Child of Destiny

…

Shin stood silently in the middle of the mountain forest while keeping his eyes closed. He was engraving the feeling that he currently had so that he could remember it clearly later. This feeling would surely help him when he tried entering his Natural State meant for Mentalism.

At the same time, he was also assessing his performance earlier.

He was too occupied with the battle and too focused on the Natural State that he was in earlier to understand what was going on. He also somewhat had an idea of what was happening in that short moment.

He was able to break through his current limits in Martial Arts and step into the Ascension Realm. However, it quickly disappeared right after he calmed down and regained his usual composure.

He knew that it was temporary, but that feeling of completely being one with nature was still lingering within him. It gave him such a strong impression even though it was only for a short amount of time.

It was only the lowest of the Ascension Realm, the Ethereal Opening Stage, but he had gotten an impression that would last for a very long time.

Now that he had gotten the time to think about everything, he immediately understood what just happened. He quickly realized the answers to the questions that he had earlier.

Why he was in that state?

Why does that Natural State feel familiar yet also unfamiliar?

Why does it feel it was his yet also not at the same time?

These questions that were lingering at the back of his head were quickly answered when he thought about it now.

“So, it is you after all,” he muttered, seemingly talking to himself. He might look crazy, but there was a reason for it.

The answer quickly came and sounded inside his head. “Don’t talk to me. You are such a bother. Trying to claim it as yours can cause trouble for your real body even though you only feel it inside this world.”

Uno was very annoyed at what Shin had tried as he continued to complain. “Do you realize how reckless it was? Your mind and body will have some dissonance when you log out later. It can cause your original ‘illnesses’ to reoccur if not for me stepping in.”

“What are those illnesses?” asked Shin confusedly.

“Do bother to ask. You will know about it at the right time. It will only confuse you if you learn about them now,” answered Uno with full annoyance.

Shin did not inquire any further as he knew that Uno would not answer any of his questions about this matter. Instead, he asked something that made him intrigued. “You can talk to me when I am inside this game?”

“Duh! Of course, we can!” answered Uno as if it was a matter of fact before explaining. “This world is nothing different from your sea of consciousness. The technology that is used to create this game stimulates your brain when entering this so-called game.”

“It pulls your consciousness into this imaginary world while your body is in a state of suspended animation. It is like you are being put into a dream where you are completely aware of what is happening.”

“And since you happen to have ‘more than one consciousness,’ we are able to communicate like this.”

Shin came to a realization when he heard that before nodding his head. Then he suddenly asked as he remembered something. “Then we are you not communicating with before. This is a good opportunity to ‘catch up’ with each other, don’t you think?” ．

“Tsk! Of course, it is because I hate you, you coward!” snarled Uno before continuing. “Anyway, I am going back now. Don’t bother me again. I still have a lot of things to do. I can’t entertain you.”

Shin felt that it would be a pity, but he could not do anything about it since he did not have any control over Uno yet at this moment.

But he would not let this opportunity just go away like that without asking the questions that he was currently curious about. “Wait! Don’t leave yet! Let me ask a couple of questions first.”

He then added without waiting for Uno’s rejection. “Have you successfully fused the ‘Sacred Qi’ and ‘Demonic Qi’? Have you been able to fuse the two breathing techniques meant to control them, the ‘White Dawn Boundary’ and ‘Black Origin Threshold’? And have you been able to break through the ‘Core Formation State’ and entered the ‘Ethereal Opening Stage’?”

Shin felt that Uno contemplated for a brief moment before answering with a mystifying tone. “I will leave it to your imagination.”

After that, Shin sensed that Uno had ‘disappeared’ and went back to who knows where. He could only shake his head and smile bitterly when it happened.

When Shin opened his eyes, he could already tell that the Demonic Formation locked on the place was collapsing. He could also tell that the metal rods that Blackie had informed him were crumbling right now.

He was holding back earlier since he wanted to claim those metal rods as well as the other materials used to set up the entire formation. But since Andre had overworked the formation and exhausted everything, the materials used for the formation had also been drained completely.

“Tsk! Too bad. I really wanted to do some research with them later,” he muttered as he felt pity for it.

He felt that he would need those materials in the future.

After thinking about it for a while, Shin summoned his Elemental Spirits once again to sweep through the entire place. He wanted to make sure that he did not miss anything before proceeding.

When they were done with everything, Shin ordered everyone to continue the chase. Whitie transformed into a huge white tiger with blazing paws that Shin had mounted before dashing toward the direction that his master had indicated.

In the meantime, Vladimir, Blackie, and Grimrace chased after them and headed toward the same direction.

…

In the meantime, on the other side where Shin’s target was, the group of demonic players were currently advancing toward their destination in full haste suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

The person standing at the forefront of the group suddenly turned back, looking in the direction where they came from. He frowned quite deeply under his hood while staring in that direction.

“Andre has been captured,” he muttered with a low voice, making the others turn toward him.

The others were shocked as they could not believe it while the rest seemed to be very calm as if they had already expected it to happen.

They knew that Andre was one of the most experienced veterans in their faction, but he was not the strongest among them. He was also not the most skilled either since there was someone within their ranks who was a famous mercenary in real life.

Regardless of their thoughts, this was still a serious matter. Recruiting a player to the Demonic Churches was not a problem but nurturing them into a veteran demonic player would not be easy.

Losing even a single one from their ranks was a serious blow to their forces. At least for the faction that their group was in.

Demonic Churches might be a strong force from the outsiders’ point of view. It was the truth, but they were not as united as the Righteous Churches or the other NPC organizations within the game.

Everyone was always on their edge and on guard against each other. Any mishaps or mistakes could cause their faction to be devoured by the others, who were preying on them.

Given the losses that they had suffered after most of their people from this operation got captured by the ‘people’ chasing after them, it would not be a wonder if those opposing factions within the Demonic Churches used this opportunity to swallow them in one gulp.

It could even become more serious if they failed to escape from here and brought back the item that the traitor had stolen from them.

At the very least, they had to send their commander back along with the demonic item that they were carrying.

“You guys move and bring the package to the rendezvous point. The one that is chasing us seems to be much more formidable than what we have expected,” said the commander of the group without removing his gaze from the direction that they came from.

“What are you talking about, commander? We are only a couple of miles away from our destination. We only have to endure a little bit more and we will reach the Forsaken Port City,” said the sole team leader left in their group.

The commander shook his head repeatedly and reprimanded. “Idiot. You don’t understand our current situation. It is already beyond our control, so we have to make some countermeasures.”

“Then you must go ahead first, commander. We will stay here and buy you some time before they catch up. Without us dragging you behind, you will be able to reach the city much faster,” said another member of the group, urging their commander to make haste.

Hearing that, the commander shook his head further before saying. “Morons. What a bunch of morons. You guys don’t understand the situation at all.”

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

While he was still in the middle of talking, he suddenly sensed a small group of people rapidly approaching them from the direction where he was looking at.

He raised his head a little to have a better look at the incoming enemies before muttering. “Now, it is already too late to run, you idiots.”

“Prepare for battle!” he shouted, making the expression of everyone suddenly turn more serious.

Their eyes suddenly regained the cold looks that they were wearing earlier as they quickly headed to their respective positions.

Swoosh!

Right after his words descended, the group suddenly felt three unbearable pressures that suddenly assaulted them.

At the same time, they felt that something went past them, passing through their bodies. The mana within the surroundings immediately got agitated while the sky suddenly turned darker.

Raising their heads, the group realized that a purple dome was currently enclosing the entire area, seemingly trying to trap them inside.

They could feel that the space seemed to be solidifying, making it impossible to escape this place by using any kind of teleportation scroll. Not even blinking skills seemed to be possible to be used inside this barrier.

Along with it, they also sensed that the ground seemed to become more solid than before, giving them a sudden feeling of anxiety. It seemed like trying to dig the ground and create an escape route through it would be impossible with its current state.

The sky, space, and the ground were completely sealed by powers unclear to them, making the group become even more nervous.

Aside from their commander, who seemed to be very calm despite their current situation, the rest of the group felt too stiff to move.

Not long after, they saw a trio stepping out from the darkness created by the forest shade and walking toward them.

One was a person with purple skin wearing a ninja-like outfit. His head was full of white hair that was long enough to reach the back of his waist. He tied that hair into a ponytail, keeping it proper and giving him a clean look.

His white mustache was long enough to reach his collarbone alongside his long goatee. Such an appearance clearly indicated that this person was quite old.

The other person walking alongside him was a beautiful woman in a wizard outfit, which could not hide her alluring figure despite how loose they were.

Her eyes were glowing with brilliant light and her head was full of blazing hair. She was playing with a pair of fireballs in one of her hands while her other hand was releasing a violent flame that seemed to be able to burn anything.

The last and final person was a muscular person with bronze-like skin. He was currently topless while wearing a pair of white harem pants. There was also a thin fiber cloth hanging on his arms as he had his hands kept inside his pockets.

There were golden runes tattooed on his chest and arms, which were releasing a glowing hue from time to time. This pair of thick bull-like horns were also curving forward, making his appearance more intimidating.

These three were obviously the Elemental Spirits that Shin had sent to catch up with their targets first while he was left behind to deal with Andre and the rest of the teams left to block them.

Hanzo was stroking his goatee as he walked forward in a leisurely manner. But when his eyes landed on a particular figure standing in the middle of the opposing party, he could not help but squint further.

He focused his eyes on that figure as he scrutinized it with his gaze. This lasted for a couple of seconds before he suddenly started talking. “I did not expect this. It looks like we will have a proper fight this time compared to the last time we have met.”

It was a good thing that he used his domain skill first alongside the one that Astaroth had before they came out. This prevented the other party from forcefully unsummoning them through the ‘Spirit Awe’ skill.

He could only say that the recent promotion of this Hybrid Guardian Spirit was perfectly timed. If he and Solus were the only ones present here, then he was not confident about this task that their host had given them.

At the same time, Solus was also glaring at that hooded figure while saying. “You will not be able to escape like the last time, Spawn of the Demon Gods.”

…