Child of Destiny

Han stared at Shin grimly, especially after realizing the huge gap between them. Not only their overall stats were too apart from one another, but their techniques, abilities, and mana were in two different dimensions.

Even if he had the help of the ancient soul of the Three-Eyed Demon Crow, Han knew that he was still far from being able to bridge the gap between the two of them.

“So, this is how powerful a top Godlike Player of the game is,” he had not started to acknowledge that he was still far from being enough to match these apex gods of the virtual world.

Realizing this, he did not have a choice but to accept the reality, especially his incapability of matching a highly ranked Godlike Player of the game.

Throwing every else at the back of his head, Han gritted his teeth and took a pill from his inventory bag.

This pill was different from what the others usually took. It seemed to be a black pellet but possessed some golden engravings on its surface.

Given how small this pill was, it was very hard to notice this detail, but with the help of the True Sight ocular skill and his enhanced senses in his current state, Shin could see everything.

He was sure that this evil pill had a somewhat different effect compared to the ones that the other members of the opposing group had taken earlier.

Han did not care about Shin’s thoughts as he decisively took the black pill after gritting his teeth. “I know that it is still at the testing pace, but I can’t afford to die here since I am currently holding one of the inheritance maps that the organization has taken.”

“If I lose this, then the consequences will be dire,” he was thinking of how he would escape this situation, especially when he was currently facing an empowered version of Shin.

He did not expect that he would encounter such a predicament when they were exploring the plagued lands. After all, their information network had informed them that the members of the Empyrean Talons had mysteriously disappeared from the Divine Empire for some unknown reason.

Not even Harlequin, the Female Clown of the Blood Carnival, could not sense them despite having the help of her mysterious tracking skill. Even if she could feel that one of the members of the Empyrean Talons was still marked with her curse, she was unable to pinpoint their exact location due to the extreme distance.

This information was not hidden from the other organizations that had a feud with the Empyrean Talons as it was purposely leaked by the Blood Carnival itself.

Aside from this reason, Han was confident of himself as well. He did not believe that he would lose to anyone in the wilderness, especially when he was being accompanied by a couple of peak mavericks.

He also had the sword artifact that was bestowed upon him by the great leader of the Seven Seas Group, further boosting his confidence.

What he did not expect was the overwhelming gap between him and a true god of the game.

But he was still not in despair since he knew that there was still a chance for him to turn the tables around. With this black pill in his hand, he was confident that he could leave this place at the very least even if he could not defeat Shin.

All he needed to do was to make sure that he would not lose himself during the battle while finding a way to use the special escaping scroll in his hands.

It was a scroll that could let him randomly teleport within a hundred-mile radius so long as he was able to fully activate it. Then he could use his return scroll which would need a 10-second activation to return to the city.

The special escaping scroll would require him at least 2 to 3 seconds before it is activated, so he could not just use it in front of Shin, who was closely watching him.

Taking the black pill was ideal since it would not only take him a second to swallow it, but he would also gain a sudden boost in his powers once he did it. That was more than enough for him to protect himself if Shin suddenly attacked him in that timeframe.

Unlike when he would attempt to use the escaping scroll.

“Argh!”

Right after taking the black pill, Han’s eyes instantly turned bloodshot as his aura suddenly changed. He felt like he was losing his mind and about to turn into a mindless demon.

This black pill contained a more potent energy compared to the ones that the others had taken. Its effects were also much faster and more violent compared to regular ones.

It could instantly influence his mind not only within the game but in the real world as well. His body in the real world was also affected by this pill, seemingly triggering something deep within his consciousness.

Right after ‘its’ awakening, dark thoughts immediately flooded his mind and tried to overwhelm him.

If not for his strong mind that was currently being supported by the ancient soul of the Three-Eyed Demon Crow, then he would most likely have lost his sanity.

The next instant, he turned to Shin, glaringly fiercely.

It was as if he wanted to slaughter Shin in the most brutal way possible. But Han forcefully suppressed these thoughts as he knew that it would become more dangerous, even for him, if he tried to let these thoughts control him.

Forget about dying in the game and get forcefully logged out by the system, he might even lose his sanity in the real world if these dark thoughts overwhelmed him for an extended period of time.

It was better to end this as soon as possible – or more specifically, escape from this place.

Swoosh!

Taking the initiative to attack, Han waved his broadsword and sent a massive sword energy toward Shin.

This sword energy was not only filled with his mana but also reinforced by the mental energy provided by the apparition of the Three-Eyed Demon Crow.

Seeing this, Shin could not help but slightly raise his brows. This technique was something that only a few individuals in the real world.

This unification of mana and mental energy was somewhat similar to what many had pursued in the real world – the Unification of Martial Arts and Mentalism.

From what Shin knew, there were only two to three individuals who could do this individually.

One of them was Doctor Frankenstein, the man who had done a lot of immoral experiments, while the other was the Great Demon Jan Mateo, who had let himself be consumed by the Seed of Hatred within him and embraced being a Demon.

As for the third person, Shin felt that Professor Henry could somewhat do similar things but not on the same scale as those two monsters. At the very least, the old professor could create certain techniques that combined the principles of the two disciplines such as Unified Strengthening and Secret Arts.

There were also the said couple that Professor Plum had mentioned before, the legendary couple – Heavenly Demon Adam and Celestial Pheonix Evangeline Rose. These two had found a way to perfectly combine the Martial Arts and Mentalism disciplines, but it required a combined effort from the two, unlike the previous ones.

Seeing this incoming attack, Shin seemed to have finally realized what those guys from the Seven Seas Group were thinking.

“Those guys must be using the lives of these players as a test subject for this experiment,” he mumbled grimly after realizing what the other side was planning to do.

Then, with a wave of his sword, he sent a similarly strong sword wave that clashed against the incoming attack.

Boom!

As the opposing powers collided against one another, a massive explosion erupted. But unlike the previous collisions it contained a more profound power.

When he squinted his eyes, Shin could see that this mental energy from the Three-Eyed Demon Crow was very similar to what Mentalists in the real world.

But the difference was this mental energy was similar to the elemental powers within the game – somewhat similar to mana filling the air but carrying a different principle.

Shin had already realized this before, but he only went into details after seeing what the Three-Eyed Demon Crow had down.

As Shin thought about this, he took the initiative to attack. This time, he wanted to see how this ancient soul was using his mental energy so that he could copy it and take it for himself.

He might not copy the ‘mental energy’ itself as he already controlled multiple special elemental powers, which were supposed to follow a similar principle. But he could at least still get something from it, especially how to utilize them to their full potential.

Shin squinted his eyes as he suddenly got an idea. Now that he had already perfected his breathing technique, he wanted to find the right way to utilize his newly found powers and techniques to their strongest and highest point.

…