......
Shin just walked out of the administration office of the Holy City, which now became the center of the Saint Heaven Kingdom. Right after his foot stepped outside the building, he immediately sensed a lot of hostile gazes directed at him.
He scanned his surroundings with his gaze, trying to look for these enemies. Some of them were quite confident as they stood either in the middle of the street or any place that could easily be spotted while the rest remained cautious and hid themselves in the dark.
Given that they had no idea who this person they were targeting was, the cautious ones chose to hide themselves and wait for the others to test the waters for them.
They had no idea who Shin was, especially when he completely hid his identity with his cloak and mask. One of the special effects of the [Death Shadow] cloak was to hide himself completely, weaken his presence, and further enhance his stealth skills. The [Nephilim's Gemini Mask] also had a similar feature, but since it was one of his signature items, people would easily recognize him.
Fortunately, the cloak was able to completely hide his figure as well as cover the mask under the shade of its hood.
With all these conditions, no other people would be able to know who he was unless he revealed himself.
Shin took a mental note of these people before turning around and walking away. He remained calm despite being surrounded by his enemies. He might look a little overconfident right now, but that was because he knew that none of these people could threaten him in the slightest.
Of course, there were still those people, who were hiding in the dark. But even if he included them, they would only put a little pressure on him and give more thrill in battle.
However, the greatest factor boosting his confidence was the fact that none of them passed their tier 3 promotion quest yet. At least, these people around him and within the area that he could sense.
Even though all of them were experts, Shin felt that none of them were on his level. As someone who clearly understood the difference between the two ranks, he knew that no one could pose any threat to him among these people.
That was unless there was someone among them, who was the same as Mephistopheles of the Pandemonium Descendant. But that guy was an exemption, so Shin doubted that there was someone out there with similar class, race, and skills that could bridge the game between the tiers.
But Shin was also confident that he could take down Mephistopheles now without any problem given the recent progress that he had made. But that was only if the latter did not improve himself.
The other factor that made Shin confident was the hostility that these groups and individuals were showing each other.
He could tell that none of them were on good terms. At the very least, these people would not be working together when chasing after him.
In other words, they were all competitors. Even those people from the same faction would be competing with each other when trying to catch him.
With such a clear conflict and disharmony, Shin did not feel that much pressure from them. In his eyes, these people were only the appetizers that could entertain him for a few moments while waiting for the main dish.
The real thrill of the hunt would only come when the true monsters of the opposing side finally arrived.
"I wonder who those monsters that Big Sis is talking about," mumbled Shin as he led the group of enemies in different parts of the Holy City, 'taking' them for a walk.
From what Shiella had said, there should be a couple of people who he should be wary of from the Supreme Temple and Martial Alliance.
He did not need to think about the Demonic Churches and the Corrupted Cult at the moment since none of them would dare to set foot in the Holy City given the events that happened recently. Due to the disturbance and disaster that they had caused, every city within the Saint Heaven Kingdom was on full alert for them, especially the Capital Rank Cities.
They quickly gave chase as they knew that Shin would be trying to shake them off. But as they ran after him, they saw that the marked target suddenly disappeared among the crowd while the mark itself was removed due to some unknown reason.
They had lost sight of their target!
This was the thought that entered everyone's mind. They tried to look for him, but they knew that it was close to impossible given that there were a lot of people in the street. It was close to being fully packed, but the traffic was not that heavy.
Shin had picked the perfect place to throw most of his pursuers off his tail.
They could do nothing but stare blankly at the busy street right in front of them.
...
Shin walked out of the city while he was still in stealth to make sure that there were no people who would see him leave.
He purposely left at this time as he knew that it would take some time before the opposing side could track him. They would have to wait for at least one and a half hours before they could find his exact coordinates.
But he would also be expecting that there were a few people who would be able to find him, especially the most elite ones. Shin was able to spot a few of them while they were hiding, but he guessed that their skills were not that much different compared to the rest unless they were one of those types who liked to play as a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Shin ran straight to the forest, which would bring back memories – the Shunkai Forest.
Shin this would be a hunting game, he would want to do it in a place that he was familiar with, and somewhere quite historic.
As he was heading toward the direction of the Shunkai Forest, Shin suddenly sensed something strange in the surroundings. The air seemed to be carrying the scent of death.
Realizing that something was going on, he quickly slowed down his pace while sharply scanning his surroundings along with extreme patience.
A few moments later, the one who was hiding in the dark finally lost their patience. They could no longer wait for Shin to drop his guard as they could see that the latter had already figured out that they were stalking him.
"This is a surprise. There are very few people who can sense my presence," said a hooded figure as he appeared a few meters away from Shin.
Shin halted his steps and observed the opposing party, not even replying to what the latter had said.
The hooded figure seemed to have expected that response and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, this does not make any difference as you will be no different to those people who fall in my hands."
Shin slightly raised his brows behind his mask. He could see where the confidence of this person was coming from. But if the latter would only be relying on that, then it would be far from being enough.
Regardless, the first appetizer seemed to have arrived. It would be better to warm up a little before proceeding.
But before he could even make his move, another presence made themselves known. When he turned his head in that direction and instantly realized where the scent of death was coming from.
It must be this person.
...