"Shin Iofiel? Where have I heard that name before..." That name rang alarm bells within the young boy’s mind, but due to the sudden danger, Justin couldn’t really recall where he’d heard that name before.
"Hahaha, you don’t have to force yourself to remember!" Shin chuckled. Grabbing onto Justin’s hand, Shin led the boy to the front of the house, where his mother was frantically looking for him.
"Justin!" The burly woman instantly hugged Justin the moment she saw him. "Where have you been?! And who is this person?"
"Mom, I..."
"Don’t fret, missus. I’m here to help!" Shin smiled as he handed Justin over to the woman. He then turned his attention to the confused men that were ready to sacrifice their lives for the safety of their Village. "Is there someone by the name of Lester Jikaj here?"
"That would be me," the Village Chief took one step forward and raised his hand. He examined the young man like he would a medical specimen. The Village was currently facing a crisis, so he couldn’t spare too much attention to the young man who had appeared out of nowhere. Thus, the Chief snorted: "What business would a brat like you have with me?"
"Business... I guess you could say that it’s something like that." Shin smiled wryly. "I’ve been commission by the Highgarden Duchy to help as many villages in their region as I can, and I just so happened to chance by your letter to Earl Donnavan. To cut a long story short, I’m your reinforcement!"
"... The Earl just sent one person?" George snorted, not hiding his utter tone of disgust.
Village Chief Lester Jikaj looked at the black-haired man with a similar look. ’This young man... He’s not even thirty, yet! How can he help our Village?’
"No, I’m just the early bird. I just so happened to have a head-start, the rest of my team would be arriving in a few moments." Unperturbed by the snide remark, Shin kept his gentle smile. "Thank you so much for staying and protecting Jikaj Village in place of the Earl. Supplies and ammunition would be brought by my allies, and you should be able to survive for the few months leading to the land’s revival. Of course, if you’re interested in settling down in a safer region, I can make some arrangements with the Earl."
"Hmph! You speak as if we can live past this day!" Lester angrily scoffed. "Brat, if you want to live, stand behind us and fire as many flares as you can! Make sure your team gets here as soon as possible! Protect our families, and we’ll protect you!" To the Village Chief, Shin was nothing more than a liability. However, he did bring news about their reinforcements. If they could just hold out against the Four-Eyed Golden Ape until back-up arrived... They might just be able to save their Village.
"Oh, there’s no need to wait for my team to take on a mere Tier Four Spirit Beast," Shin replied with a toneless voice. It was a life-or-death situation. Still, the man was barely interested in the Spirit Beast that was charging towards the Village.
"Boy! Are you crazy?! That’s a Tier Four Spirit Beast that you’re talking about! Even if you’re some prodigious child, you shouldn’t underestimate a foe like that!" George screamed. Shin looked barely older than twenty-five and was much smaller than the gargantuan Four-Eyed Golden Ape. In George’s eyes, Shin would be squashed as easily as a fly.
"Brat, don’t make it difficult for us! Just stay with the women and children! We’ll deal with the Spirit Beast."
"Just relax..." Shin chuckled.
Ignoring the cries of protest, Shin stepped into the pouring rain. His black-hair and already moistened clothes were now shining with an intense hue, one that could only be described as mesmerising. Shin walked past the strongest fighters in the Village in a slow, but firm manner. One muscular man wanted to stop Shin, thinking that he was about to head to his death. However, the moment he reached a metre away from Shin’s body, he instantly fell to the wet ground with a loud thud. A sharp aura emerged from Shin, and for a moment, he looked like an indomitable mountain that the man could never hope to climb.
Only the Elder could tell that something was amiss. That kind of atmosphere... It wasn’t something that a twenty-year-old bumpkin could possess. Heck, even among all of the great warriors that he’d seen in his lifetime, none could compare with the cold nonchalance that was the black-haired man that stood before his eyes.
"You! Do you want to die?! Come back here now!" The Village Chief hollered at the top of his lungs. He wanted to charge forward and drag Shin back to the safety of their compounds but was abruptly stopped by the Elder’s wrinkled, old hand.
"Les... Leave the boy be..."
"Elder!"
The Village Chief wanted to protest, but it was far too late. Shin was now within ten metres of the Four-Eye Golden Ape, which had tilted its head curiously at the weak-looking man who emerged. Typically, a Spirit Beast of its level was highly astute to the presence of other living beings. It could tell with a single glance whether its opponent was stronger or weaker than itself. However, no matter how hard the Tier Four Spirit Beast tried to evaluate Shin, it could only draw up a blank page. It was as if Shin was a phantom, a being that wasn’t meant to be of this world.
Shin didn’t care about the Spirit Beast’s dazed state, though. He looked down on the Four-Eyed Golden Ape, as an elephant would an ant. "I should really hurry this up... Justin seems to be starving for weeks now." Shin’s mind was still on the kind-hearted boy that tried to help him, even though it may have drawn the ire of his elders.
"Grrraaaooorrrrrrrrrrrr!!!" The Four-Eyed Golden Ape banged on its chest, unleashing a similar roar from before. However, unlike the first time, it was far more reserved and cautious, as if afraid of the mystery that shrouded Shin.
"As I said, I’m going to finish this quickly." Seemingly understanding the Spirit Beast’s mental state, Shin replied with a snort. "No offence, but you’re troubling my clients. Please rest easy, will you?"
Shin raised his right hand, and every single pore in his body spat out chromatic orbs of transcendent light. Azure, cerulean, emerald, turquoise, magenta... All sorts of colours sprang out of Shin’s inner body, creating a dense field of spiritual energies. Feeling the pressure that Shin was emitting, the Four-Eyed Golden Ape unconsciously took two steps back, and its back started to sweat profusely. Such a dense domain could only be created by one person. The man who used the Celestial Dragon to absorb a crap tonne of elemental energies. It was Shin’s signature Domain of Dreams.
"Grrrrr!!!" The Four-Eyed Golden Ape growled, seemingly knowing that it wasn’t Shin’s opponent. However, the young man wasn’t just going to let the brutish beast run away. If it were to terrorise the other villages that Shin was meant to save, how could he ever hope to face Kanari and more importantly, his parents-in-law?
"Sorry, but you’ll have to die here!"
Shin snapped the fingers of his raised hand and all of a sudden... The rain stopped. Billions of water droplets remained frozen in the air, like an ethereal painting that was suspended in time. All of the spectators dropped their jaw at the supernatural feat. Changing and manipulating the weather was one thing, but to think that Shin could physically restrain every single raindrop that drained from the heavens. None of the villagers had ever heard of such an ability, let alone witness it in action.
"How beautiful..." Justin unknowingly muttered out. The rain that he so tenderly loved was now ten times more gorgeous than before. It seemed gentle, yet mysterious. Powerful yet loving. And who was at the centre of it all?
None other than Shin Iofiel.
Shin didn’t wait for the villagers to break out of their awe, and neither did he give the Four-Eyed Golden Ape any time to react. With a twist of his wrists, millions of raindrops congregated into a rapidly spinning drill and dashed straight at the Tier Four Spirit Beast. The Four-Eyed Golden Ape wanted to run, but it was far too late. Shin’s left hand, which had been idle all these while, was raised towards the heavens and the Tier Four Spirit Beast’s blood began to boil. Its massive body, which could easily crush a house, was lifted up as if someone had grabbed it by the throat. That’s right... Shin had blood-bended the Spirit Beast to seal its path of escape and allowed the Four-Eyed Golden Ape not a single escape route. And in the end...
"RAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!!!"
The Four-Eyed Golden Ape could only helplessly watch as its heart was pierced by the sharp rainwater of Shin’s domain. It was left with nothing but a gaping hole in its chest, void of its earlier ferociousness.
"T-that! What’s this?!" George was understandably shaken. The young man that he’d just spat curses to had turned out to be a hidden master, one that was far stronger than anyone in the Village.
Lester Jikaj was likewise shaken. Who could have anticipated that the young man before him was a powerhouse that could really scoff at a Tier Four Spirit Beast’s might?
"Esteemed senior..." Changing his tone, the Village Chief bowed to Shin in reverence with a tinge of hesitance. The young man before him had the power to either lead Jikaj Village to annihilation and salvation. So, Lester Jikaj had to be careful with his words: "Thank you so much for saving our village."
"The bird sings a different tune," Shin openly mocked.
"This bird didn’t recognise Mount Tai... I hope you’ll forgive me..."
"Hahaha! What’s there to forgive?" Shin chortled. "Well, I guess you’re now willing to hear what I have to say now?"
"Of course I am! Before that... I haven’t heard our saviour’s name."
"Where are my manners?" Shin laughed. "My name is Shin Iofiel, Master of Guardian Sword. Nice to meet you, Chief of Jikaj Village, Lester Jikaj."
"The Prince of Water!" George suddenly exclaimed from the side. "A-A-A-Ar-re you rea-ally... S-S-Shin Iofiel?! The Prince of Water and... the man who killed the Blade of Death?!"
"Oh, so you have heard of me! That simplifies matters then! The Duke of Highgarden has really entrusted me with stabilising the affected regions of the Worldquake. I believe that you can find that my words are trustworthy now?" Shin playfully raised his brows.
"Yes, yes! Of course, we can!" The Village Chief nearly had a heart attack after hearing Shin’s name. Who could have imagined that the acclaimed Prince of Water would save Jikaj Village? They’d just been complaining about how the Earl didn’t care about their region, but he’d sent such a glorious bigwig over.
"So... Are you going to let me stand out here in the pouring rain, or are you going to invite me in?"
"Ah! My apologies, your grace! Please, if you don’t mind my humble abode... Please come in!"
Like a sea splitting in two, all of the spectators forged a path for Shin to enter their shoddy home. Shin took a few steps forward before finding Justin, who was still embracing his mother like a koala bear. Merrily, Shin winked at the boy and gently grabbed his hand: "You okay, little one?"
"H-Hero!" Not knowing much of the world, Justin exclaimed the first thing that came out of his mind.
"Hero?"
"Y-You saved us! So you must be a hero!"
"Hmmm... I guess you could see it that way..." Shin scratched his chin in embarrassment. Having a child’s adoration was never bad. "You’re a brave boy, Justin. I’m sure that you’ll grow up to be a fine man, one that can protect your mother and family. I’m sure that you can be a hero... Just like me."
"..." Justin gazed into Shin’s eyes, having nothing but reverence. To him, Shin was truly a knight in shining armour, the Hero that emerged from the rain to save his family for imminent disaster. And most importantly... The man that would change the history of the world...
✵✵✵
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