World Online

As the ninth shouted, his shrill voice reaching a peak, he moved.

His hands revealed a cracked wooden staff that was about as tall as he was. On top of that staff though, was a crystal that was way too similar to the one that Ganshin had put inside.

In fact, Jake could swear that it was the exact same one, with one exception. The one on the ninth's staff had a little less black swirling and a little more gray crystal.

"The ninth might need this rock for an upgrade. He is going to be too motivated. I will need to handle him carefully." Jake made a mental note.

But before he could even get ready, Ganshin in front of him started moving.

His sword shone with a blue haze as Ganshin appeared right in front of the ninth.

The blue sword swung down, a line that tracked its descent visible to see. And as if everything was happening in slow motion, the ninth smiled. His deformed face was even more crooked, and the staff, or rather the crystal on top of it, started to shine with a purple light.

This purple felt nothing like the purple that sometimes signified lightning. This purple felt like something else. Something cold and sinister.

Jake raised his sword and took it horizontally in front of him. He held the sword's dull edge with his hands as he glared at the shining black crystal with caution.

The blue sword of Ganshin was just about to make contact when Jake could see a purple barrier suddenly appear just inches away from Ganshin's sword.

He was stuck in place, when the ninth waved his hand.

The barrier suddenly split up into multiple segments, split up vertically, and they started to expand.

Some of them just left and vanished. Others turned into sharp blades that cut the walls around them.

Some of them though, were facing Jake. And these sharp segments raced after him, trying to cut at him.

Jake quickly held his ground, his sword ready to take them on.

He could see, in the corner of his eyes, that the ninth was laughing at him. Laughing at the approach that Jake was about to take.

The barrier segments hit Jake's sword. There were about five of them, and the moment that Jake felt the strong force hit his sword, he felt the force push him back.

Digging his heels into the ground, he tried to stop getting pushed back. But it was all in vain. The blades of the purple barrier did not disappear, and they kept forcing Jake back until he hit the labyrinth walls behind him.

"Hmmm"

The Ninth frowned.

"You survived that. That doesn't make any sense. Why would you survive that if you were just in the first tier?" He mused as he looked a little closer at Jake.

Jake panted as he looked up slightly. In the air, behind the ninth, Ganshin's sword was shining once more, and it was ready to take the ninth's head.

"You are to boring." The ninth shook his head, scoffing, and waved his staff.

Immediately, Ganshin suddenly flew back a few meters, falling on the ground with a loud thud.

"Well them, interesting knight of sin. Why don't you step up here? I wish to see what the wrath's sin has to offer." The ninth smiled.

"I didn't expect you to have this particular sword. I thought that the knights had this purple ones, the ones that break easy. To think that you would have the better version of that sword." He said.

Jake listened to this, devouring all that he could, learning from this interaction. He was just thinking, noting down that there were others knights of sin, and that they had epic weapons, unlike him.

"I have spoken too much, now that I think about it. After all, even if you do die, you will unfortunately return to life." The gray bald man said.

Jake didn't need to look at Ganshin to know that he was going to be incapacitated for a few moments. Jake was going to have to handle this on his own.

The ninth smiled and he twirled the staff in his hands a little.

"You know, me facing off against you would be a little too uninteresting. It would be bullying, practically." He said.

"Why don't we make it interesting? Why don't I give you a handicap? I will not use the staff. Instead, I will use this." The ninth said and he slammed the staff into the dirt ground.

The ground, being dirt, let the black wooden staff stand upright, like a pillar, or a flag pole.

Then, the ninth took out a thin and slender, silver sword that was so thin that it felt like it was thinner than paper itself.

"He had a sword in his sleeve until now? How the hell is that possible? I could swear that I saw him bend his elbows!" Jake exclaimed, utterly surprised by what he was witnessing.

The ninth seemed to notice this.

"To think that I would face such a green horn. How did you ever become the knight of sin?" He shook his head.

Jake didn't react to this obvious taunt though. He looked at the sword that the ninth pulled out.

It was not an epic item. That was apparent. It had no purple glow.

But Jake was absolutely sure that this was no legendary item either. The aura that his own sword gave was warm, but more importantly, to players, it gave out a yellow glow.

This sword that the ninth had taken out had none of that.

However, Jake could take a look at its name, and maybe its class as long as he could defeat the follower.

"Well, I sure hope that this is him giving me a handicap."

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