…

Shin stared at the enraged Grand Centipedeus with a quite blank expression on his face as he was pretty much surprised at what just happened. He did not expect that the lightning produced by combining the Powers of Brilliant Sun and Abyssal Moon would be this strong.

He was also quite surprised at the seventh sword movement of the Jade Kirin Scripture. Its power was way beyond his imagination.

He was not sure if it was because of the advanced lightning or if the sword technique itself was that powerful.

The Jade Kirin Scripture had a total of thirteen sword movements aside from the quick-draw attacks that he usually used. These thirteen movements were divided into four levels. The first to third movements were basic level, the fourth to sixth movements were intermediate level, the seventh to ninth movements were advanced level, and the tenth to twelfth movements were Master Level.

As for the thirteenth and final movement, it was on another level that was way beyond his current understanding, so he did not think too much about it.

Previously, he could only perform the first to sixth movement, and he could hardly perform the sixth one. It was because it was his current limit in the real world.

But here, in the virtual world, where he had access to a higher form of energy, he could perform the movements that he could not in the real world.

Currently, his limit was the seventh movement. It was not because he could not control the energy that he harnessed properly, but because mastering these advanced movements and above required him to gain a certain level of insight before he could perform them.

The ‘Thunder Eclipse’ that he just performed was inspired by the lightning energy itself. It was fast and explosive, focusing on reaching the pinnacle of speed. This sword movement had a few more variations that could be used, and the one that Shin had used just now was one of them.

It was a form of sword wave, which was an energy-release type of attack. There were a few more applications that focused on melee attacks, which were meant for quick attacks.

As Shin familiarized himself with the current form of the Power of Primordial Eclipse, the Grand Centipedeus immediately went on a rampage.

It glared at Shin with its hundreds of eyes before opening its mouth and breathing out a green mist, which was venomous and acidic.

The lightning covering Shin’s body flickered along with the black and white flame as he suddenly kicked the ground and distanced himself away from the giant centipede.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Grand Centipedeus quickly gave chase, crawling with its hundreds of legs and charging with an unstoppable momentum. It dragged the venom mist with it as if it were some sort of Qi Armor or something similar.

Shin knitted his brows a little as he found this situation a little troublesome. He wanted to test the quick-draw attacks under his arsenal while using this ‘Primordial Lighting’ or so he called it. He still did not know how to call this energy, so he just came up with this name since it was from the Power of Primordial Eclipse.

Shin wanted to throw a few more crescent lighting strikes at this moment since it was meant to be used as a long- to mid-ranged attack. But it consumed quite a lot of energy and mana, so he could not blindly use it repeatedly.

At least not on the same scale as the earlier attack.

He could execute a similar type of attack, but with a smaller amount of energy, which would produce a smaller form of electric sword wave accordingly.

“Let’s do what I can do for now and wait for an opportunity where I can use the quick-draw attacks later,” he mumbled as he swung the sword repeatedly and sent a series of lightning crescents in the process.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

These crescent lightning energies flew with a speed that almost reached the Grand Centipedeus almost instantly. They cut through the air, leaving electric currents in their path. They separated the venom mist and created a path before exploding after hitting the exoskeleton of the giant centipede.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

They left some cracks and gashes on that hard shell before an electric current sipped into it and spread throughout the body of the monster. The status effect that they produced was not that strong individually and the Grand Centipedeus could ignore it at the very least. But when they stacked up, the paralyzing effect that they could cause hindered the movements of the giant centipede.

Shin tried to repeatedly target a single spot, trying to break through the tough defense of the monster by stockpiling these attacks.

But the Grand Centipedeus seemed to be able to see through him and continued to move its body, preventing the same spot from being hit repeatedly. It also dove into the ground and dug deep before going up and appearing on another spot, mostly underneath his feet.

The venom mist was spreading wide, limiting the choices that Shin could use to escape.

As Shin retreated, he repeatedly swung the [Yamato], sending more lightning crescents. These attacks could at least deal decent damage to the giant centipede, but the real purpose that he had in doing this was to familiarize himself with this new form of mana that he controlled.

Right after he had fully mastered controlling this ‘Primordial Lightning’, the area that he could use to escape was already limited.

The Grand Centipedeus was able to use its earth elemental abilities to change the terrain. It used its stone spikes and earth pillars to form a barrier that blocked almost all his escape routes while the venom mist slowly approached him.

When he was about to summon his wings and fly in the sky, he suddenly sensed a pair of presence moving rapidly toward his direction.

“Already?” he mumbled as he could guess who they were.

Well, they were the only ones, who were currently on this island, so it was very obvious already.

Bang!

The wall of earth behind him exploded and shattered into fragments that flew in every direction.

Swoosh!

Then someone landed beside Shin and greeted him. “Sorry about that. Something unexpected happened.”

“I can at least tell that,” said Shin smirkingly.

Then he turned his head to the side to glance at Leonard. But the moment he did, he could not help but raise his brows in surprise. “Eh!? What happened to your equipment?”

“Are you planning to work as a stripper or something?” he teased after seeing the current appearance of the latter. “I am sure that Lorraine will love your current appearance.”

At this moment, Leonard was currently topless, putting his well-toned muscles on display. He still had his leather armor pants, combat boots, leather belt, a pair of gauntlets, and the lion-head helmet, but his upper body was practically not wearing anything.

But what was surprising was the crimson tattoo that was spreading through his arms, chest, and the entirety of his back. They were in a deep crimson color that resembled blood and were quite close to being black due to how dark it was.

At the same time, there was a flame-like aura covering his entire body as crimson lighting danced throughout its surface.

Leonard ignored the latter part of Shin’s words as he inclined his head to the side, recalling what he just heard from the system. “I am not sure what happened. But from the looks of it, this is some sort of transformation. It takes off my armor as it finds that my armor is not worthy of this power or something like that.”

“It lowers my defenses a little, but it grants me a huge boost in strength as well as an enhanced regenerative ability,” he added as he recalled what he just heard from the system.

He then recalled something and continued. “Ah! Another thing. These tattoos are similar to the ones that I have seen during the awakening of my bloodline. It is very similar to what that tribe has.”

“So it is a bloodline power-…” Shin was commenting when an attack headed their direction.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The two quickly kicked the ground and retreated, dodging the attack, before continuing their chat. It was as if they no longer saw this monster worthy of their time.

“Do you want to give it a try?” asked Shin while casting his gaze at the Grand Centipedeus. “I can cover you.”

Bang!

Leonard bumped his fists into one another as he looked ahead. “Let’s go. I feel like I can do anything with this current state.”

“Then I will pave a path for you,” said Shin as he held the [Yamato] with both of his hands before charging ahead.

Swoosh!

Then he suddenly swung the sword and sent a powerful energy wave that flew forward. It was an energy produced by the ‘Eclipse Slash’ but infused with the power of the ‘Primordial Lighting’.

Crackle! Crackle!

A beam of lightning flew forward and headed straight to the venom mist. It cut through the green mist and paved a path ahead.

Swoosh!

Leonard quickly ran toward it, following the path that was created. He transformed into a streak of crimson light as he charged ahead.

He clenched his fist and lowered it on each side of his waist during his sprint. The crimson aura and lightning that was covering those fists suddenly grew stronger, producing a series of crackling sounds and erupting with small explosions.

When the venom mist in front of him was separated by the earlier attack from Shin and revealed the Grand Centipedeus hiding behind it, Leonard suddenly stomped on the ground and leaped to the air while raising both of his arms.

Then he slammed them down like a pair of hammers as he descended toward the head of the giant centipede.

It was a similar technique to what he had used earlier. But this time, there was an apparition of a titanic figure that was formed behind him, which slammed its huge fist down.

Rumble!

Bang!

There was also a thunderclap that could be heard as the fist descended. A crimson lightning fell from the sky and fused with that huge fist, heading straight to the head of the Grand Centipedeus.

Shriek!

The giant centipede opened its mouth wide while raising its head. But due to the loud thunderclap that reverberated in the entire place, the monster was paralyzed and unable to move its body free.

This prevented the Grand Centipedeus from escaping as the huge lightning fist landed on its head.

‘Supreme Blood Arts: (Thunder Lord Reinforced) Blood Hammer’

Boom!

(-30,029,552)

(-60,502,773)

The successive appearance of huge numbers appeared above the head of the giant centipede, showing the massive damage that Leonard had dealt.

Leonard quickly jumped off from the head of the monster and swiftly retreated after completing that attack. But the Grand Centipedeus was so enraged that it wanted to crush this little ‘bug’ (ironically).

It raised its massive upper body and planned to crush Leonard with its weight.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

But before it could even slam its body down, the shadow under it seemed to come alive. Multiple hands made of shadow came out from it and wrapped themselves around the body of the giant centipede, preventing it from moving.

Then multiple black swords appeared in the air out of nowhere and surrounded the monster as they pointed their tips at it.

They formed a series of circular formations and spun around the Grand Centipedeus before flying forward.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

They stabbed the body of the giant centipede, piercing through its thick and tough exoskeleton as if it were nothing.

‘Shadowless Art: Grim of the Shadows’

(-1,230,523), (-1,599,815), (-1,892,676), …

A string of numbers appeared above the head of the giant centipede one after another, showing the damage that the shadow swords had dealt. They might be small and negligible given the massive pool of health that the monster possessed. But given that there were at least a hundred of them, the accumulated damage was not less than what Shin and Leonard had dealt.

Casting his head to the side, Shin saw Diablo materialize out of thin air beside him.

“That is a cool skill,” commented Shin with a smile.

Diablo shook his head. “I still lack in terms of control. This new power is quite tricky and hard to learn. But I can at least do some experiments on how to properly wield it.”

“And with this massive target dummy in front of us, I don’t think that I will miss a single shot,” he added as he played with his daggers that were currently shrouded with black and purple aura.

Diablo turned silent for a brief moment before saying. “Thank you.”

He had to thank Shin for this since it was only possible because the latter had given him those two martial manuals. Moreover, he could also tell that he could gain a similar form of power in the real world as long as he diligently trained himself.

He now had the perfect martial manuals that Professor Henry had required to get.

Shin had a nonchalant smile behind his mask while saying. “It is nothing. You are one of us now, anyway.”

He then turned his attention back to the Grand Centipedeus and said. “Shall we wrap this up?”

…