Child of Destiny

Chapter 1464: A Monster (Part 2): Thinking Reed

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Bang! Bang! Bang!

”What kind of monster is this? And where did he come from?” Amon could not help but ask as he clashed against Uno.

The battle only started for three minutes, yet the people they had brought with them had already been wiped out.

Aside from Paimon, Belphegor, and himself, everyone else had already been killed in the process.

What was even more frustrating about this was they all had been caught by the wide-range attacks that Uno had thrown during his exchanges with the three. These ʼstrayʼ attacks killed all the surrounding people who could not protect themselves in time.

Belphegor, who was usually lazy, was quite diligent in this battle as he was doing his best to block those attacks and save their people. But all his efforts were futile as Uno skillfully avoided him and his defensive skills, targeting other people.

On the surface, Uno was throwing some random attacks when clashing with Amon and Paimon, but he was constantly calculating his every move before swiftly choosing the best and most efficient route in the middle of battle.

Every move he took was meticulously calculated, seemingly making him ʼseeʼ the future as if he possessed foresight.

This was what made it hard for the three apex experts from the side of the Pandemonium Descendants to stop him.

Those ʼstrayʼ attacks might look like random attacks on the surface, but they were actually a calculated move to catch them off guard.

Belphegor was the first to notice this, so he gave up on protecting the pathetic trash and focused on taking down Uno along with Amon and Paimon. Aside from him being too lazy, he also did not want to waste his precious energy trying to stop something that he could not.

He would rather go back to sleep than take care of those babies that were impossible to save from the jaws of this monster in front of them.

However, he was also quite curious how this person was able to ʼseeʼ that far from the future.

”Does he have the ʼPrudent Aceʼ talent or something similar that focuses on the mind?” mumbled Paimon as he also came up with the same conclusion as Belphegor after observing every move of their current opponent.

”No, he is not just ʼthinkingʼ or ʼcalculatingʼ the future,” said Amon as he also started to see what kind of monster they were facing. ”He ʼinstinctivelyʼ knows what the ʼfutureʼ is or what is about to come his way.”

Bang! Bang!

After forcing both Paimon and Amon to retreat, Uno suddenly stopped and looked at them. ”You guys sure are underestimating me a little too much, donʼt you?”

”To think you will dare to chat while fighting me? This feeling sure is new,” he mumbled as the air surrounding him suddenly changed. ”Should I stop playing with you? I am planning to use you as a training dummy to adjust myself to this body since it is rare to find such decent test subjects, but I guess that should be enough.”

The faces of the two suddenly turned grim as they heard those words. Whether those words were just meant to provoke them, it still did not feel good being looked down on by someone when they boast of standing at the peak of the game when compared to other people.

Given their experience, they would not be provoked by those words easily. They were more than that.

They were able to calm themselves down and about to prepare for another assault.

Boom!

Right after those thoughts crossed their minds, an intense and heavy pressure suddenly descended from the sky out of nowhere, binding their bodies.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Their instincts quickly kicked in at that moment and swiftly retreated with their respective movement skills to create enough distance away from Uno.

When they felt that they were safe enough, they raised their heads and looked ahead of them.

That was when they saw a crimson aura enveloping Uno. It was a unique aura or anything, but a condensed killing intent. It was so potent that it could be seen by the naked eye.

”What the!? Just how many people did he kill to have such an intense killing intent?” mumbled Amon as sweat started to form on his forehead.

Fear – this was the first time in a while he felt this feeling.

And as if it was not enough, the intense killing intent that they were seeing from Uno seemed to move according to his will before forming a pair of wings behind him.

”What kind of insanity is this?” Amon mumbled as his instincts quickly kicked him.

His body moved according to his instincts and subconsciously summoned his Demon Contract.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

It was the same for Paimon and Belphegor, who also felt an intense shiver down to their spines.

The three of them put their guards up and looked at Uno with full caution. They even went to form a triangular battle formation where Belphegor stood a little far behind the two while Amon and Paimon closely watched every minimal movement of their opponent.

The three of them were on high alert – putting themselves at the highest alertness possible. But all of these were futile as something astonishing happened at the very next second.

Amon did not even dare to blink as he was afraid that he would be killed in the very instant that he did.

But his pupils suddenly shrunk as Uno disappeared from his previous location and appeared right beside him within an instant. ”Son of a bit-…!”

He was still in the middle of cursing when he raised his sword in front of him.

Bang!

It was at that moment that a powerful strike struck him and sent him flying in the opposite direction.

Swoosh!

It was at that same instant when Paimon jumped in and trusted his spear at Uno. But the latter was so quick that he was able to ʼdodgeʼ before the former could even act.

It was as if he was already expecting Paimon to move in that same movement and ʼdodgeʼ ahead of time.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

But before Uno could even take advantage of that situation, Belphegor sent a series of spells in his direction, preventing him from pursuing Amon.

Uno quickly adjusted his movements accordingly and avoided each spell with the smallest margin possible.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Leaving a series of explosions behind, Uno reached Belphegor, who had already set up a defensive barrier to protect himself.

Clang! Clang!

But before Uno could even approach him, Amon and Paimon quickly caught up and simultaneously swung their weapons at him.

Uno responded accordingly and swung his swords to deflect and block their attacks respectively.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

After a brief pause, the four quickly moved at extreme speed exchanging moves that could not be seen by the naked eye.

The three launched a coordinated attack one after another, trying to suppress Uno to the best of their abilities. Their teamwork might not be as flawless as those top players who had been working together and great partners for a very long time, but as apex experts themselves, they were able to execute something similar or create the same result with their abilities and vast experience alone.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Swoosh!

But despite all of that, they were still unable to break through the defense of their current opponent.

Moreover, Uno was only counterattacking not just once but constantly and repeatedly in every exchange.

Despite being besieged in every direction, Uno was calmly defending himself and even returning the favor whenever the opportunity presented itself no matter how small it was.

His illogical responses and unthinkable responses all came within an instant, making it hard for the three to respond. The three of them could not understand the movements of Uno as if he was not following the ʼscriptʼ that they were supposed to have.

No matter how hard they bait, trap, or suppress Uno, he always had a response that seemingly coming from out of nowhere.

At times, they could not understand the decisions that he was making, which threw them into such predicaments.

It was at that moment when the three realized something.

They first thought that Uno was someone who belonged to the group of people who used his head when fighting. The type of fighter who would think constantly during battle and swiftly calculate every outcome and possible result led by the flow of the battle.

Such people could easily be countered by bombarding them with a continuous and relentless series of attacks that would not give them the time to think. Once their rhythm was broken, it would be hard for them to pick their pace and get overwhelmed by a wave of attacks.

But they quickly realized that they were all wrong the more they exchanged blows with him.

But it was also not ʼinstinctsʼ either as there seemed to be a certain ʼreasonʼ in every move that he made that they could not explain, which they only realized when it already passed.

His battle techniques were so detailed that they were barely able to realize until it was already too late.

…

These three were somewhat right about their line thoughts, but also slightly off the mark as what they were currently experiencing was Unoʼs talent – or specifically his combat talent.

For ʼNormalʼ smart people, were using a part of their brains where they process their ʼreasoningʼ. Some more talented people even took advantage of this part of the brain more than others and even could use them in a much faster way compared to the rest.

For these people, they were utilizing this part of the brain – their frontal lobe or more specifically their prefrontal cortex, which intelligently regulates an individualʼs thoughts, actions, and emotions – which was also used for reasoning.

Then there was also a part of people who were relying on basal ganglia situated at the center of their brains, embedded deep in the brain hemispheres.

This particular part of the brain was primarily responsible for motor control, motor learning, executive actions and behaviors, and emotions – this was also where the source of a personʼs intuition was located.

As for Uno, he fell on the latter group who relied more on their intuition, more specifically in battle.

To be more precise, Uno was not thinking during the battle. Instead, he was more like fighting intuitively.

But at the same time, it was also a little different from Shinʼs battle instincts that came from his ʼBattle Geniusʼ combat talent.

Even if they were somewhat similar, there were still some distinct differences between them.

Shinʼs instinctive battle style came without thinking as he continued to follow this ʼfeelingʼ that he had whenever he was fighting, which was also constantly growing as more time passed.

On the other hand, Unoʼs style was more intuitive style which followed a certain response without specific logical reason. It was more like an automatic thought rather than a ʼfeelingʼ.

In other terms, ʼinstinctsʼ was where the body talked and controlled an individual while ʼintuitionʼ was where the brain was talking which was based on the previous experience that the individual had encountered.

Unoʼs combative talent was based on this, where his vast experience was helping him. This accumulated experience was the base of battle style.

Everything that he had experienced gathered inside his head, where he could intuitively choose or pick whenever he responded according to the situation that he was in.

He could scan his surroundings, analyze everything, and find solutions intuitively to the point that it had become second nature to him.

It was as if he was constantly thinking that he could do things instinctively. He had fully mastered this technique that he turned into a true thinking reed.

ʼThinking Reedʼ – it was a combat talent where someone could think without thinking or move without thinking. Intuition was their main weapon, and the more experience they accumulated, the stronger they became.

…

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After a few more minutes into the battle, the trio from the Pandemonium Descendants had experienced hell.

They were beaten to the point that they were almost losing their confidence.

Amon, who was one of the best combatants of the troupe, was currently in a terrible state that he had lost that majestic and domineering air that he usually possessed.

Paimon might not be as strong as Amon when it came to combat since it was not his strongest point, but that did not mean that he was a weak fight either. He fell into the category of players, who he used his brain the most during the battle.

But in front of this monster in front of them, all the confidence that he had disappeared as he was in a more terrible state than Amon.

Belphegor, who bore the title of Sloth Devil within the Pandemonium Troupe, had lost his interest in this battle. Given his lazy personality, it would be better to let the other party kill rather than waste his energy in this futile struggle.

He was lying on the ground and waiting for Uno to finish him off as he could no longer find any energy to fight.

Uno, who did not even use any Elemental Spirit Possession in the battle, stood at the center of the battle with a sight frown. The battle was quite good, but it was far from being enough, especially when he was just starting to feel himself.

He was using the Reality Manifestation during the entire battle, which meant that he had showcased most of his Martial Art Skills that he had been itching to try since the time he had taken over Shinʼs body.

As he was feeling a little disappointed for not having enough, he suddenly sensed a presence that just arrived at the scene.

Raising his head and turning toward the source of the aura that he was feeling, he saw a person in a swordsmanʼs equipment set while an ancient-looking robe was placed over it.

Using his version of ʼTrue Sightʼ he was able to see that the other part was a player, especially when the latter was not even bothering to hide their information.

But what made Uno squint his eyes was this certain feeling that was coming from this person. ”You! What are you?”

”You have this familiar feeling, yet also different,” he added as he saw the somewhat familiar face of the other party.

That person walked out from the shades of the trees, fully revealing their appearance.

They were calmly taking each of their steps despite the current state of the battlefield. They even had their hands crossed behind them as they walked forward.

With slightly raised brows, he stared intently at Uno before smiling. ”What a coincidence! I also happen to have the same question.”

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