Child of Destiny

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……

Bang! Bang!

Boom!

As Shin was observing Haowin and trying to figure out what kind of hidden combat system mechanic the latter was using, his opponent was also doing the same.

Haowin discovered this hidden combat mechanic after he became a True Demon.

The clues that he had during that time were the rewards meant for the first player to come in contact with the Devildom and Underworld, so it was impossible for other players to also unlock it without him knowing.

At first, he thought that Shin also possessed a ‘Perfect Demonification’, since their battle capabilities were really on the same level. However, after observing his opponent for quite some time, he discovered that there was something different from the hidden combat mechanics that they had.

He had a vessel that could perfectly host the overwhelming power that he currently had, but Shin obviously did not possess such a thing. Instead, the latter seemed to be able to use the Martial Art Skills and Mentalism Techniques from the real world.

Realizing this fact, Haowin knew that Shin might have discovered another path that could break through the limits of the game. It was something similar to his ‘Perfect Demonification’ that was meant to break free from the restrictions cast by the system.

Bang!

After separating from each other, Haowin did not immediately resume his assault but said instead. “It looks like you have discovered something interesting. Mind sharing it with me?”

Shin scoffed when he saw Haowin trying to sound him out. He shook his head before giving the latter a smirk. “The same can be said of you. How about telling me which Hidden Combat System you have discovered first?”

“I may satisfy your curiosity if you give me a satisfying answer,” he added before quickly flapping his wings and lunging forward.

Clang! Clang!

The blazing sword and demonic claws clashed a couple of times before the two were separated once again.

And once again, Haowin tried to initiate a conversation. “How about you go first? I actually have a trust issue.”

After that, he clenched his fist and gathered a huge amount of corrupted mana into it. He then threw a forward punch, which produced a huge demonic fist that flew straight to Shin.

‘Demonic Skill: Dark Annihilation’

Swoosh!

Shin flapped his wings to distance himself away from the incoming fist while sheathing his sword. He then paused for a moment to assume a sword-drawing stance while accumulating enough fire elemental mana on the sheathed sword.

A moment later, he transformed into a stream of light that flew forward while leaving a blazing trail behind.

Shing!

Unsheathing his sword, he suddenly stabbed forward while flying in a straight line. His figure pierced through the huge demonic fist and headed straight to his opponent.

‘Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw (Fire Form): Blazing Final’

Swoosh!

Bang!

“I must say that I also suffering from a similar condition,” said Shin as the tip of his sword collided against the scales protecting the clenched fist of his opponent.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

After that, the two showcased their martial skills and mentalism techniques once again. The exchanges that they had were clearly showing the insights that they had on their respective disciplines.

Even though Haowin could not fully showcase his martial path, he could at least compensate for the gaps between their might with his current physique and powerful skills inside the game.

Even though his even his Tier 1 and Tier 2 Skills reached another height due to ‘Perfect Demonification’ – very similar to how Shin was transforming his in-game skills into real Martial Art Skills and Mentalism Techniques.

The only issue that Haowin had was the continuous growth of his opponent. He could clearly see that Shin was constantly growing in their battle, and it was at a rapid pace.

Haowin could estimate that he would most likely lose if he let this continue. He did know what state was trying to reach, but he could at least tell that it was something that he did not want to experience.

If he let Shin complete his goal during the battle, then Haowin’s fate was most likely been sealed at that point.

“If that is the case, then I have to beat him before it happens!” he muttered to himself before coming up with a decision. “I must use everything I have at this point!”

Finally resolving himself, Haowin forced Shin to retreat with a powerful strike before quickly retreating. He was planning to create enough space between the two of them before using his final cards.

Shin could already read the thoughts of his opponent, so he quickly flapped his wings and gave chase. He was not going to give Haowin enough space to reveal his true strength.

At the same time, Haowin naturally knew that Shin would not let him do what he was planning, so he had to buy himself enough time to use his final cards.

Swoosh!

He waved his hand while retreating, leaving a huge group of black spheres in his path. Half of these spheres created a blockade that prevented anyone from approaching him while the other half became a swarm of attacks that flew straight to Shin.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Shin knitted his brows when he saw the incoming barrage of attacks. But instead of slowing down, he flapped his wings strongly and further increased his speed, diving straight to the incoming attacks fearlessly.

Swoosh!

Boom!

A sonic boom was created a Shin flew straight ahead. His speed did not hinder his mobility in the air despite how hard to control his movements with it.

But as he advanced further, the swarm of black spheres was increasing in numbers, making it hard for him to completely avoid them. They had created an almost solid wall of defense that could not be easily penetrated.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Given this situation, Shin finally slowed down his flying speed so that he could deal with them. He started swinging his sword left and right, slashing and deflecting. .

He was applying the principle of the ‘Sword Transmigration’ to redirect the trajectory of the incoming spheres and send them to the rest that were coming his way.

As he repeated these actions, his movements started to become more flawless and powerful. Each of his swings was becoming more and more natural as time went by.

Those swings were also starting to build up a strong momentum since they contained the principle of the ‘Sword Transmigration’. The swings were getting stronger with each passing second as he continued to absorb the kinetic force of the incoming spheres and add it to the one that his wings already had.

While Shin was busy dealing with the swarm of black spheres, Haowin did not waste any time and quickly sat cross-legged in the air.

He put his palms together while continuously absorbing the mana from the surroundings, converting them into corrupted mana before fusing them with his demonic energy.

Roar!

Not long after, a huge illusionary figure of a demonic being manifested behind Haowin. It seemed to have similar features to himself but had a more hideous and horrifying appearance.

Its entire body was made of corrupted mana that was purple in color and carried a black hue on its surface.

The pressure that it was emitting was so suffocating that it even started to affect those players watching from the distance.

“Urgh!”

“Argh!”

Painful groans could be heard from the distance, making the scouts rapidly retreat from their current location. They continued to run until they finally regained their breathing in a faraway distance.

From this distance, they could no longer see what was happening in the battle. What they saw was the gigantic purple silhouette behind Haowin and the ‘fireworks’ on Shin’s side.

Regardless, they continued watching the battle despite the limited information that they had. They were committed to watching this battle until the very end.

Haowin did not care what those people were thinking. The only thought that he had was to defeat Shin as soon as possible so that he could finally escape this place. The longer he stayed here, the higher the risk of him being captured by Inquisitors of the Church of the Sun and Moon.

He continued to channel his mana toward the demonic avatar behind him, making its appearance more realistic.

Bang!

At that moment, Shin finally broke through the blockade of the black spheres. Unfortunately, he was a step too late as the demonic avatar already had a lifelike appearance.

“What was that?” muttered Shin with a frown while looking at the huge silhouette behind Haowin.

Answering his question, Hanzo suddenly responded. “It is the Blood Servant Avatar.”

“Blood Servant Avatar?” repeated Shin while continuing to frown deeply. He could feel a strong pressure coming from the demonic avatar despite all the boosts and buffs that he had.

Hanzo nodded his head and continued. “Yes. It is one of the secret techniques that the Demon Race has. They pull out an ancient demon beast from the other dimension and turn it into their loyal servant.”

“In a sense, it was a secret technique that the Demon Race came up with to counter the Elemental Spirits and the Possession Techniques of the Heroes from the previous Repelling Era.”

He then paused for a moment before adding. “However, this secret technique can only be used by True Demons with noble statuses. Since that is the case, this Otherworld Individual must have a very high ranking in the Demonic Churches. We must capture him at all costs.”

Hanzo observed the appearance of the demonic avatar behind Haowin before continuing. “From the looks of it, this Ancient Demon Beast is a Destruction Devil. It is an epitome of destruction.”

“You must put your utmost caution! This one is going to be so much harder than you think,” he warned with full seriousness.

Shin inclined his head to the side before mumbling. “Then I must prevent it from fusing with that guy, right?”

As that thought flashed through Shin’s mind, right before he made his move, the Destruction Devil suddenly raised its arm and threw a punch at Shin.

Swoosh!

Shin’s pupils suddenly contracted when he saw that. Despite the huge body that this Destruction Devil had, its speed was something that Shin did not expect.

He quickly turned into a streak of light that dashed toward the other location.

Swoosh!

He had exhausted the charges of his ‘Moonlight Steps’ skill to make sure that would not be caught by that destructive punch.

Bang!

Shin could hear a deafening explosion when that punch reached its farthest range. The air in front of its demonic fist exploded, sending a strong shockwave in every direction.

That single punch alone was more than enough to rival one of the advanced skills of his Elemental Spirits.

As he was comparing the strength of his ancient demon beast with his elemental spirit, Hanzo’s voice suddenly sounded inside his head. “Destruction Devils have no skills or techniques. All they knew was to use their powerful bodies to destroy everything they see.”

Shin could not help but chuckle despite the current situation. He felt that his old spirit was somewhat offended when he tried to compare the Elemental Spirits to the Destruction Devil.

Haowin, who just finished summoning his Destruction Devil, quickly stood up and flew higher in the air.

He then entered the slightly translucent body of the demonic avatar behind him before activating an empowered berserk skill that was unique to True Demons.

Thump! Thump!

There was no visible change in Haowin’s outer appearance, but his muscles seemed to have become more compact and much denser.

Following that, the demonic avatar of the Destruction Devil suddenly shrunk with an unimaginable speed before merging with the body of Haowin.

And when the proceed ended, Haowin slowly opened his eyes, which were now releasing a deep crimson glow.

Additionally, a spiritual figure also overlapped with his existence, indicating that the Destruction Devil had merged with him.

‘Secret Demonic Technique: Destruction Devil’

The pressure that was coming from his body was also much stronger than before as it was comparable to the one that the Destruction Devil was releasing earlier.

The expression on Shin’s face became slightly solemn as he failed to stop the entire process. It was a little too fast for him to respond.

However, he was not that concerned as he was still confident with his current strength.

While Shin was still waiting for Haowin to make his move, the latter suddenly opened his mouth. Then a beam of light suddenly shot out from it and flew straight to Shin with a speed that surpassed everyone’s imagination.

Swoosh!

Regardless, Shin evolved innate talent inside the game, which was the Ultra Instincts, and his True Sight ocular skill gave him the ability to respond to it.

He swiftly raised his sheathed sword and placed it in front of him while summoning a spherical barrier made of fire mental mana.

This protective skill was the ‘Eclipse Pulse’ from the skillset he had from the Slayer Class.

Its properties changed due to the influence of his Elemental Spirit Possession and the Reality Manifestation.

Adding the great control that was granted to him by the ‘Divine Constellation’ and ‘Solar Breathing Technique’, the effects that this ordinary skill had another change.

Shin also added his Mentalism Technique in the mix, so its current form was much different from what it used to be.

It became one of the advanced techniques that his Mentalism Method had.

‘Four Symbol Scripture: Celestial Vermillion Bird Method – Pheonix Embrace’

Swoosh!

A tongue of flame suddenly appeared and wrapped itself around Shin and the transparent barrier that he had summoned.

It created a spiraling movement of flame surrounding the spherical barrier, creating an illusion where a blazing flow wrapping the barrier was constantly moving upwards.

The process seemed to be quite long in words, but it only took an instant to be completed.

Boom!

It was at that moment when the beam of light collided against the flaming barrier.

This beam of light seemed to have been split into multiple beams while clashing against the blazing barrier surrounding Shin. It looked like a stream of water colliding against a sturdy rock in the middle of a raging river.

The process lasted for a few moments until the beam of light finally exhausted its strength.

It then revealed Shin’s figure, which was completely unscratched despite how powerful the previous attack was.

As the embers of the flame dissipated in the air, Shin suddenly raised his head before saying. “I am starting to get the hang of it.”

“How about you try a little harder so that I can finally reach that state!”

……