Child of Destiny

……

David and Vincent watched Jerimiah accept the baptism light coming from the statue while preparing for the battle. They watched as Jerimiah got himself covered with a black aura with crimson edges.

After waiting for a few moments, the baptism seemed to have ended.

Jerimiah slowly turned to the two with a pair of glowing crimson eyes. His fierce eyes were filled with savageness as he glared at the pair, giving them a brief shiver down their spine.

“Tsk! This is going to be a little tricky,” mumbled David as he repeatedly tapped the mental energy rod on the side of his neck.

“Who will be taking the lead?” asked Vincent while tossing and spinning the bone-like daggers around his hands.

David smirked when he heard that and asked. “What? Do you want to play with him head-on?”

“Nah~! Thanks for the offer, but I rather be the one dancing around and launching a random ambush,” rejected Vincent.

“Just don’t kill him in the process,” said David as he knew that the next battle would be more serious than what they were doing earlier. He knew that this could make them get swept by the rhythm of the battle, leading to unfortunate accidents.

“Don’t worry. Control and patience are some of the most important factors that an assassin must possess,” replied Vincent as he suddenly hopped backward and disappeared into the darkness.

David shrugged his shoulders as he started walking forward. He might not be able to sense Vincent through his Spiritual Sense, but he knew that the latter was lurking around him, trying to become his shadow.

He knew Vincent before and understood the weapons of this particular assassin. It was said that as one of the Young Ghosts of the Lost Soul Continent, Vincent was notoriously known for his assassination techniques, particularly when it came to solo ambushes and quick assassinations.

But David knew something that most of the people were not aware of. It was the real fighting style that Vincent possessed.

It was to become the shadow.

Vincent’s true skills shone brighter in this fighting style and became a dangerous threat to any opponent he would face along with a partner.

Bang!

Jerimiah suddenly stomped on the floor of the room, propelling himself toward David, who was calmly walking toward him.

Raising both of his hands, tightly holding the battle axe, Jerimiah swung down. His swing produced a sharp sound of the wind being split apart.

Seeing the savage attack, David calmly held the mental energy rod with his hand while mumbling. “If you are going to just attack blindly like this and not use any proper techniques, then I will put you to sleep much sooner.”

Swoosh!

As these words left his mouth, his hands moved and made circular movements with the golden rod. The timing was impeccable as the surface of the rod perfectly deflected the descending axe and instantly changed its trajectory upon contact.

Bang!

As the battle axe landed on the floor, slamming right beside David, the golden rod pressed on it and prevented Jerimiah from pulling it up.

Then David threw a sharp hook with his left fist, sending it straight to the chin of his berserk friend. But the latter quickly reacted and briefly let go of the axe with his one hand, using his arm to block the incoming fist.

Boom!

That seemingly ordinary hook produced a powerful impact that forced Jerimiah to stumble to the side.

With a strong stomp to the floor, Jerimiah forced himself to regain his balance. He forcefully picked his weight up while swiftly leaping in the air and spinning in the process.

Swoosh!

With his current angle, he was able to free the battle axe from the golden rod pressing on it and dragged it to the air before counterattacking a spinning slash.

David responded by also following the momentum of his previous actions to spin while swinging the golden rod in the process.

Clang!

Due to his perfect timing and precise movements, his golden rod hit the surface of the battle axe once again, sending it toward a different trajectory and letting it hit the floor for another time.

Jerimiah was about to quickly follow it with another aggressive attack, but he suddenly sensed an immense threat coming from behind. He quickly halted his actions and retreated in the process.

The expected attack did not arrive, making it look like an illusion.

In the meantime, David took advantage of the situation and pressed forward by thrusting the golden rod into his hands.

Swoosh!

Jerimiah blocked the tip of the golden rod with the surface of this battle axe.

Bang!

It pushed him back, throwing his balance a little off and preventing him from getting an ideal position to attack.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Then David pressed forward while swinging the golden rod multiple times, transforming it into multiple strikes that came from different angles.

‘Myriad Manifestation Method: Monkey King – Hundred Strikes’

Jerimiah seemed to have understood that he would not be able to block all the strikes, so he chose to face it head-on. His body seemed to have moved through its instincts and followed the habitual movements that his muscles had memorized.

Swoosh!

He held the battle axe with both of his hands and spun like a tornado or a whirlwind with unstoppable momentum.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Sparks flew in the air as the two sides clashed against each other.

Right after the final strikes of both sides ended, the two briefly paused as they were trying to regain their balance and relieve their muscles from the impact of their strikes.

Bang!

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

While Jerimiah was trying to regain his footing, golden chains suddenly shot from the floor and wrapped themselves around him, locking his limbs and preventing him from moving.

David had used the residual mental energy lingering in the air, left from the previous attacks that he had thrown earlier.

He held the golden rod with one hand while the other formed a seal that controlled the golden chains.

Swoosh!

Right at that moment, Vincent seemed to have materialized behind Jerimiah, swinging his seemingly dull daggers.

Roar!

Right before those daggers touched Jerimiah, the battle axe released an intense flow of energy and created an explosion along with a demon-like roar.

Boom!

Vincent crossed his arms in front of his face to protect himself from the explosion before being sent flying by the shockwave.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

At the same time, Jerimiah pulled hard, making the muscles bulge, and revealing his thick veins. His actions made the golden chains snap and break.

Swoosh!

At the same time, Jerimiah suddenly swung hard, sending a strong wave of energy forward that flew straight to David.

David quickly responded by spinning the golden rod with both of his hands and forming a wall of mental energy in front of him.

Boom!

Swoosh!

Through the cloud of smoke and dust, Jerimiah charged through and appeared right in front of David, swinging the battle axe diagonally.

The air seemed to have been split apart by that swing while the black and crimson energy filling the battle axe burned wildly and violently.

At the same time, a demonic face seemed to have manifested right behind Jerimiah along with the blazing ring that surrounded it. This demonic face enlarged as it opened its mouth wide, seemingly planning to devour David whole.

David stomped on the floor hard as he channeled his energy into the golden rod while holding it with both of his hands.

When the accumulation of mental energy reached its peak, it spun rapidly and formed a spiral flow of energy around the golden rod.

He then thrust the golden rod forward, sending all the energy forward.

Swoosh!

The golden energy turned silver, transforming into his Spiritual Force.

Roar!

Then it turned into a huge dragon with wide open jaws, seemingly wanting to eat the incoming opponent.

‘Myriad Manifestation Method: Dragon King – Devouring Surge’

Boom!

The collision between the two sides caused an explosion that shook the entire temple. But regardless of how powerful and devastating it was, the seemingly rundown temple remained intact and failed to collapse.

At the center of the explosion, David remained standing with the golden rod in his hands. His body was currently covered with the ‘Flowing Storm Force’, his unique Spiritual Force.

Crackle! Crackle!

The gentle flow of energy surrounding his body and the silver electric currents on its surface contained a powerful force that fought against the suppression of the battle axe on Jerimiah’s hands.

At the same time, David had already unlocked the fourth pace of his Limit Break, signifying that he was already taking this very seriously.

A few meters away from him stood Jerimiah, who currently had his right arm become dark due to the powerful energy flowing through the battle axe. The skin on his arm turned completely black while a crimson aura covered it.

David knew that the corruption was spreading faster due to Jerimiah’s repeated usage of foreign power. If they did not take out Jerimiah soon enough, then he would most likely become a Blood Slaughterer.

“We have to make haste,” mumbled David as he suddenly charged forward, taking the initiative to attack this time.

Swoosh!

The two were immediately engaged in an intense battle, exchanging powerful blows that repeatedly sent shockwaves in every collision.

The two ran through the entire room during their exchanges while Vincent kept on appearing and disappearing, joining the battle.

Vincent was light a ghost that came and went whenever he pleased. He was appearing in the most unexpected way possible, taking the trickiest angle to attack. His timing was always impeccable and it would be impossible for anyone to react. If not for Jerimiah’s sharp instincts, then he would have been taken down a long time ago.

Vincent teamed up with David perfectly, skillfully playing the role of shadow. They worked in perfect tandem during the entire battle.

If not for them holding themselves back and pulling their punches to avoid badly injuring Jerimiah, then they would have most likely killed the latter already.

Roar!

Jerimiah released a deafening roar that shook the entire temple.

As if responding to his call, the statues released an intense light that illuminated the entire room. This crimson light that they were releasing seemed to have given Jerimiah more power while the tallest statue of an Asura behind him emitted a much more intense light than earlier.

Realizing what was happening, David quickly slammed the golden rod on the floor, sending an intense ripple on the ground.

Clap!

He then took a stance and put his palms together, placing them in front of him. He was also chanting a series of Buddhist Mantras, making the rod shine brightly.

Swoosh!

The Mental Energy inside his body seemed to have resonated with the air while golden runes appeared on the ground one after another and spreading in every direction.

Not long after, the entire temple was enfolded by a Mentalism Array that he had set up earlier.

This array tried to suppress the power that the statues were emitting and weakened their influence on Jerimiah, who was in the middle of losing his mind further.

The deep crimson light that was coming out from the battle axe had noticeably weakened due to the appearance of the array, signifying that it was affected.

Seemingly enraged, the evil spirits seemed to have glared at David, sending shivers down his entire body.

But he ignored all of them as he continued to chant the mantras composedly.

When he was done, he slowly opened his eyes and looked straight at Jerimiah’s.

He currently had his Enlightened Eyes fully activated as the mandala patterns on his pupils shone brightly.

From his perspective, he seemed to be looking at a Demonic Spirit instead of Jerimiah. He seemed to be able to see the incarnation of the evil spirit that was trying to take over the body of his friend.

The two were in a staredown when David suddenly smirked and mumbled. “This is not my first time facing such possession, you know?”

“Come on, waste more energy so that I can finally get my hands on it,” he added with a smirking tone.

Seemingly understanding those words, the Demonic Spirit roared enragedly as it realized what the latter was trying to do.

“It is already too late, though,” provoked David as he suddenly pulled up the golden rod and charged forward.

…