Dante had been more or less arrogant his entire life.


    Yet, there was one thing he didn''t dare do when he was young: talk back to higher-ranked adventurers who were more than five years ahead of him in terms of professional adventuring.


    Hence, upon hearing Shye''s words, Dante questioned his ears, letting out a scoff in disbelief shortly after.


    "You think ten seconds is a short time? Let''s see if you still feel that way soon. When facing an assassin far stronger and more skilled than you, we''ll see if you''re not begging for your life in just five." the older adventurer retorted, his dagger spinning as he changed into a hammer grip.


    Momentster, Dante vanished, as if using stealth or a [Blink Strike], but in reality, he was just sprinting at full speed.


    The older adventurer became a ghostly blur, swiftly demonstrating to Shye why he was ranked twenty-seventh among all adventurers in the fourth-ranked Chellione Region.


    What he didn''t expect, however, was that his intimidation tactic would be met with a mere disdainful sneer, further fanning the mes of anger in his heart.


    ''This little bastard dares insult me?!''


    Well, of course, Shye would! He wouldn''t be Shye Crowley if he didn''t humiliate those who came at him with ill intent.


    Dante''s agility attribute was extremely high, making his sprinting speed nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye.


    Unfortunately for him, this rule didn''t apply to Shye, who not only had an exceptionally high intelligence attribute but had also been training his reaction time ever since he learned it could be enhanced.


    This gave him a significant advantage, enabling him to go toe-to-toe with even the most skilled scouts, including Dante.


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    "Heh, were you supposed to be so fast I couldn''t see you or something?" Shye taunted as he angled one of his greatswords to block the lethal neck stab, simultaneously shing forward with the other.


    This swift, precise, and powerful bnce between attack and defense almost made Dante suffer a lethal wound.


    If not for his incredibly quick reflexes, he would have ended up with more than just a small, insignificant wound.


    Still, even though the injury was minor and non-lethal, it was highly humiliating, especially since he had boasted about taking Shye down in ten seconds, only to end up being the first to bleed.


    All in all, he lost not just a second and a half of his ten seconds but also a small part of his pride, as he was humiliated.


    "You arrogant brat! I''ll tear you to pieces!" Dante snarled, vanishing again only to reappear beside Shye, this time apanied by two clones, making it hard for Shye to tell which one was the real Dante.@@novelbin@@


    To make matters worse, the clones could also use skills, with their daggers glowing in different colors: one purple, one ck, and one red.


    "Hahaha! What now, Shye Crowley?!" Dante and his clonesughed in unison, brandishing their daggers as they targeted different body parts.


    Naturally, since two of them were clones, only one could actually inflict real damage.


    The question was, which one?


    "Hmph, you think two measly clones are gonna help you?" Shye sneered in disdain, shing both greatswords forward, one after the other.


    ''Half-moon sh! Boost!''


    Shortly after, two enormous silver sh marks emerged from the des of Adamance and Mithra, shooting viciously towards Dante and his clones.


    "Tch!" Dante clicked his tongue in annoyance, retreating and leaving his clones to be obliterated.


    He lost precious time once more. Now, he only had six seconds to work with.


    "Hahaha, how pathetic. There''s only one second left of the five you mentioned. Why am I still not begging for my life? And you know, maybe ten seconds isn''t such a short time when facing an assassin who''s much stronger and more skilled than me. But that assassin definitely isn''t you! Hahahahaha!"


    To make things worse, the young man in front of him kept on yapping, further disrupting his focus as the rage in his heart blossomed into an angry phoenix.


    He wanted to teach Shye a lesson, and quick!


    While the arrogant young adventurer from Valenzia was in the middle of yapping, Dante had already begun his next attack.


    This time, he didn''t dare hold back as the consequences would be too dire should he fail to kill Shye within ten seconds.


    It wouldn''t simply be a matter of his pride anymore but of his life and death.


    "Then how about this?!" He raged, summoning a ck orb from the ground that rose five meters into the air.


    Soon after, multiple clones continuously emerged from the ck orb, charging in the most ferocious of ways toward Shye.


    Initially, Shye nned to ignore them as it was amonly known fact that clones were only good for diversion and could never deal damage.


    However, the set of clones in front of him exuded a dangerous aura, causing him to reconsider his decision and attempt to block the attack of one.


    *CLANG!*


    A metallic noise echoed across the istion dome as the first clone''s dagger shed with Mithra, causing Shye to narrow his eyes.


    Soon after, he saw that there were at least four more clones headed towards him, prompting him to swiftly retreat as it would be difficult to defend against such unbelievably fast and reckless clones.


    Unbeknownst to Shye, the attacker, Dante, was equally shocked.


    Even though he was a scout, he had always trained his strength attribute, so he couldn''t believe that someone so much younger could match his power, let alone effortlessly fend off attacks from his clone, which had 110% of his total strength attribute.


    He thought that his strength would shock the arrogant young man in front of him.


    However, reality was brutal, and it was he who was pped hard that his strength attribute was akin to that of a fly in front of the renowned Shye Crowley of Valenzia, future hero.


    Still, although shocked, Dante managed to regain his focus in just a few milliseconds.


    He then charged forward, expertly using each clone to conceal his movements.


    Subsequently, as Shye skillfully countered each clone''s attacks, the real Dante suddenly appeared from behind, shing at Shye''s throat with his dagger, its de glowing a faint silvery blue.


    "Die, Shye Crowley!"