Child of Destiny

Chapter 2250: Dance of Mirage and Destruction

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Boom! Boom! Boom!

Despite the chaotic battle unfolding around them, Shin and Malzareth remained perfectly still.

Neither spared even a passing glance toward the fierce clash between their subordinates as their eyes locked onto one another, silently preventing the other from interfering.

Only after Alucard, Diablo, and the four executive lieutenants disappeared within the crimson barrier did the invisible tension finally snap.

Bang! Bang!

Both kicked off the ground at almost the exact same instant.

The earth beneath their feet shattered as twin clouds of dust erupted behind them.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Their figures then vanished simultaneously.

The next moment, they reappeared directly before one another.

Shin gripped the [Yamato] with both hands, every muscle in his body moving in perfect unison as he unleashed a full-powered horizontal slash.

Towering over him, Malzareth swung the colossal, spiked execution club with a single hand, the countless iron spikes howling through the air as they descended with overwhelming force.

BOOM!

Steel collided against steel.

A deafening explosion erupted between them, sending a violent shockwave sweeping across the battlefield as the surrounding earth collapsed beneath the overwhelming impact.

The air itself seemed to burst apart.

Swoosh!

A single figure was immediately thrown backward.

It was Shin.

Rather than resisting the tremendous force head-on, he allowed the impact to carry him away. His body flipped gracefully through the air several times before landing lightly on both feet dozens of meters away, leaving only two shallow trails across the ground as he slid to a stop.

He slowly raised his head. ”Tsk! Quite tough, huh?”

The slight tilt of his head carried neither frustration nor surprise but understanding.

That brief exchange had already told him everything he needed to know.

When it came to pure physical strength, he was at a considerable disadvantage.

Malzareth’s monstrous physique was not merely for show. The overwhelming force behind that casual one-handed swing had completely surpassed Shin’s current body.

It was unfortunate that ’Mondi’s Style’ remained in its dormant state. Without access to the ’Judgement Form’, he had no means of temporarily elevating his physical strength and durability to compete against monsters who specialized in overwhelming power.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Shin casually twirled the [Yamato] around his wrist several times, making the silver-gray blade dance gracefully through the air before sliding back into its sheath with a single fluid motion.

Click!

The crisp sound echoed across the battlefield.

The next moment, Shin began walking forward. His footsteps followed no recognizable rhythm—neither fast nor slow.

His body then swayed gently from side to side, as though he were performing an elegant dance rather than entering another clash.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

As his movements continued, translucent phantoms gradually overlapped his figure. One after another, they perfectly mimicked every motion he made.

Each afterimage lingered for a brief instant before another emerged, layering upon the previous one until countless silhouettes surrounded his body.

’Phantom Series – Movement Technique: Spectral Waltz’

The overlapping phantoms twisted together into a bizarre illusion.

From a distance, Shin no longer appeared to possess only a single body.

He resembled an otherworldly apparition with countless arms, countless heads, and countless overlapping bodies moving independently from one another.

It was impossible to determine which one was real—or if any of them were.

...

Swoosh!

Meanwhile, Malzareth slowly emerged from the cloud of dust left behind by their previous collision.

His crimson eyes narrowed slightly.

For the first time since the battle began, a faint frown appeared on his face. Despite possessing countless years of combat experience, he found himself unable to predict Shin’s next movement.

The irregular rhythm completely disrupted his battle instincts.

...

Swoosh!

Immediately after, Shin disappeared one more time before reappearing before the giant demon once again.

Shing!

Without the slightest warning, every phantom vanished simultaneously with Shin’s figure disappearing together with them.

The next instant, he appeared directly before Malzareth once again.

His hand instantly gripped the hilt of the [Yamato].

Shing!

The blade barely left its sheath before a dazzling silver flash erupted forward.

’Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw (Original Version) – Flash Strike’

A razor-thin streak of light silently crossed the space between them before heading straight to Malzareth’s heart.

”Heh...” A savage grin spread across the giant demon’s face. ”Naïve.”

Without retreating a single step, Malzareth swung the colossal, spiked execution club with a single hand.

Boom!

The heavens seemed to shudder.

The sheer weight behind the swing detonated the surrounding air, unleashing successive shockwaves that tore across the battlefield and sent the ground beneath them violently cracking.

’Demonic Oni Technique: Destruction – Iron Mountain Crush’

It was less a swing than an entire mountain collapsing upon its target.

Anyone foolish enough to challenge it through brute force would be crushed beneath its overwhelming might.

However, Shin’s expression remained completely calm while his blade never wavered and continued to strike.

Bang!

The instant steel met steel, Malzareth’s grin widened. He could already feel the overwhelming weight of his strike crushing forward.

Against absolute power—technique was meaningless.

Or so he believed.

Swoosh!

Shin’s figure suddenly blurred. Instead of being blown away, he vanished from the point of impact.

The next instant—

Clang!

Another collision erupted.

At the same time, Shin’s blade struck the club from a slightly different angle, yet also hitting the same spot as earlier.

Before Malzareth could react—

Swoosh!

Shin disappeared again.

Clang!

Followed by yet another slash landing on the iron club.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

This happened multiple times, with each displacement being impossibly short, barely half a step apart.

His body repeatedly slipped between the overlapping phantoms created by Spectral Waltz, every illusion serving as another point from which he could redirect his own momentum before launching himself forward once more.

Rather than resisting the monstrous force head-on, he was shaving it away—little by little and strike after strike— until the overwhelming momentum behind the giant club rapidly dwindled.

His short displacements put him at the back end of the overlapping phantoms behind him to ward off the force from the first collision before charging forward once again.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

To everyone watching, it appeared as though Shin had never moved at all, calmly standing his ground while his single slash held the monstrous execution club in an impossible standstill.

However, to Malzareth—the one bearing the full force of the exchange—it felt as though Shin had struck his colossal club dozens of times in the span of a single heartbeat. The mountain-like momentum behind his attack was being peeled away layer by layer with every successive impact.

’Phantom Series: Killing Move – Mirage Burst’

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Disbelief immediately surfaced across Malzareth’s face. ”What...?!”

The impossible exchange lasted for only a brief instant.

The colossal, spiked execution club remained suspended in midair while the tip of Shin’s [Yamato] rested against the exact spot it had seemingly struck countless times a heartbeat earlier.

For a fleeting moment, neither side moved.

Then—

Bang!

The deadlock shattered.

Malzareth was forced half a step backward, his enormous frame digging into the earth to disperse the remaining force.

Bang!

At the same time, Shin gracefully slid backward across the ground before lowering his center of gravity and smoothly returning to his stance.

Swoosh!

Neither had gained a decisive advantage, yet both immediately understood one thing—the other was far stronger than they had initially expected.

Bang!

Without allowing Malzareth even a moment to recover his rhythm, Shin violently kicked off the ground once more.

Swoosh!

His body blurred forward.

As ’Spectral Waltz’ unfolded once again, overlapping phantoms layered over one another, distorting his trajectory until reality itself became difficult to distinguish from illusion.

Shing! Shing! Shing!

Successive flashes of sword light descended from every conceivable angle.

Malzareth’s brows furrowed as the bizarre exchange from moments earlier still lingered vividly in his mind.

This time, however, he refused to let himself be drawn into Shin’s rhythm.

Instead of retreating, he took a powerful step forward.

Bang!

The ground beneath his foot exploded.

”If one swing isn’t enough...” A savage grin spread across his face. ”...then how about a hundred?”

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The colossal execution club roared through the air again and again.

’Demonic Oni Technique: Annihilation – Blood Moon Execution’

Each swing was so fast and so heavy that the club seemed to split into countless crimson afterimages, weaving together into a storm of destruction that completely dominated the space around him.

Every trajectory overlapped the next, leaving no room to dodge and no safe path to approach.

It was less a technique than a domain of destruction—anything that stepped within its reach would be mercilessly pulverized.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Explosions erupted one after another as the crimson arcs of the colossal execution club collided against streaks of black sword light.

Violent shockwaves rippled across the battlefield with every exchange, tearing apart the already ruined landscape.

However, it was also clear that Malzareth had a great advantage.

Each swing of his colossal weapon carried terrifying momentum, forcing Shin to relinquish ground after every collision.

Rather than contesting the overwhelming force head-on, Shin repeatedly redirected the impact, sliding backward with every exchange to bleed away the tremendous power behind the club.

Even so, he continued to be pushed back.

Then—

Shin abruptly retreated several more steps while his body suddenly blurred.

Swoosh!

The overlapping phantoms surrounding him detached one after another.

Instead of merely mirroring his movements, they separated from his body and scattered across the battlefield, circling Malzareth from every direction.

Within an instant, multiple identical Shins stood around the giant demon.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

’Phantom Series: Movement Technique – Phantom Dance’

Without hesitation, every phantom charged toward the storm of crimson strikes simultaneously.

They rushed forward from different angles, completely ignoring the overwhelming killing domain before them.

Malzareth’s eyes narrowed. ”Trying to overwhelm me with numbers?”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The colossal execution club swept through the battlefield with terrifying force, its crimson afterimages weaving together into an inescapable net of destruction.

One phantom after another was struck, yet the club passed cleanly through their bodies.

The figures merely rippled like reflections upon water before continuing their charge without the slightest interruption.

Uncertainty flickered across Malzareth’s crimson eyes. ”Illusions?”

However, every phantom before him felt completely real.

They moved independently from one another, each executing a different sequence of footwork and sword forms as though they possessed minds of their own.

There wasn’t a single repeated motion among them.

Every movement, every stance, every subtle shift of posture convinced the observer that they were the real Shin.

What unsettled Malzareth the most, however, wasn’t what he could see.

It was what he could feel.

Every phantom carried enough killing intent to trigger his battle instincts, making it impossible to distinguish the genuine body from the illusions through aura alone.

And each of them was executing a different set of actions, making the opponent believe that they were the real body.

As the encirclement tightened and the phantoms entered the range where swinging his colossal execution club would become increasingly difficult—

Shin finally made his move.

Swoosh!

His true body instantly exchanged places with one of the surrounding phantoms while already assuming his signature sword-drawing stance.

Click!

His thumb lightly pushed against the guard of the sheathed [Yamato], producing a crisp metallic click.

”There you are!”

Without the slightest hesitation, Malzareth unleashed a tremendous horizontal sweep.

’Demonic Oni Technique: Annihilation – Crimson Demon Sweep’

Swoosh!

The gigantic execution club tore through everything around him, hitting every phantom surrounding him.

The power behind this strike was so strong that even the surrounding air seemed to have exploded.

Boom!

Unfortunately, the destructive attack struck nothing but empty air—just passing through all the bodies of the phantoms one more time.

Swoosh!

At the exact instant the attack descended, Shin had already exchanged positions with another phantom on the opposite side of the strike, where the iron club had already passed by.

Immediately after, the sword was swiftly unsheathed.

’Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw (Original Version): Flash Horizon’

Shing!

A brilliant silver arc erupted from an impossible angle.

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