Child of Destiny

……

“Blood Field!”

Right after those words sounded accompanied by a cold voice, the trio could not help but feel another sense of foreboding. And it did not long for them to see what it was.

At first, there were droplets of blood floating in the air just like earlier. But this time, they didn’t turn into blood weapons and instead dyed the whole place red. The who surroundings turned crimson as if Shin, Arthur, and Leonard were suddenly transported into another world where everything was made of blood.

Sweeping their gazes at their surroundings, they saw that there was a border a hundred meters away from where they were standing. That border looked like a crimson liquid spinning at a very high speed.

It did not take long for them to also sensed something wrong with their movements. Their bodies became a little heavy and moving them also became sluggish. It was as if they were moving underwater while going against a powerful current.

Fortunately, there was no significant change in their stats, which would become a huge problem for them. Their opponent was already a powerful old monster even in a weakened state, so it would be much more troublesome if they temporarily boosted strength suddenly became weakened.

?

At the very least, their movements were slightly hindered by this particular domain skill which they could easily adjust to after moving their bodies just enough within such an environment.

They did not resume attack this time due to the slight difficulty in moving their bodies. In this kind of battle, a single mistake could lead to them to failure. They had to buy themselves enough time to adjust their bodies and adapt to the new environment.

Dracula, on the other hand, took this opportunity to launch a barrage of attacks at them. He might not be in his right mind right now, but his battle instincts were still present. And adding the back that the power of the Great Demon King was currently controlling his body, his attacks were much deadlier than ever.

He was still using his ‘Blood Armament’ skill where he could produce countless numbers of blood weapons. But materializing them was much faster this time due to the supplementary effects of ‘Blood Field’. With him producing these armaments made of blood at such a speed, sending them toward Shin and the other two would be no different from flipping his hand.

The trio of Shin, Arthur, and Leonard did everything they could to dodge those blood weapons while trying to adapt to the Blood Field. There were times when they were almost caught by those attacks but were skillfully and witty enough to escape such a predicament.

Dracula did not move from his spot during the entire process as if he was not fully concerned about what was happening. But he was throwing a couple of blood elemental spells from time to time, trying to catch the three off-guard.

Unfortunately, those three were not foolish enough to drop their guard in front of such an intense assault. They were always been prepared for any kind of chance that could possibly happen during the battle.

While they were dodging, Shin found it odd that Dracula was not making any other movement aside from keeping the domain skills up and throwing his spells. In his mind, the three of them would be in deep trouble if the vampire lord tried to launch an ambush when they were busy protecting themselves from the Blood Armaments.

Dracula already showcased such good swordsmanship and battle techniques during their earlier exchange, so Shin had a good idea of how skilled this vampire lord could be in a melee battle. He was at most on the same level as a skilled Martial Artist and powerful Combat Mentalist if Shin compared him to the experts of the real world.

Having such suspicion in mind, Shin used his ‘True Sight’ skill to have a closer look at Dracula and observe any minute change in his movement. And that was when he noticed some twitching on the hands and arms of the vampire lord.

Those small details were not caused by activating a skill or casting a spell. Instead, they were signs of discomfort when doing something.

Seeing that, a sudden idea flashed through his mind. Shin could not help but furrow his brows and mutter. “Could it be, Dracula is still fighting over the control of his body?”

Thinking about that, Shin found it reasonable why ‘Dracula’ was not taking another step after summoning the Blood Field and casting a series of powerful spells.

“Then we can take this as our chance,” he added before sharing his findings with Arthur and Leonard, who were also busy saving themselves. And after explaining everything to them, he quickly said. “Let’s go. We have adapted to the Blood Field well enough.”

“Arthur, cover me first,” right after saying those words, Shin quickly charged forward, bravely facing the hail of blood weapons in his path.

Arthur quickly complied and threw a series of powerful energy beams that created a clear path for Shin. After that, he swiftly charged ahead and overtook Shin, planning to create a more unhindered path for his brother.

No after from them, Leonard purposely lagged behind before making a detour, trying to find a good angle to strike. He would be ready to jump into action right after the situation called for it. 𝐛𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗼𝐯𝐞𝗹．𝐨𝐫𝗴

It did not take long for them to engage in a melee battle once again. The trio showcased their skillful display of martial arts coupled with their perfect coordination. They did not need to voice out their thoughts as each of them fully understood the other.

Arthur would always be protecting them two in a timely manner whenever either of them was in danger. And with his protection, Shin and Leonard could attack without any worry for their safety. Those two were also returning the favor from time to time as they would also arrive at the right moment when Arthur was in a difficult predicament.

As the battle progressed, the improvement of the three was also starting to show. With them being able to properly adjust to the suppression of the Blood Field, their movements were becoming sharper and better. They were even starting to showcase some of their more difficult techniques after a couple of moments.

This resulted in them gaining a better footing in the battle, especially with the help of their seamless teamwork.

But it did not mean that it came without any problem. There were some moments where they almost lost their lives during the battle. The skills and spells were already powerful enough to make them worry, but the martial prowess Dracula had was also somewhat shocking.

Even with their perfect coordination, they did not gain much of an edge in the melee battle. Even if they were working together, they were still having a hard time when fighting Dracula and constantly felt that they were treading on a tightrope between life and death.

If not for them being in extreme focus or if their teamwork were slightly off, then they would not stand a chance in front of such a monstrous being.

Fortunately, they were also not that simple either. And after undergoing their respective hellish training in the real world, their spirits and resolve were forged into an iron will. Facing such a life-threatening situation was not much of a problem for them. They were even working together with their most trusted brothers.

After such an intense battle, the whole that used to be filled with frozen houses and other buildings turned into a fully devastated place. It was now completely different from what it used to be. The group was now full of pits and craters that resulted from stray attacks. The surrounding builds and houses were also turned into piles of rubble, making the previous majestic place a desolate land.

…

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Another hail of blood weapons rained down from the sky but it was immediately blocked by Arthur raising his round shield and summoning a huge spherical aura that burned into a transparent yet sturdy barrier.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

When the rain of blood weapons finally subdued, Shin suddenly appeared behind Arthur and ran past the latter, sprinting forward with an insane speed. He was holding his sheathed sword in his left hand while locking his gaze on Dracula who was standing in the distance.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

At the same time, Leonard leaped over Arthur’s head, high up in the air and arching his body during his flight. He inhaled a mouthful of air which made his chest expanded to a great degree before exhaling it out with a powerful shout – which quickly turned into a deafening bestial roar.

Roar!

His roar produced a powerful shockwave that caused a violent ripple in the air and headed toward Dracula, preventing the latter from producing more Blood Armaments or casting a more powerful spell.

Then Leonard shot down like a rocket and flew straight to the vampire lord. His momentum was so strong, making him resemble a falling meteor from the sky.

Boom!

Dracula swung his blood rapier and confronted the incoming fist with it. The impact of their collision produced another shockwave that spread in different directions while the ground below sank further, creating another deep crater.

Leonard did not dare to linger any longer as he quickly retreated right after his feet touched the ground. And before Dracula could even pursue him, multiple ‘Shin’ suddenly surrounded the vampire lord and maintained the same sword-drawing postures.

Click!

Then a subtle clicking sound resounded.

Shing! Swoosh!

Then the scene was quickly followed by those figures charging toward Dracula, creating a series of intervening lines in the air as Shin executed one of his quick draw attacks, the ‘World Splitter’.

But despite the carefully laid trap, Dracula was still able to avoid the fast attack coming from Shin by spreading his wings wide, flapping them strongly, and flying up in the sky.

Roar!

Though, when he was in the air, he was quickly greeted by a massive head of an ice dragon in the middle of opening its mouth wide and planning to devour him alive.

Boom!

Up until now, this was the only attack that managed to land cleanly on Dracula after expending so much effort. But despite being successful, the trio were still wearing dark expressions on their faces since they knew that this fight was far from over. They were not even at the halfway mark of their opponent’s health bar.

The three were already starting to get tired due to the accumulated fatigue from their previous battles and the overwhelming pressure of their opponent, but they could not take a rest yet. They needed to hold for a little bit longer until they took down this final boss.

And to do that, it looked like they had to suffer a little more.

…