Child of Destiny

Bang1 Bang! Bang!

The pair from God’s Paradise were doing their best to defend themselves against the barrage of combination attacks that Alucard was throwing at them.

The combination of the phantoms and the blood weapons was not as simple as everyone had thought.

Everyone first thought that the phantoms were nothing but a bunch of illusions to distract Sheryl and Berit, while the blood weapons raining down from the sky were meant to be the real attack.

But contrary to what everyone was thinking, these two were meant to work well with each other.

The phantoms were not just a bunch of illusions that could be eliminated easily. They were more like a group of clones that could repeatedly resurrect so long as the mana pool of the user of the skill could be maintained for as long as they desired.

Meanwhile, the blood weapons that were summoned in the air were not just meant to attack the duo from the sky. They were also meant to be the mobile armory of these phantoms.

Moreover, it was not just your regular phantom clones with above-average combat capabilities. These phantoms were among the top-notch clones that anyone could find alongside their very advanced AI, particularly in terms of their battle IQs.

Moreover, Sheryl and Berit also noticed that every phantom possessed very high combat techniques that could rival most of the peak Maverick and Titled Rankers out there.

If it were just those regular rankers, then it might still be a fight since these two could handle them, however many they were. Unfortunately, these phantoms seemed to have shared their minds, possessing perfect coordination and combination techniques.

“Tsk! Tsk! So, he is finally utilizing the real powers of his race, huh?” commented Sheryl while retreating toward Berit, who immediately protected her.

Berit threw the pair of round shields in his hands, letting them roll while blazing wheels around them, revolving them and forming a firestorm that warded off the incoming phantoms.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

‘Shield Master Skill (Tier 2): (Modified) Blazing Tornado’

The heat generated by the blazing tornado also melted most of the blood weapons that were currently scattered on the battlefield, as well as those that were still falling from the sky.

To make sure that the blood pool created by the melted blood weapons would not be able to pose any threat later, Berit had also used another skill to further amplify the effects of the previous one, triggering a combination skill stacking.

Whoosh!

The blood pool boiled and evaporated due to the sudden intensification of the temperature, creating a blood mist instead, which also swiftly dissipated not long after.

At the same time, Sheryl suddenly kept the assault rifle that she was holding before pulling out a gatling gun, which was noticeably much larger than her somewhat petite body.

She pulled this heavy gun with her skinny arms, somewhat shocking everyone, before resting it over her shoulder.

She did a pose for a moment before lowering the tactical goggles and fixing them a little. It was only after that that she held the gatling gun once again and fixed her posture before starting to fire along with her skill.

‘Military Gunfighting Technique: (Enhanced) Random Firing’

Du du du du du!

Flashes of light were repeatedly released from the tip of the rotating gun barrels, firing a barrage of magic bullets everywhere that annihilated the surrounding phantoms right outside the blazing tornado.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Poof! Poof! Poof!

Almost all the phantoms were eliminated right after the barrage of bullets rained down on them. Even if they managed to dodge the initial attacks due to their fast reaction, they were still unable to hold it for that long, especially when Sheryl applied a very advanced technique on top of everything.

Seeing how fast his phantoms were falling one after another, Alucard no longer had the intention of resurrecting them because it would only be a waste of mana.

Even if he could remotely control most of them and kept the pressure on the opposing duo, the burden on his mind would only go worse if he continued using this vampiric ability.

Instead, he used another ability along with the arrangement that he had just set up earlier.

“If they are thinking that the blood elemental mana containing my blood abilities will dissipate that easily, then they are up for a surprise,” he mumbled while sitting on his feet quite leisurely on a nearby branch of the tree.

The surrounding darkness seemed to have also moved toward him, creating a veil that hid his presence from his enemies.

He took the initiative to unsummon his phantoms before waiting for the blazing tornado to dissipate.

Whoosh!

Right after Berit retrieved his round shields, the blazing tornado had slowly disappeared and revealed the pair to everyone once again.

Sheryl cast an ice spell on her gatling gun, which was currently emitting a thick cloud of smoke due to the continuous firing earlier. It was to lower the heat and prevent it from jamming later.

At the same time, she also swiftly scanned the surroundings with the tactical goggles that she was wearing, trying to find Alucard.

Unfortunately, despite how advanced her tools were, they were still unable to find the opposing party.

“How is it possible that my tactical goggles are unable to find even any signs of mana fluctuations?” she mumbled with a clear sigh of confusion.

These tactical goggles were made from the most advanced technology that their team had found in a certain ruin.

That ruin seemed to be from an ancient civilization that focused on mechanical technology. This technology was so advanced that the team believed that it came from another dimension or realm, especially after seeing the patch notes that were released just recently.

Aside from that, this ruin from an ancient mechanical civilization possessed a certain inheritance that could also help someone convert into a certain class centered on advanced technology.

Unfortunately, none of their members were experts in this area. Not even one was interested in this expertise, especially when each of them already had the path that they were interested in.

As for the regular members of the Adventurer Team, aside from their key members of the main force, none of them were yet qualified to access such information and benefits.

Sheryl had met almost all the qualifications for the said class, but she also rejected it because the slots for her main and secondary combat classes had already been filled, and both classes satisfied her quite well.

This was why their team was thinking of selling the inheritance for quite a hefty sum. Their team was already in contact with quite a few fat sheep, which were on the same rank as Whale God Cetus.

Regardless, Sheryl still had taken some of the tools that they had gotten from the ruins, adding them to her arsenal.

While she was confused about the current situation, a sudden thought flashed through her mind. With her sparkling eyes, she swiftly adjusted the settings of the goggles before scanning the surroundings once again.

It was at this moment that she noticed a certain part of part that was too devoid of anything. It was as if there was a certain gap in the space filled with nothing.

“Found you~!” she smirked before keeping the gatling gun and swapping it with a high-caliber sniper rifle.

She then took on a sniping stance and aimed at a certain ‘void’ in the place.

Zong~! Long~! Long~!

The mana particles in the air were slowly gathering at the muzzle of her sniper rifle as she adjusted her breathing.

While she was preparing to fire a powerful shot, the veil of darkness that was covering Alucard suddenly revealed himself, while also assuming the same posture along with his sniper rifle.

Wong~!

At the same time, the tip of his rifle also had a gathering of mana mixed with his blood power, applying his unique mana manipulation technique.

Through her tactical goggles, Sheryl could see the smirk that Alucard was wearing, giving her an ominous feeling.

“Ah!?”

It was at this moment that Berit suddenly slammed his shields with one another, creating a series of overlapping sounds.

This snapped Sheryl out of her concentration. But before she could even complain to Berit, the latter immediately shouted with a grim expression on his face while also summoning a barrier to cover the two.

“This is bad! We have been poisoned!?”

“Eh!?”

Somewhat taken aback, Sheryl swiftly looked at her status window and immediately realized that she was indeed under the effects of a certain poison.

“Since when did-…!?” She was quite confused at first, but the realization swiftly kicked in right after. “The blood weapons!”

Berit nodded his head with full solemnness. “I think it also has gotten worse when I tried to burn the blood pools and made them evaporate.”

“Not only that, the phantoms seemed to have also meticulously arranged them well,” she added, realizing that all the series of events were nothing but an arrangement of their opponent.

“That guy knew us quite well,” she added along with a deep frown.

“Should we use our hidden cards as well?” asked Berit.

Sheryl nodded before looking forward once again and assuming her stance once more. Fortunately, her concentration was quite high, making it quite hard to break.

The earlier skill was still in the process, along with the gathering of mana particles at the tip of her sniper rifle.

“This guy is still as annoying as ever,” she added as she saw Alucard maintain the smirk on his face through her goggles.

From the look of it, he was teasing her by purposely not taking advantage of the earlier situation. He seemed to be waiting for her to pull the trigger of her sniper rifle before doing the same.

……