Child of Destiny

Boom! Boom!

Roar!

Zorethar had grown into a massive Kraken with tentacles stretching for a few kilometers and a humongous body that looked like a mountain underwater.

Shin could also use the Gigantification Skill and turn into one of the titans of the sea, the real form of the World Serpents. With the power of such a huge body, along with its unique abilities, he could at least match the destructive powers of a Kraken that took its true form.

But Shin chose not to do that since he knew it could only weaken him instead. After all, he was not familiar with moving in the body of a sea monster, so it would only do him more harm if he tried to transform as well.

It would be better to continue fighting in this form as he was more familiar with it. It would be much more effective for him to stay in the humanoid form in this battle, especially when his techniques were meant for this form as well.

If he tried to do the same as Zorethar and used his Gigantification Skill just to match the destructive power of the latter, then he would only do himself more harm and put himself at a disadvantage.

Moreover, he could only use the breathing technique that he just learned previously – the Boundless Ocean Technique, in this form as he was only familiar with using it in a humanoid form.

Since there were more demerits than merits if he tried to use the Gigantification Skill than maintaining in this form, Shin chose the latter without any hint of hesitation.

With that, he used everything he could to suppress the overwhelming power that was being stirred within his body due to the bloodline awakening.

This resulted in the current form of aura that was surrounding him. It was the leaking powers that were coming out from his body as he tried to keep them under control.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Not long after, Shin was suddenly bombarded by a series of attacks from the huge, flexible, and destructive tentacles from every direction.

Shin’s body suddenly turned into a blur before flashing in every direction and leaving a series of afterimages behind.

It was one of his signature movement techniques. But this time, he was using it with a different breathing, producing a different elemental effect.

Moreover, he converted this Martial Skill into a Mentalism Technique, applying the principles of the Four Symbol Scripture into it while also incorporating the Boundless Ocean Technique in the process.

‘Elemental Movement Technique: (Self-Created) Ghost Evanescent – Ocean Phantom’

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Shin managed to dodge all the tentacles attacking him from every direction despite how large the range that they covered.

Not long after, the movements of the tentacles changed and took a more strategic route. They started forming a series of formations that were meticulously arranged and carefully stacked on top of one another.

Seeing that, Shin suddenly paused for a moment before he gathered all the energies within his body into a single point. He focused them in front of his chest as his palms faced each other before it.

Zong!

A spherical energy was immediately formed in between his palms, spinning rapidly as he contained it in place.

‘Four Symbol Scripture: Heavenly Black Tortoise – Breath of the Sea’

Swoosh!

Not long after, Shin pushed his palms against each other, clasping the spherical energy tightly between them.

He then slowly opened them while stretching them forward. He was also forming a triangle seal with his hands as a manifestation of a white serpent appeared behind him. It opened its mouth while before shooting a brilliant beam of light that flew straight to the Kraken.

Roar!

Boom!

The huge and small tentacles quickly gathered and tried to block the beam of light, but the blockade that they had created collapsed within an instant right after they touched the energy beam.

The flesh of the tentacles was melted by the ‘heat’ that the energy beam had, obliterating them as it continued to fly to the head of the Kraken.

Roar!

In response to it, Zorethar suddenly opened its mouth filled with countless sharp teeth and opened it wide before summoning a powerful suction force through it.

Shu!

Not long after, the Kraken swallowed the beam of light, which then disappeared. It was as if it was sent into an endless abyss filled with nothing but darkness.

At the same time, its melted and broken tentacles swiftly recovered and swiftly regenerated their previous state.

But before they could reach their perfect state, a series of lights suddenly filled the entire place before turning into sharp flashes that cut through everything that they went.

‘World Serpent Skill: Fangs of Sea’

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Roar!

Due to the severed tentacles, Zorethar roared in pain, especially when those attacks were imbued with special mana that disrupted the energy flow with his body and amplified the pain receptors that he had.

Blue blood was also starting to come out from its wounds, signifying that these attacks from Shin were not as simple as they seemed from the surface.

The wounds that Shin had inflicted were preventing Zorethar from recovering. Because of this, the latter gave up on healing himself and just took the initiative to cut his tentacles that were affected by the strange mana of his opponent.

Shin was about to press forward and ride the momentum that he had created when he suddenly sensed something wrong.

He quickly halted his tracks and retreated, barely dodging an ambush sneaking from his blind spot.

When he turned his head over, he saw a bunch of octopods scattered around and slowly surrounding him.

Shin swept his surroundings and saw that these guys seemed to have been born from the severed tentacles that Zorethar had separated from his body earlier.

“Tsk! This is going to be a little tricker,” mumbled Shin with a frown.

He knew that he had already pushed Zorethar into a corner with his previous attacks and was currently in a weakened state due to forcefully severing his tentacles from his main body.

It was the perfect time to finish off this Kraken.

Unfortunately, Zorethar possessed quite a lot of strange abilities that put Shin in this current position.

The two skills that he had used earlier were some of the most powerful ones that he could use right now. They might be powerful and could inflict serious damage on the opposing side, but they also consumed quite a lot of mana and put quite a toll on his body.

Even if he could recover the lost mana quite quickly due to the Boundless Ocean Technique, the burden that they had caused on his body would require some time to recover despite his powerful regenerative abilities.

He had taken the gamble of using powerful skills for a quicker pace of this battle since he could not afford to waste too much time here given that he could be targeted by other powerful participants once he left himself vulnerable to them, especially when the World Serpents were a ‘common enemy’ of all the sea creatures in this tournament.

Moreover, he had four types of Sea Gems in his possession, so he was currently a hot potato in their eyes.

Unfortunately, Zorethar seemed to have seen through his thoughts and decided to slow down the battle despite being in a somewhat berserk state.

These octopods surrounding Shin would buy Zorethar enough time to recover from his injuries while also wasting more time from his opponent.

“Tsk!” feeling a little annoyed, Shin suddenly bumped his fists against each other before getting ready to attack.

He was planning to eliminate as many octopods as possible while making his way toward the main body of his opponent.

But to his surprise, the movements of the octopods suddenly changed and formed a battle formation that focused on defense rather than an offensive one despite having an overwhelming advantage in number.

“I know that this guy is quite cunning, but I don’t expect him to be this meticulous given his earlier actions,” Shin clicked his tongue for another time after seeing everything.

It felt like Zorethar was able to read his mind as every time he planned to do something, the opposing side was able to move ahead of time before he could even execute what was inside his mind.

“Should I try confirming it?” mumbled Shin as he stretched and tightened his fingers, forming a clawing gesture with them.

He then took a stance while regulating his breathing before charging forward.

Swoosh!

…

At the same time, somewhere in this sea realm and somewhat near the battle that was going on, a group of sea creatures were rushing toward the direction where Shin and Zorethar were fighting.

Given the auras that they were emitting, it was clear that neither of them was a simple individual.

This group of participants was among those who had the greatest chance of advancing to the more difficult rounds of the tournament given their respective powers.

They were currently heading to the source of the commotions that they felt earlier. They all knew that an intense battle was presently taking place in that direction, which could give them a chance to fish some benefits without spending much effort.

But before they could even get near the place, they were suddenly obstructed by a lone individual.

It was another participant, who possessed the greatest power among those in the tournament. It was a familiar Naga that was somewhat familiar with Shin since it was the same sea creature that Shin had ‘helped’ earlier.

Experience more tales on empire

“I am sorry to say this, but this path is currently unavailable,” said this World Serpent while looking dangerously at the group of sea creatures, not showing even a hint of fear despite their numbers.

“I ask you to use another route.”

This time, he had given them a calm suggestion that sounded like a threat. He was telling them not to get involved in the ongoing battle behind him.

……