Child of Destiny

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…

Seeing the silhouettes of the creatures stuck on the cave walls and ceiling, Owen quickly reacted and raised his shield high while activating one of his most advanced skills.

‘Ancient Protection Skill (Tier 2): Bulwark of the Titan God’

Swoosh!

A huge dome of aura quickly enveloped the entire group and formed a sturdy barrier that protected them from all sides.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

It was at that moment when a series of sharp sounds reverberated in the entire cave channel as the barrier was bombarded by the attacks from those dark creatures.

It was also at this moment that the group was able to have a clear look at these monsters.

What they saw were a bunch of lizard-like creatures with a body covered with obsidian scales. These scales carried a dangerous luster compared to the Komodo Lizards that they were fighting up until now. These scales were shaped like a rhombus while carrying a dangerous sharpness on their edges.

The scales covering the four limbs of these creatures seemed to be somewhat erected, acting as some sort of spike weapon.

“These guys are masters of stealth and assassination in the family of Draconic Species, so keep your senses sharp and observe your surroundings as best as you can!” Arthur was an expert when it came to anything related to dragons, so he was very familiar with the monsters with some relation to them.

“Their defenses should be two levels lower than the Komodo Lizards that controlled the Power of Earth, but their attacking power is much higher than those guys.”

“Moreover, these guys are more proficient in stealth, so if we added the factor that these guys are also under a series of mutations just like those guys, then these Shadow Lizards should be able to control the power of shadows to a certain extent.”

As Arthur was explaining to everyone, he quickly walked out of the formation before clashing against the strong-looking Shadow Lizard that tried to charge at the barrier that Owen had summoned.

Bang!

He was able to send the monster back for a dozen meters after that collision, but he was also pushed back for the same distance due to the strong impact.

“Cloe! Chaos!” shouted Shin.

Hearing his call, the two quickly pointed their staffs in the air, sending a ball of fire and light above the group, which illuminated the entire place.

With these two glaring lights shining in the air, the figures of the Shadow Lizards that were trying to hide in the darkness were fully revealed in front of the group.

As the group was preparing for the battle, Diablo suddenly walked past Arthur, who was at the forefront of their formation.

Arthur slightly tilted his head to the side before asking in confusion. “Hey. What are you doing?”

“You said that these guys control the power of the shadows, am I right?” Diablo ignored the question as he asked in return.

Arthur became even more confused due to those words and was about to ask something, but he saw that Diablo suddenly turned to Shin.

“Vice Commander, can I act independently this time?” asked Diablo as a burning fighting spirit could be seen within his eyes.

Hearing that, Arthur could not help but glare at Diablo’s back as the corner of his mouth twitched. ‘Hey! I am also a vice commander of this team!’

Shin seemed to have understood what Diablo was planning to do. ‘This guy has awakened the Ancient Powers of the Shadows during our battle with the Grand Centipedeus previously, so he must be itching to compare it with these monsters that control the same attribute, especially when they have a hint of dragon blood in their veins.’

‘I can also feel that he wants to test the techniques that he had learned from that NPC organization that has scouted him,’ Shin thought to himself before giving his permission. “Alright. You are free to do whatever.”

“Thank you,” nodded Diablo as he suddenly disappeared from his spot.

Swoosh!

He then instantly appeared in the middle of the Shadow Lizards in the distance before snapping his fingers.

Snap!

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Not only after, the shadows within that dark side of the cave suddenly moved, seemingly obeying his orders.

These shadows wrapped themselves around his body, seemingly becoming an extension of himself.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Not long after, the Shadow Lizards around him felt like they were trapped within the mud due to the sudden appearance of the ‘water-like shadow’ underneath them.

They tried to use their elemental powers to manipulate the shadows and free themselves, but the restriction that Diablo had cast upon them was much stronger than what they were capable of.

“Eh!? What kind of power is that?” Arthur stared at Diablo with a curious gaze and became interested at the technique that the latter was using.

He had been sparring with Diablo during their free time previously, so he was quite familiar with the abilities of the latter. He also had a good grasp of Diablo’s power during that time, but it seemed like this guy had improved quite a lot after undergoing special training from that mysterious NPC organization.

“Interesting~!” he commented as he started fighting the Shadow Lizards that were starting to surround him.

Seeing Diablo showcasing his newly found powers, Arthur would not let himself outshined by anyone, especially when he was the master of showing off.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Nine golden dragons appeared around Arthur as he swung his spear around. They danced around him while revolving around his body and slaughtering the Shadow Lizards in the vicinity.

‘Class Fighting Style: Dance of the Nine Dragons’

Shin shook his head when he saw that scene, fully understanding what this brother of his was thinking.

He then focused on giving out orders to the other members of the group as they dealt with the swarm of Shadow Lizards that were coming from every direction.

…

The battle lasted for quite a while, but it was much faster than when they were dealing with the Komodo Lizards.

These Shadow Lizards might be more troublesome and more dangerous to deal with due to their fast movement speed and ability to move along the shadows of the cave.

Such abilities were very annoying to deal with, especially in dark places such as this cave. But these poor lizards just bumped into this group that had Diablo, who controlled a shadow power much stronger than them, and Cloe, who was from the Church of Light.

There were also Chaotic Luck and Samael, who possessed the powers of the Sun, which happened to be the bane of dark-type creatures.

Shin and Arthur were also a counter for these creatures, making the hunting time much more efficient compared to when they were hunting the Komodo Lizards.

But that was just the beginning as more Shadow Lizards were waiting for them at the deeper parts of this cave channel. Moreover, these batches of Shadow Lizards were much more troublesome to deal with as their ranks were much higher than the ones they had encountered previously.

They even encountered several Special Elite Monsters along the way, giving them a lot of trouble.

Some of them almost lost their lives during the battle against five special elites. If not for Cloe’s overpowered healing abilities and Diablo and Arthur’s senses to locate these special elite Shadow Lizards, then they have most likely suffered a serious casualty right now.

The group were even forced to use their respective combat states when they were besieged by the five special elites.

Shin, Arthur, Leonard, and Diablo were even forced to use their Elemental Possessions at the final moments to simultaneously kill four of these special elites with a single burst, ending the dangerous situation as soon as possible.

Due to this incident, the group was then forced to pause their exploration to rest and recover their peak forms before proceeding, especially when Arthur could sense five to seven more special elites waiting for them ahead.

The next battle became much harder due to the number of special elites lying in wait for the group. This forced the group to use most of their cards once again, which further exhausted their minds.

The concentration they consumed within this dungeon was twice as much as the outside, so even if they rested for quite a while earlier, the burden in their minds was still quite heavy for them to endure.

They might have cleared all the Special Elite Shadow Lizards, but it cost them to become exhausted beyond what they could endure.

Even Shin, who possessed an immense amount of willpower, was almost reaching his limit.

…

“Are you sure that there are no more monsters ahead?” asked Leonard as the group rested.

“Don’t worry, I am a hundred percent sure about this. There is no monster ahead of us,” Arthur reassured them as he kept using his Dragon Sene to the limits.

“If something jumps at us later, then it is all your fault!” said Lorraine as she leaned on the cave wall.

After a few moments, Shin finally recovered and signaled to Arthur and Diablo. “Let’s go take a look at what’s waiting for us ahead.”

Arthur was too lazy to move right now, but he still forced himself to get up and follow Shin. Diablo also did not complain either as he silently followed behind the two.

Not long after, the three finally arrived at the end of the cave channel and saw a spacious area with nothing but a floating object at the center.

The three did not immediately step into this empty area as they carefully observed everything within. They checked the walls and the ceiling to make sure that there was no hidden monster waiting to ambush them inside.

Diablo even used his special technique to control the shadows to ensure that nothing was hiding behind the dark corners of this place.

These three only dared to enter the spacious area after confirming that they had checked everything.

They walked toward the center of the place and looked closely at the floating object.

*Ding*

It was at that moment when Arthur finally received an update for his quest.

…