Child of Destiny

“Solar Reaper!”

Right after Shin called out his Reaper’s Retainer, Solus, who was silently circling around his body in the form of a speck of light, quickly broke free from the cycle and manifested herself behind Shin in her human form.

She stayed in there for a couple of seconds before turning herself into a light that suddenly fused with the [Yamato] that Shin was holding in front of his chest. And right after that, the sword took some changes from its appearance just like Shin’s other Elemental Spirit Possession.

The blade of the [Yamato] suddenly turned gold as the life where the sharp edge and blunt part of it formed a pattern of a dancing flame. It was the same for the guard on top of the hilt as it turned into an ember of a flame. At the same time, there was a series of glowing runes on the surface of the sword, making it look exquisite.

In the next moment, the sword was suddenly set ablaze with a golden flame that dance violently alongside the wind.

‘Elemental Spirit Possession (Solar): Divine Constellation’

And when the sword was done with its transformation, a holy aura suddenly shrouded Shin, increasing his overall stats. It was twice higher than when he was using his Elemental Spirit Possession with Hanzo. There was even a hint of divine powers on his body when he was in this form.

Shin did not wait that long to proceed with using his other skill because he did not want to waste the opening that Arthur and Leonard had given him. They had also chunked down the health bar of Dracula down to a quarter of its total value after their powerful attacks alongside the accumulated damages that the three of them had dealt earlier.

Arthur and Leonard had already used their remaining strength in exchange for their final attacks. It was clear that they would no longer have the ability to continue the battle, so he would be the only one who was capable of fighting later.

He had to make sure to land his Ultimate Move and further lower the Health Bar of Dracula. He had to make it as low as possible to lessen the pressure that he would be getting if he had to fight this Vampire Primogenitor alone later.

Of course, if he could kill Dracula with this particular skill, then he was more than willing to accept it with open arms.

Hu~!

Taking a deep breath, he held the [Yamato] in its different form with both of his hands. He then raised his arms in the air, making the sword to be held invertedly behind, as he absorbed the surrounding mana greedily.

Swoosh!

A swirling vortex was formed around him, signifying the speed and intensity of how he devoured the surrounding. And as he accumulated his powers, his entire body released a glowing aura that resembled the burning gases of the sun while gently flowing toward the sky.

Bang!

A loud explosion quickly followed as spiderweb cracks started to appear on the ground underneath his feet and spread in every direction.

At the same time, the speck of lights revolving around his body, representing each of his Elemental Spirits, suddenly broke free from their cycle before floating behind him in an orderly manner. They formed a circular formation before spinning rapidly, leaving visible trails in the air with their respective colors.

Not long after, a circle with overwhelming elemental power was formed behind Shin due to the actions of his Reaper’s Retainers. A series of glowing runes with different colors were even added into that magic circle after those Elemental Spirits chanted out their respective mantras.

Then the shadow of each of his Elemental Spirits, aside from Solus who fused with the [Yamato], started to appear one after another in a flash while merging with Shin’s body.

Shin waited patiently for Arthur’s attack to exhaust every last bit of its powers, maximizing its damage, before making his move. And when the pillar of light disappeared, the accumulated powers that Shin had gathered already reached their peak, so he quickly swung his blazing sword downward, seemingly trying to cut the world.

Swoosh!

He could not showcase the real strength of this skill even in his Reality Manifestation since it still hadn’t integrated with his Martial Arts, but it was more than enough for their current situation.

Shing!

Shin’s movements seemed to come in slow motion as he swung the [Yamato] down. There was even a series of afterimages of his arms and sword when he was doing then vertical stroke in the air.

Then a thin, glowing straight line was drawn in the space as if it was separating the word into two dimensions. That line started in front of Shin and extend toward the distance, sweeping and cutting through everything on its path. This included Dracula who was still in the middle of regaining himself after suffering the attack from Arthur. Even the powerful Blood Field that was suppressing them earlier was cut in halves.

‘Elemental Spirit Ultimate Skill (Fusion): Ragnar?k’

Swoosh!

There was stillness for a brief moment before all of the light in the world was seemingly sucked toward the line that Shin had drawn within an instant.

Then it was quickly followed by a golden spark of flame in the middle of the monochrome world. And as if the wick of a bomb was burned up, a deafening explosion quickly followed up and lightened up the whole world with its blinding light.

Boom!

The line that Shin had drawn earlier was suddenly set ablaze with a violent yet sacred fire, burning up everything on its path.

Ahh~!

Dracula, who was standing weakly right in the middle of that blazing line, seemed to have met his bane after he was hit by the golden flame. His powerful body that reached the stage of Sovereign Being had a deep wound that could not be healed. It was a mixture of a power cut and a scorching flame.

The damage of Shin’s attack only managed to lower the Health Bar of Dracula down to 5% despite how powerful-looking it was. Fortunately, the sacred attribute of the golden flame had a significant effect on the vampire lord, burning his remaining health steadily.

Dracula was trying to fight back the scorching golden flame with his overwhelming blood powers, but after losing the assistance of the Blood Field, his magic powers suffered greatly. Moreover, he was currently in a heavily wounded state after suffering the previous consecutive attacks from Arthur and Leonard, so his recovery powers were currently at their weakest.

Shin felt that all of the strength in his body left him after executing such an advanced skill. His current stats and state might have permitted him to use it, but it did not mean that his current in-game avatar was strong enough to withstand the drawbacks of the skill.

If not for his monstrous willpower, then he would most likely have collapsed on the ground already and was forcefully logged out of the game by the system.

He really wanted to take a rest right now, but he knew that there was still one more step to wrap everything up.

He gritted his teeth and forced his body to move. Stomping on the ground, he launched forward, dragging his blazing sword alongside him. Despite being in a completely exhausted state, his speed still remained at its peak. He even left a long trail of blazing light behind him as he moved toward Dracula.

The Vampire Primogenitor quickly recognized the threat that was approaching him at an insane speed. Drove purely by instincts, he forgot about healing his wounds and concentrated his remaining powers on his blood rapier. He then threw a quick stab forward, targeting Shin, who was in the middle of brandishing a blazing sword during the charge.

Despite being in a heavily wounded state, Dracula’s speed still surpassed Shin’s. The tip of his blood rapier was already in front of his opponent’s eyes before the blazing sword of the latter could even reach him.

The pupils of Shin’s eyes contracted greatly as he started at the sharp tip rapidly magnifying right in front of his eyes. He knew that he already lost in that exchange. Even if he tried to move his head to dodge, his head would still be pierced by that rapier.

But despite standing in front of a hopeless situation, he continued to persevere and bravely brandished his sword. He still possessed a couple of skills that could save him from a sure-kill fatal strike.

Though, he might not be able to deal the killing blow to Dracula with his current attack since the force that it had would greatly decrease while its trajectory would be slightly altered once his head was pierced by the incoming rapier. This would give the vampire lord enough time to adjust his body and minimize the damage that he would get.

During this critical moment, the muscle of Dracula’s body suddenly became tense and made his movements slow down momentarily.

With Shin’s innate talent inside the game, the Ultra Instincts, he naturally noticed the slight change in Dracula’s movements. It might be brief and small, but it was more than enough for Shin to completely move his body and avoid the fatal strike.

Puchi!

The blood rapier slightly grazed Shin’s cheeks, drawing a bloody line on them. But it was not deadly enough to threaten his life, nor hindered his moment.

He completely understood what just happened. Dracula’s soul took advantage of the weakened state of his body that was being controlled by the Great Demon King to hinder its movements.

Shin was thankful. And as a form of respect, he steeled his resolve and poured his remaining strength on his arms as he slashed out with the blazing [Yamato]. The blazing trail of the sword drew a beautiful arc in the air as it made its way toward Dracula.

Swoosh!

The two brushed past each other as the final strike landed. Shin stayed still on his spot after stopping. He maintained his last posture as he tried to catch his breath after that exchange.

It was the same for Dracula for a couple of moments before he retracted his posture and stood up straight. He then turned around and looked at Shin with clear eyes. This time, there was no black and eerie aura shrouding his eyes, indicating that he somewhat regained his control over his body.

“You’ve performed more than I expected,” said Dracula with a smile.

Shin wanted to turn around and look back, but his body refused to move. He felt that he would suddenly faint once he tried to make any kind of large movement. With it, he could only slightly nod his head and forced out a couple of words between hard breaths. “I-… am-… glad that-… I did not-… disappoint you, Your-… Majesty.”

Dracula smiled gently before turning his head at the deep wounds on his body. They still had lingering golden flames on them and were slowly spreading everywhere. He could even see the burned parts slowly turning into ashes that were scattering in the air.

Fully satisfied with the outcome, Dracula smiled even brighter before turning to Shin once again. “I want to say a few more words, but it seems like I no longer have enough time for it.”

Pausing for a moment, he looked deeply at Shin with meaningful eyes before summarizing everything in two words. “Thank you!”

Right after saying his thanks, the golden flame burning his body suddenly become fierce and slowly turned him into black ashes being swept by the wind. Shin did not see his final moments, but he knew that Dracula would leave this world with lesser regrets.

It was only at that time that Shin found the strength to stand straight and turn around. He stared at the spot where Dracula last stood and the scattering ashes before muttering with a quiet voice. “You can leave it to us.”

He then raised his head and looked at the sky, trying to calm his mind. ‘This was clearly a game, yet we can clearly feel the emotions of each NPC that we encountered.’

It was at that moment when his ears were bombarded by a series of notifications from the system. And almost at the same moment, every player who was currently online in the game also received the world-shocking news simultaneously.

……ｂｅ𝚍ｎｏ𝚟𝚎ｌ.