253 Picking up the Pace

...… On the side of the Rankers' group that Shin had targeted. The group was panicking a little because they couldn't locate their 'assailants'. Moreover, the flying daggers that Shin had sent were disrupting their rhythm greatly. Not only these flying daggers would fly at them at tricky angles, they were also disrupting the spells and heals that were casted by their Captain and the Human Bishop from time to time – which also resulted in the dire state that they were currently in. And because the support and magic firepower of their group were off, their frontline guys were put in a great pressure. The Human Guardian was forced to use his lifesaving skills and other emergency protective skills from time to time since he couldn't get a proper heal from their support. But if he was already having a hard time even if he had a lot of defensive skill, then the Human Swordmaster and the TigerKin Master Berserker were in even greater trouble. Given that they had a fewer defensive skill from their arsenal compared to the Guardian, their HP bars were dropping down with a greater speed. If not for them drinking some 'Advance Rank Potions' from time to time, then the two of them would already be dead since earlier. But even if that was the case, their faces were still dire. If they continued at doing this, and failed to stabilize their situation, then it wouldn't be long before they run out of pots and exhaust themselves. And when that time came, it wouldn't be hard for them to imagine what's going to happen next. The only one that was having a lesser pressure was the White Elf Master Archer, Cute Arrow. "F*ck it! This is crazy! I really find anyone of them even after a long time!" Or rather the one that was currently carrying the greatest burden. Since she was the only player that was not being annoyed by Shin, she was the one that had a lot of free time. "God D*mn it! Why am I the one that needs to take care of you guys?! My hands are already full at locating our enemies!" Or the one that supposedly had that kind of free time. Since her teammates were too out of the tune, she had no other choice but to give them a helping hand even if she was too busy at finding the location of their 'assailants'. And what more even troublesome on her current job was aside from dividing her focus in three different directions, she also had to keep an eye on the flying daggers that were coming in all directions. Even if she didn't get attacked by those flying daggers after the initial ambush, it was still better to put her guards up against them if ever their opponents were just playing tricks on her to catch her off-guard. Unfortunately, no one replied to him. If ever that there was really a group of players attacking them, then they would be fools if they respond at time. Seeing that the teammate was losing his composure, the Captain of the group couldn't help but shook her head since she knew that this was going to be really messy if this predicament continued. And since they were already at the end of their ropes, she had no other choice but to come with a decision of going all-out. "You guys don't have to hold back anymore. Activate your berserk skills, we are breaking out of his encirclement." Her teammates were gotten off-guard at her words but they understood that they had any better choice to escape this predicament. All they could do was to nod their heads and comply with her orders. And while they were activating their berserk skills, the Captain took a look at the direction where Shin and Neglected Pebble were currently battling each other. She squinted her eyes and activated a special ocular skill to have a clear look at their battle. Due to the distance and the werewolves blocking her line of sight from time to time, it became hard for her to see how their battle was going. She also failed to see through the illusion that Shin had made for Neglected Pebble because Shin perfectly mixed his afterimages in the crowd of werewolves. But at the very least, she could see that Neglected Pebble was also having a hard time on his side. Given that, she turned her head at Cute Arrow and said. "Forget looking for the hidden enemies, it looks like they were just toying with us." Then she paused for a moment to dodge the flying daggers before continuing. "But if that was the case, then we can also use that against them. But before that, help Little Pebble first. It seems that he is stacked in a problematic situation." Cute Arrow nodded her head before loading a couple of arrows on her bow and infusing some magic in them. Then she quickly released the string of her bow to send those loaded arrows after aiming at the werewolves leaping towards the TigerKin Master Berserker. Swoosh! Swoosh! Those arrows traveled in the air with a great speed and immediately arrived in front of the werewolves in no time before hitting their targets midair and knocking those werewolves back to the ground. Those arrows found their targets beautifully that even the TigerKin Master Berserker couldn't help but shook his head in awe. But Cute Arrow didn't care about that. In fact, she was already turning her body around the moment those arrows let loose from her bow. And immediately after that, she quickly tried to find the location where Neglected Pebble was having his battle. But before she could even pinpoint the location that she was looking for, her attention was quickly caught by a crescent energy wave that was flying towards their direction. "Ah!" was the only word that left her mouth because she was too stunned at the unbelievable sight that she was currently seeing; the crescent energy wave was amazingly traveling through the gap between werewolves as it flew towards them. She failed to inform her teammates about the incoming energy wave because of that sight. Fortunately, the Human Guardian of the team managed to catch a glimpse of that energy wave and immediately positioned himself on its path as he planned to block it with his shield. Bang! But the force behind that attack had gotten him off-guard and made him take a couple of steps backwards to regain his footings. Then he took a quick look at his HP bar and saw that he still took some considerable amount of damage despite activating one of his defensive skills. What surprised the Human Guardian even more was him being in a berserk state already! "What a strong attack!" And that was also the time when they received the system notification of Neglected Pebble's death, which also got the group completely off-guard. "What? He died already?" Their faces had a mixed emotion of seriousness and being troubled for they knew that this battle was going to be a really a problematic matter After a brief moment of being shocked, the Human Guardian recollected his thoughts and raised his head to look at the direction where that energy came from. And when he managed to get a clear look at Shin, he could already perceive that this guy was not simple. He could even feel the latter's threat level despite having a considerable distance between the two of them. "This is going to be really troublesome," muttered the Human Guardian as he looked at the fading figure of Shin; he activated one of the stealth skills of his cloak. Meanwhile, the man in question was currently planning to go after their group next. "Alright, let's try doing this trick on a group fight." But before he could even make his move, he noticed that the other groups in the distance were also advancing forward steadily. There were even some that were moving in a very fast pace. "Huh? Are they speeding up already? It looks like I have become a little slow because the quality of my opponents has suddenly gone up a bit," muttered Shin to himself as he looked at the other advancing groups. Then he turned his head in the direction where Simba was currently dealing with the werewolf boss and saw that the HP bar of the monster boss was already at 15%. That HP bar was already at a critical stage, but that stage was also where the werewolf boss entered its berserk state. Its speed became even faster while its strength had gone into another level. Given that, Simba had a hard time controlling the pace of the battle. So, he was forced to increase his so that he could keep up with the speed of the werewolf. And even if he failed to completely pin the monster boss in place because he was still holding back a little, the War God was still able to prevent the werewolf from putting up more distance between the two of them. Seeing everything, Shin pursed his lips a little before coming up with a decision. "Looks like I need to speed up a little too. Tch! I guess I need to end this battle as soon as possible." Then he quickly activated the 'Dawnbreaker' berserk skill and 'Speed of Light' speed boosting skill attached to his helm and lower armor respectively. And without further ado, he immediately resumed attacking the previous group that he was planning to take care first. Whoosh! Given that his speed had gone higher for a couple of levels, he literally created a group of Shin with the afterimages that he left behind. And since he purposely left those afterimages on the spots where the opposing group could see, it was natural for them to spot those almost instantly. And due to Cute Arrow being the one with the sharpest eyes in the group since she was an Archer, she was the first one to notice them. "There are coming!" Though, her sharp eyes were also been used against her. Because Shin knew that there was an Archer present in the group, he left those afterimages in tricky places where Cute Arrow would think that they were real people when she saw them from her perspective. Meanwhile, the TirgerKin Master Berserker couldn't help but become excited the moment he learned that their 'enemies' were finally coming after them. "Finally! I'll make sure that I am going to wipe your asses down, Cowards!" Unfortunately for him, the one what he was looking for didn't give a sh*t at him. Shin took advantage of the window when his opponents were too busy at tracing his tracks. He appeared right behind the Human Bishop using his 'Void Steps' teleportation skill while also planning to swing the [Dusk Blade] at the one and only support of the group. Feeling the sudden arrival of the foreign presence that unknowingly appeared right in the middle of their ranks, the entire group felt a sudden chill on their spines, which also surprised them greatly. "Fast!" "How the hell did he appear there!?" "Impossible!" "Are you kidding me!?" "What the!?" "Is this for real!?" But they were not that simple either. Immediately after getting a little off-guard, all of them simultaneously made their respective moves. Cute Arrow and the Captain of the group quickly used a 'Tumble' and casted a 'Blink' respectively to get away from Shin. The Human Bishop, on the other hand, casted an inta-cast protective skill for as fast as he could to at least buy a little bit of time for his teammates. Bang! The protective barrier was shattered instantly the moment Shin's right-hand saber landed on it. Fortunately for the Bishop, the Swordmaster of the group was already thrusting his sword at Shin's back. Or should I say that it was unfortunate of him since Shin suddenly hopped sideways to dodge that sword thrust in a simple but very timed manner. And since Shin timed it very well, the Swordmaster failed to stop his charge in time, making for his attack to land at the back of their support instead. "D*mn it!" Ignoring their reactions, Shin planned to stab his left-hand saber at the Swordmaster but quickly abandoned the idea of doing so; specially when he saw that Cuter Arrow was taking aim at him. Then he quickly hopped backwards to put some distance between him and the Swordmaster. "Just to be safe. Let's get out from his attack range for a moment." The Human Guardian and TigerKin Master Berserker came a little late because they were delayed by the werewolves on their sides. But now, they were currently rushing towards Shin, immediately after pushing back the werewolves. Naturally, Shin was going to get surprised by them when he saw that scene. 'Huh? They are leaving their post? Then what about the werewolves behind? They are not afraid of getting attacked by those from behind?' And the answer to his confusion was immediately given to him when a circular wall appeared around then and enclosing them inside. The Captain of the group decided to use this spell book of hers since she didn't have enough time to cast a skill that could help them in this current situation. "Oh~! An interesting skill. But unfortunately, I don't have enough time to play with you inside this cage," muttered Shin to himself before taking a good look on his opponents. And after making sure that all of them were not currently looking at him, he immediately made his next move. First, he controlled his flying daggers to fly towards the Captain who was currently in the middle of chanting out some spell. The Captain immediately canceled her chanting and quickly used an instant blink skill to get away from the incoming daggers. At the same time, Shin was currently raising both of his arms in the air before activating an equipment skill attached to one of his equipment. 'Equipment Skill (Arm Guard: Dusk and Dawn Combat Bracers): Medusa's Gaze' Shin's arm guards released a blinding light in all directions. And since the entire group were currently looking at his direction, it was not surprising for their sights to be attracted by that light – which also a huge mistake on their side. "Sh*t!" that was only a single word that appeared on their minds when they realized what had happened. Unfortunately, it was already too late for them to do anything as their bodies already experienced the petrifying effects of the 'Medusa's Gaze' equipment skill. The Master Berserker and the Guardian might be a little better because they were able to activate some skills to negate the petrifying effects of that skill. But the moment they were brushing past the Swordmaster and the Bishop, who had already been turned into a pair of stone statues, they suddenly felt a very powerful pressure coming above them. Or to me more precise, it was coming from the sky. They unconsciously stopped their tracks and tried to raise their heads to take a look at it. But that was also the time when Shin was swinging the [Dusk Blade] on his right hand in a very powerful manner. And what followed after that was something stunned the two; there was a very powerful energy wave that was falling from the sky and descending towards them. 'Grim Reaper Skill (Tier 2): Ragna Blade' They wanted to activate their strongest lifesaving skills, but that was only a thought. Because the moment they tried to do so, they discovered that they couldn't move their bodies at all – it was because of the bunch of long yet thin needles that were paralyzing their bodies. And that was the moment when everyone in the group realized that they f*cked up. BOOM!!!! ...…