Child of Destiny

“The Ancient Powers of the Ancient Elves,” mumbled Shin as he frowned deeply while looking at Kael.

Ancient Elves were known to be a Transcendent Race. Among the people that Shin knew, Alice was the only person who had this race with her class being an Elven Sage.

He was very familiar with the aura that this race had, which was why he could not help but frown deeply while looking at Kael. The latter was currently emitting an oddly similar power as a Transcendent Race.

However, he could also sense a hint of differences coming from the current opponent, especially when this Ancient Aura was more like an aura from a Sea Beast that he had encountered during the Trial of the Primordial Waters.

At the same time, he was also sure that Kael’s race was not a Transcendent Race since the latter was not emitting the same aura unique to the Transcendent Races. All Kael possessed was the ancient powers of the said race and not the true essence of the race.

From what he could see, Kael possessed an Ascended Class related to elves and had also achieved full enlightenment of the class. This then resulted to the evolution of his race and promoting himself into a true Ascended Being just like what happened to Owen.

Closely looking at the current appearance of Kael and particularly paying a close attention to the runes running through the skin of his opponent, Shin suspected that it was be these runes and the tattoos that he had seen from Flouree in the previous match were the reason why these guys were capable of wielding the said Ancient Powers.

Fixing his grip on his swords, Shin stared at Kael before signaling the rest of the team to attack.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Kael also responded as he freed Sakura and Yamamoto from the dome that he had created and let them go on a rampage.

Right after being released, the forms of Sakura and Yamamoto were currently under the effects of their respective berserk states on top of using the special powers of their respective Ascended Race.

Their overall powers might not be as amazing as Kael’s current form nor Owen’s when he was under the activation of his Divine Tattoos, much less Shin’s godly form.

However, when compared to the rookies of the Empyrean Talons, their forms were in a much higher dimension.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Boom!

As the chaotic battle broke out between those five, Shin and Kael immediately made their moves, almost bringing down the entire corridor due to their intense exchanges.

From time to time, they were also creating opportunities to send some help to assist their respective teammates.

Kael had a slight advantage in this area as his spells covered a larger area, and he had several of them in his arsenal.

But Shin compensated for this gap with his absolute speed and powerful swordsmanship.

Kael used a variety of elements along with the elemental wisps surrounding him, while Shin contested them with the elemental powers of his Elemental Spirits.

The former had a greater variety of attacks due to the insane number of spells under his belt and a large quantity of elemental wisps on his side.

However, the quality of Shin’s elemental powers was a notch higher. The Enhanced Eternal Flame, the Five Elemental Primordial Lightning, and the Psychic Shadow were higher forms of mana that surpassed most of the elemental powers within the game.

One relied on quantity while the other had quality. This battle was quite a textbook example that was used as a guide by famous analysts and experts online.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

While retreating, Kael sent a barrage of blazing rocks at Shin, which seemed to be a bunch of little meteors. They covered almost all directions, attacking the latter from different angles.

Seeing their tricky trajectories, Shin slowed down his approach before executing one of his signature techniques, the ‘Infinity Edge’, to either block or deflect the attacks away.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Whoosh!

As he finished blocking the little meteors, a huge ice spike suddenly flew at him. Its speed was so fast that it was almost upon Shin’s face before he could even respond.

Fortunately, Shin’s reflexes were quite fast as well, thanks to his Ultra Instinct Innate Talent. His arms were already moving on their own before the tip of the ice spike reached him.

Crossing his swords before his face, the ice spike was deflected upwards right after hitting the surface of the swords.

Bang!

But before that ice spike could even fly over Shin’s head, it exploded and sent a barrage of broken and sharp pieces of ice at him.

However, as they poured down at him, the sharp pieces of ice shards flew passed his body. They hit nothing but an afterimage that Shin had left behind.

Kael’s eyes suddenly turned wide as he realized that he had lost track of Shin, putting him on full alert. He then swiftly gathered his hands and commanded the elemental wisps to cover himself with crystallized ice to protect himself.

Swoosh!

It was at this moment when Shin suddenly came descending from the ceiling, leaving trails of light behind as he slashed his swords down.

Bang!

The crystalline barrier was immediately filled with cracks right after getting hit by the [Durendal] and the [Yamato], but still managed to remain intact.

Crack! Crack!

Hearing the snapping sound of the crystalline barrier, Shin immediately used the ‘Void Steps’ Elemental Skill to get away from that place.

Boom!

Right after he disappeared into the void and reappeared in the distance, the barrier immediately exploded and sent sharp ice shards in every direction.

Shin was stabilizing his footing on the ground, around the skeleton soldiers, when the floor of the corridor suddenly trembled and moved.

Not long after, a pair of giant hands made of dirt and hardened bricks emerged from the floor, encompassing the area with its palm and trying to grab him.

“Tsk! This control over elemental mana is really troublesome,” Shin clicked his tongue as he mumbled. “It may not be on the same level as Alice, but that is only because of the difference between the essence of their techniques.”

“That girl is worshiped by the elements and heeded her commands at will, while this guy is forcefully manipulating the surrounding elemental mana through those elemental wisps, which had a close connection to it.”

As Shin dwelt in these thoughts, trying to understand the powers of his opponents, the giant earth hands were already closing in. They were trying to trap him inside and crush his body later.

But before they could fully close their palms, Shin’s swords suddenly flashed multiple times, cutting through them and turning these earth hands into crumbling pieces of rock.

He then raised his head and looked at Kael once again, who was already preparing for his next barrage of spells.

“This guy should be able to control much stronger elemental powers, given that they control that Ancient Power and Mana Essence, yet he was still not showing any signs of it,” Shin squinted his eyes as he became somewhat suspicious of the other party. “Is it because he has yet to fully master that power? Or is it because he can only use it with a certain limit?”

“Or is he trying to lure me into a trap before suddenly exploding with his greatest power?” he could not help but become suspicious as he could sense the oddity within the current situation.

This guy was indeed strong, but it was not overwhelming enough to put Shin and the others in a helpless state.

It was at this moment that the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of the rookie trio struggling against the pair of veterans from the opposing side.

“I see. So that is what they are trying to do,” he mumbled after seeing the current situation.

He started grinning as he tightened his grip on the two swords. “Let’s see who will be faster than.”

After that, he suddenly kicked the ground and launched himself into the air, clashing against Kael once again.

Bang!

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

***

In the meantime, on the other side of the map, another battle was currently going on.

Unfortunately, it was Leonard and his group once again who got caught in a battle after bumping into the team that Flouree was leading.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Tsk! Tsk! What kind of bad luck is this? We have just bumped into the other earlier, now we are up against the other?” complained Leonard a little as he was covering the rear of the team while they were running.

The opposing side had the numerical advantage this time, which was why they could not just fight them head-on. The other side also had Crimson and Flouree, who had a very strong firepower, so they had no choice but to run.

“Given that the other group is taking the opposite direction earlier, there is a high chance that they are meeting their teammates on that side. How come we bump into the other group not long after?” mumbled Alucard as he thought of this matter.

“There are only two reasons for that,” said Akailu. “Either these guys are coming from the other direction and moving toward their meeting place, or we somehow took a wrong turn while crossing the intersections earlier, which resulted in us bumping into them.”

“If that is the case, then we are in danger,” commented Diablo as he realized the gravity of their situation. “If we truly took a wrong turn, and we are near their meeting place, then there is also the chance of us encountering the other group.”

Hearing this, the others could not help but have a solemn expression on their faces. Fully understanding their current predicament.

If they could not break free from the pursuit of Flouree and her group, then there was a high chance that they would be trapped in a pincer attack later.

…