......

    Shin was currently sitting on his feet on a tree branch as he watched the five-man group silently. He had been observing this group for quite a while now and even listened to their conversation as they were talking quite loudly.

    Despite being a little ordinary, Shin could tell that this group was very special. With four peak titled and maverick rankers and one player releasing an aura of an apex expert on par with a top godlike player.

    Given the composition of this team, Shin could instantly tell that they were one of the core points of the net formation covering the entire 2-kilometer region.

    Shin could just ignore them and sneak past them to head to the center of the formation. After all, he overheard them talking about a chieftain-rank Plagued Monster that was discovered by the group at the center of the formation, which could give the one who would kill it a lot of points.

    Not only Shin was planning to steal this monster from the Death Knell, but he was also thinking of assassinating a couple of key figures of the guild to lessen the number of competitors in the Plagued Lands.

    Once Death Knell was eliminated from the competition, then the Assassin Union would have a lot of free time to deal with the rest of the competitors that did not have any good relationship with them.

    But after seeing a good opponent, Shin could not help but want to test this guy and check on his progress. Not just his swordsmanship, but also his control over his mana. At the same time, he also wanted to see how much the coordination of his body had progressed after his willpower had improved.

    The moment this thought crossed his mind, he subconsciously emitted his fighting spirit, which quickly affected the surroundings.

    Lambert and his group quickly went into battle formation while cautiously sweeping their gazes at the surroundings.

    "Well, they seem to be quite fast to respond," mumbled Shin as he jumped off from the branch he was sitting on.

    He was not planning to hide and ambush the group as he found them quite worthy of this experiment, especially Lambert, who was hiding his real capabilities.

    Ta-ta!

    The moment he landed on the group, he silently walked toward the group without bothering to hide his presence. He revealed himself to them as he slowly and calmly approached them.

    "There!"

    The group immediately noticed Shin as they saw him casually walking toward them.

    They quickly adjusted their formation to face Shin, getting ready for the fight.

    But Lambert, the captain of this team, suddenly wore a solemn expression as he looked at Shin. A single glance was more than enough for him to realize that the other party was not someone they could easily provoke.

    But since Shin had no intention of stopping and clearly showing that he was heading for them, Lambert could tell that this person was targeting them.

    There was no need for question, he quickly signaled for the start of the battle. "Go!"

    Swoosh!

    Night Hound, the thief of the group, was already behind Shin and appeared like a ghost. He stabbed his dagger forward, targeting the exposed back of the latter, while executing the ''Backstab'' Skill of his class.

    But despite how fast and accurate his actions were, Shin just casually took a step to the side and slightly turned his body sideways, easily dodging the ambush.

    Swoosh!

    He then continued the momentum of his action and spun while whipping his leg with a kick, targeting the waist of the thief.

    "Fast!" commented Night Hound as he quickly retracted his arm and lowered beside his waist to block the incoming kick. He even supported it with his other arm, crossing them.

    Bang!

    He was prepared for impact, but he was not expecting such a simple kick to be so heavy that it sent him flying in the opposite direction. "What the!?"

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    As he was sent flying, Hun, the marksman of the group, finally pulled the trigger of his magic rifle and swiftly fired a series of shots at Shin.

    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

    The magic bullets, which were reinforced with his mana through a skill, flew through the air and headed toward their target almost reaching Shin in an instant.

    The timing was perfect as they were already before him as he just sent Night Hound flying.

    But before they could even reach him, Shin flipped his cloak and revealed his sheathed katana, twirling it. His mana flowed through his meridians as he channeled them toward the [Yamato] before swinging the sheathed sword around and deflecting each bullet heading his way.

    Cling! Cling! Cling! Cling!

    The corner of Hun''s mouth suddenly twitched when he saw that, making him curse under his breath. "The f*ck!?"

    But he did not have the time to dwell on it as he knew that they had encountered a real monster this time.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    He continued to fire at Shin as Lambert and Ricky charged toward Shin with full aggressiveness.

    Cling! Cling! Cling! Cling!

    Shin continued to swing his sheathed sword to deflect the incoming bullets as he swiftly spread his senses in every direction, reading the entire state of the surroundings.

    Shin sensed the incoming danger, forcing him to make a seal with his left hand in midair. During his spin, he suddenly extended his left hand forward, facing the incoming magic bullet.

    ''Elemental Skill (Shadow): Demonic Telekinesis''

    An invisible hand was suddenly formed in the air as it mimicked Shin''s actions of closing his hand and grabbing the incoming bullet.

    Puff!

    The magic bullet disappeared as it was caught by the invisible hand.

    Night Hound and Ricky, who were forced to step back earlier, took advantage of the distraction of the bullet to spin around and throw a decisive attack toward Shin.

    Night Hound flipped his daggers and switched his grip before slashing them toward Shin. His daggers left a deadly flash in the air as they headed straight to the neck of their target.

    Ricky, on the other hand, swung his heavy sword diagonally, planning to cleave Shin with it in a single strike. It also left a shining trail in the air as they cleaved down with great momentum.

    Yet, despite their perfect timing and coordination, Shin casually flipped midair. His body twisted in the air as the blades of his opponent''s weapons flew past him with the slightest margin.

    The daggers brushed past his mask while the heavy sword almost grazed his flipping cloak.

    Swoosh!

    Bang!

    Shin kicked the air, activating the ''Mondi''s Jump'', to do another flipped.

    His foot flew straight to Night Hound, kicking with great momentum, while the bottom hilt of his sheathed sword headed toward the exposed waist of Ricky, who had his sword somewhat stuck on the ground.

    Bang!

    "Argh!" Ricky could not help but groan in pain as the hilt of the sword hit him. It did not deal any damage, but the impact sent intense tremors throughout his body, paralyzing his movements.

    Night Hound, as an agility class, was able to tilt his head to the side to avoid the incoming kick before spinning and sending another attack.

    But before he could do anything, Shin suddenly forced his body to land back on the ground before sweeping his leg.

    "Ah!"

    Night Hound suddenly found himself thrown in the air as Shin''s action swept his legs. He was suspended upside down in midair as the latter continued his movement and spun rapidly.

    Bang!

    Then, in the next instant, Night Hound felt a sudden pain coming from his ribcage as Shin struck him hard with the tip of the sheathed [Yamato].

    "Urgh!" then he found himself flying once again before colliding with the nearby threw.

    Shin did not stay in that position as he swiftly stepped to the side, dodging the incoming bullets from behind with impeccable timing.

    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

    "Argh!"

    Instead of hitting him, the bullets drilled a hole in Ricky''s body, which was currently paralyzed by Shin''s previous strike.

    "Ha!"

    It was at this moment when Lambert finished channeling his mana into his war axes before appearing before Shin and swinging them down.

    With the sudden appearance of this opponent, Shin flipped his wrist and held the sheathed horizontally in front of him.

    His left hand grabbed the hilt of the sword unhurriedly as the blazing war axes descended from above.

    Shing!

    Then, with a sudden pull, the [Yamato] was finally pulled out from its sheath for the first time since the start of the battle, revealing its cold blade, although it was only half of it.

    Swoosh!

    Not long after, an intense coldness was sent in every direction as a chilling fog leaked out from the gaps left by the half-drawn sword and the sheath.

    Everything within the five-meter radius around Shin turned into ice, including Lambert, who had his body turned into an ice sculpture while maintaining his previous posture.

    Even if he was not dead yet, Lambert knew that he had to reveal all his cards if he wanted to fight this monster in human skin before them.

    The opposing party seemed to be telling them to give everything they had if they did not want to die without putting up a real fight.

    Silence enveloped the entire battlefield as the five-man group felt a sudden dread covering their entire body.

    It finally sank into their minds that this humanoid monster had only been playing with them since the very beginning.

    ......