Child of Destiny

Donato wore a solemn expression as he looked at the seven people surrounding him from every direction.

He might have been individually stronger than any of them—and by a considerable margin at that.

However, every one of these people was extremely skilled and powerful in their respective fields.

Together, they could cause him far more than just a little trouble.

”Those sounds are a bit of a problem,” he muttered.

He immediately sealed his ears with mana, filtering out the sounds reaching him.

This might weaken his hearing, but he could still fight by relying on his other senses and his extensive experience in combat.

Bang!

This time, Donato took the initiative.

His first targets were Felix and Felicia, whom he considered the most troublesome additions to the group.

Swoosh!

As he charged forward, the mana surging from his body suddenly intensified before transforming into a massive beast that engulfed his entire body.

Roar!

The mana beast charged forward alongside Donato, pouncing toward the twins as he swung his battle axe.

The twins reacted swiftly.

Ding~! Ling~! Ding~! Ling~!

Felix tapped the twin blades of his two-pronged sword with his fingers, producing a series of vibrations that expanded outward and formed multiple layers of invisible barriers.

Then, just as the massive mana beast collided with them, he suddenly thrust his sword forward.

Another vibration erupted, resonating with the layered barriers and further amplifying the vibrations contained within them.

’Divine Sound Art: Vibration Series – Veil of Heaven’

BOOM!

The moment the massive beast collided with the layered barriers, the mana maintaining its form was repeatedly shredded, its energy being stripped away layer by layer.

However, the vibrating barriers were exhausted first, making the massive beast eventually break through them and continue pouncing toward Felix.

Roar!

Before it could advance any farther, Owen suddenly descended from the sky and slammed both tower shields against the beast’s head, smashing it into the ground.

Bang!

Shing! Shing! Shing!

At almost the same moment, shadow spikes suddenly erupted from the ground and pierced the massive mana beast from below, drilling countless holes through its body and rapidly tearing it apart.

Bang!

However, Donato continued advancing without hesitation.

He charged straight toward Felix, who had already taken advantage of Owen and Diablo’s attacks to retreat as quickly as possible.

Swoosh!

But Donato’s burst speed was terrifyingly fast as well, allowing him to rapidly close the distance.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Just as his battle axe was about to descend upon Felix, Donato suddenly realized that he had been surrounded by the segmented blade of the icy whip sword.

His movements immediately slowed as the tremendous cold invading his body had become even more potent.

Without the protection of the mana surrounding his body, the freezing energy clinging to him began interfering with his movements even further.

Donato was forced to abandon his attack and focus on defense as the icy blades surrounding him suddenly began tightening.

’Four Symbol Scripture: Heavenly Black Tortoise – Ouroboros Fangs’

Swoosh!

The segmented sections of the whip sword suddenly closed and wrapped around Donato.

Hiss! Hiss!

An image of a massive serpent made entirely of ice manifested along the extended blade, coiling around the Fortress Master.

However, before the icy serpent could completely restrain him, Donato suddenly unleashed a series of slashes around himself.

Shing! Shing! Shing!

Crescent-shaped waves immediately shot out from his battle axe, cleaving through the coiling ice serpent before continuing outward and carving deep furrows into the ground.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Donato was about to continue his barrage when he suddenly found himself surrounded from every direction.

Felicia immediately realized Donato had sealed his hearing after seeing her song no longer affected him.

Understanding that her voice would no longer be effective against him, Felicia immediately changed both her song and her target.

This time, she sang for her allies.

Her voice resonated with their bodies and minds, awakening their latent potential and helping them unleash their full strength.

Ha~! La! La! La!

’Divine Sound Art: Heroes of the Battlefield – First Sonata’

Sensing the overwhelming power surging through their bodies, Owen, Diablo, Shin, and Felix immediately charged forward and launched a coordinated assault.

Bang!

Owen stopped directly before Donato, then raised both tower shields.

He then unleashed a barrage of punches, using the reinforced bottoms of his shields as a pair of battering rams attached to his arms.

’Class Fighting Style: Ultimate Move – Fist of Zen’

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Seeing the incoming ”fists” bombarding him, Donato immediately responded, unleashing a series of slashes that cleaved through every attack thrown by Owen.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

However, while Donato was occupied by Owen’s relentless assault, Diablo and Felix suddenly appeared on each of his sides and launched their own attacks.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Diablo seemed to merge with the surrounding shadows, his silhouette briefly transforming into that of a massive raven.

Countless black feathers erupted in every direction before suddenly spiraling back toward him and converging upon the tips of his weapons.

He then thrust both the stiletto and dagger forward as their blades engulfed in tremendous amounts of Ancient Shadow Powers and Sanctified Demonic Powers.

’Celestial Shadow Art: Ultimate Move – Dusk of the Devouring Raven’

Shriek!

At almost the exact same moment, Felix ran his fingers along the surface of his two-pronged sword, silencing the vibrations it had been producing.

Ding~! Ding~! Ling~!

He then tapped the twin blades once more, altering the rhythm of the vibrations before trapping the resonating sounds between them.

As he poured a tremendous amount of mana into the sword, Felix suddenly thrust it forward, releasing all the vibrations trapped between the twin blades alongside the immense power he had accumulated.

’Divine Sound Art: Sword Series (Final Movement) – The Sword that Sundered the Heaven’

BOOM! BOOM!

The two flanking attacks arrived almost simultaneously, trapping Donato between the three-pronged assault.

Donato was just about to adjust his stance and prepare to face Owen, Diablo, and Felix’s coordinated attacks.

However—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A series of gunshots suddenly roared from the distance.

The crimson bullets accurately struck Donato’s battle axe one after another, repeatedly redirecting its trajectory and preventing him from properly responding to the three incoming attacks.

Some of the crimson bullets even struck Donato’s knees and shoulders, further disrupting his balance and destroying his stance.

A smirk appeared on Alucard’s face as he watched through the scope of his sniper rifle.

The three-pronged assault had landed.

BOOOOM!!!!

Amid the devastating explosion, two figures were sent flying in opposite directions, plowing through piles of rubble and carving long, deep trails into the ground.

Samael, who had been waiting at a safe distance, immediately rushed toward the direction in which Felix had been sent flying.

He wasn’t particularly worried about Owen.

That guy was a defensive monster. An explosion of this magnitude wasn’t enough to take him down.

The same applied to Diablo, who seemed to have escaped the blast at the final moment through some special means.

Felix, however, didn’t have the same means of protecting himself, something that was clearly reflected by the Health Bar displayed on the party panel.

Samael quickly reached him and immediately began casting a series of healing skills on the Divine Sound Sect member, who was struggling to stand back up.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

...

Meanwhile, Donato slowly emerged from the thick cloud of smoke, wearing a grim expression.

The three-pronged assault had dealt considerable damage to him, something that was clearly reflected by his battered appearance.

Deep cuts covered his body, with contaminated blood slowly flowing from the wounds as Diablo’s special poison continued to spread.

There were also numerous bruises left behind by Owen’s powerful strikes.

Felix’s attack had left its mark as well. Donato’s left arm was visibly injured, as its movements were somewhat sluggish despite remaining functional.

Yet even after taking those devastating attacks head-on, the damage was far from enough to bring him down as his HP Bar had barely dropped by a quarter.

However, Donato didn’t have time to concern himself with his condition.

The attacks from the opposing side were far from over.

Shin was already hovering directly above him, crossing his arms and the swords in his hands before him.

The [Permafrost] in his left hand was under Depths Devourer Possession, constantly releasing a freezing mist that seemed capable of freezing even space itself.

Meanwhile, the [Yamato] in his right hand was under Divine Constellation Possession, with magnificent flames continuously flickering around its blade, radiating enough heat to burn everything in their path.

Shin channeled an immense amount of elemental mana into both swords, causing the surrounding space to tremble under the overwhelming power gathering within them.

Then, without hesitation, he unleashed both attacks simultaneously.

The [Permafrost] released a torrent of freezing energy that rapidly transformed into a colossal serpent, coiling through the sky like a divine beast descending upon the world to pass judgment.

’Four Symbol Scripture: Heavenly Black Tortoise – Ouroboros Retribution’

The [Yamato], on the other hand, erupted with a terrifying sea of flames that transformed into a gigantic blazing bird descending from the heavens to unleash its wrath.

’Four Symbol Scripture: Celestial Vermillion Bird – Phoenix Wrath’

Roar! Shriek!

The two divine beasts spiraled through the sky before descending toward Donato from opposite sides.

It didn’t take long before they reached their target, simultaneously opening their jaws and beaks as they moved to devour everything in their path.

BOOOOOM!!!

......