Child of Destiny

While looking at the horde of jiangshi surrounding them, Aoki slightly raised his brows before turning his gaze toward the towering ziggurat in the distance once more.

“The main goal of this trial is survival, but there is no time limit or any indication for how long we have to endure the attacks of these jiangshi,” he mumbled before swiftly adding. “Moreover, our main goal for coming here is right before our eyes. I wonder if it is truly about survival or something else.”

Hearing his words, Arthur and the rest fell silent for a couple of moments before nodding their heads.

They had to agree that this matter was not as simple as it seemed to be. There should be a hidden implication in the words said by the system.

…

Despite their rivalries and grudges against each other, none of them made a move against the others.

Even the old rivals and archenemies like the Dragon Pavilion and Hydra Guild did not engage in battle because they fully understood their current predicament.

They all knew that they needed the strength of one another to survive this predicament, especially when it was meant to be a struggle against such a terrifying horde of jiangshi.

…

“Are we going to continue standing here and wait for them to make their move?” said Gunner while raising his brows.

Hearing this, Luminous Dragon smirked. “Isn’t it better that way? We can last a bit longer if they continue to stand there and do nothing,” seemingly purposely targeting Gunner since earlier.

Gunner felt somewhat terrible because of this but did not say anything. He also felt that Luminous Dragon seemed to be trying to do something by constantly targeting him and picking on his words.

He was not sure about it yet, but his experience as the Branch Manager of Black Market told him that there were some hidden implications to these taunts than what he could see from the surface.

Unfortunately, he could not dwell too much on it because the system had finally announced the true beginning of the trial.

*Ding*

System: Under the blessing mark of the Dark King, the surrounding jiangshi will gain more power, which will also let them regain their peak strength.

Hearing the notification, everyone immediately realized why these jiangshi did not take the initiative to fight against them.

Under such conditions, it was only natural for these jiangshi to delay the fight as much as possible, which would give them stronger power to fight against their enemies.

Realizing their situation, everyone understood that they had to make their move now before the situation could even go worse than it already was.

“Let me take the honor of initiating the opening act,” said Gunner, itching to start this battle since earlier.

Boom!

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Throwing his metal box into the air, Gunner leaped forward, charging straight to the horde of jiangshi without any hesitation.

Not long after, the metal box opened itself and threw out a bunch of weapons, which Gunner caught one after another.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

He then began executing a series of skills and techniques that generated a powerful storm of energy, transforming into a massive beast that devoured a large portion of the opposing army.

Roar!

BOOM!

Amid the horde of jiangshi, Gunner started wreaking havoc, blasting anyone who came his way.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Hmph!”

Boa sneered when he saw Gunner start showing off on his own.

He then entered stealth alongside Cobra, who gave Arthur and Leonard a fierce look before disappearing into stealth.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Not long after, multiple heads of the jiangshi flew into the air one after another, killing them in the process.

These jiangshi had their heads severed from their bodies without showing any noticeable signs. Their heads just flew into the air, showcasing the clean cut through their necks, before falling back to the ground.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Anyone who came across these two deadly assassins was killed in a single hit, showcasing their peerless assassination techniques.

“It is time for us to make our moves as well,” said Luminous Dragon before waving his hand and casting a series of buffs for everyone.

Despite being competitors for this trial, Luminous Dragon had taken the initiative to buff everyone.

He understood their current situation very well and knew that it was more beneficial to take advantage of each other’s strengths rather than continuing the prejudice that they had against one another.

He knew that they would survive much longer if he let everyone’s strength rise to a higher level.

At least it became clear how long they had to stay in this trial. Until then, he had to keep on assisting everyone and make sure that they would cover each other.

Of course, there were also a few exceptions. He would never give his buffs to anyone from the Hydra Guild, no matter how dire their situation. He would rather fail altogether than lend them a helping hand.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Receiving such high-level buffs from their competitor caught everyone off guard, but they also understood the reason behind it.

Regardless of the reason, they accepted the buffs without saying anything.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

In response to this, Riko had also summoned a bunch of spirit talismans and threw them into the air.

Swoosh!

Not long after, each talisman went straight to everyone and attached itself to their bodies before giving them a series of buffs that further heightened their peak strength.

BOOM!

A series of powerful explosions suddenly erupted as their auras rose to an even higher level.

With all these buffs, Arthur and Leonard swiftly charged forward, intending to charge straight at the heart of their opponents’ ranks and cause even stronger havoc than what Gunner was already creating.

Roar! Roar!

A pair of mythical beasts suddenly appeared high up in the air, one being an ancient dragon while the other was a primordial beast.

The giant golden dragon twisted and twirled in the air, seemingly performing a majestic dance, before suddenly diving down.

Roar!

Boom!

Arthur targeted one of the deepest parts of the opposing army, landing his attack at the spot where the jiangshi were more concentrated.

Roar!

Boom!

On another side of the battlefield, the crimson lion suddenly pounced at the center of another highly concentrated part of the opposing army and killed everyone within that area.

Boom!

Just like Arthur, Leonard had targeted the densest part of the battlefield, making sure to deal the largest damage to their enemies.

Unfortunately, their efforts seemed to be nothing but a drop of water at the center of an ocean, given the huge size of the opposing army.

They barely dealt damage to the opposing forces despite how powerful their attacks were and the number of jiangshi that they had taken down alongside them.

Roar! Roar!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Not long after, the two immediately went crazy with their attacks, destroying as many jiangshi as they could.

They understood that their situation would only get worse if they left too many of them. After all, these guys would only grow stronger over time, making it harder for them to deal with.

Watching these two wreak havoc within the midst of their enemies’ ranks, the senior members of their group could not help but slightly raise their brows.

“It is sure good to be young,” commented Aoki, acting as if he were too old compared to Arthur and Leonard, when there was only a 3 to 4-year gap between them at most.

“Ryoto, I will leave Riko’s safety to you. Make sure to protect yourself,” he said before walking forward.

Ryoto could only shrug his shoulders, understanding that it was better for him to stay by Riko’s side due to the nature of his skills and abilities.

Boom!

Not long after, Aoki suddenly disappeared right after kicking the ground and sending a cloud of dust flying behind him.

Swoosh!

Seemingly mimicking the actions of his dear juniors, he leaped into the air before letting himself hover for a couple of seconds.

He made sure to get a good look at the extremely humongous cave hall, sweeping his gaze in every direction and checking on all the jiangshi filling the entire place.

Roar!

Not long after, an azure dragon suddenly manifested behind him before engulfing his entire body.

Swoosh!

After that, this dragon also dove straight to the ground, plunging itself straight at the deeper parts of the opposing army.

BOOM!

Aoki had chosen to head straight to a much deeper part of the place, seemingly wanting to isolate himself from everyone else.

Right after standing at the center of the huge crater that he had created, Aoki gave his surroundings a good look and saw that massive hordes of jiangshi were pouring into it and charging at him.

“This should be a good spot,” he mumbled before raising his spear.

“It has been a while since I felt this feeling. I guess it is time to remind the world of my great self,” he added while chuckling.

…