCs had no other choice but to watch them fight from the sidelines while also running away from them from time to time.

Bang!

And with every collision of their weapons, a powerful shockwave was always going to be sent away from them, making the surrounding mental chains shake violently and almost breaking them in the process.

"This guy-… he is getting stronger and stronger as the time goes by. I really can't let this battle drag for an extended period of time," muttered Thirio while dodging yet another attack that almost took his life.

After that, he quickly activated one of his Berserk Skills before staring at Shin. "Aright, playtime is over. It is time to end this, Nameless Swordsman."

...