Child of Destiny

……

Zero was really getting a familiar yet also unfamiliar feeling coming from Shin. He was not sure what was it but it was really giving him an urge to use everything he could on this duel.

‘Let’s see what this strange feeling his telling me.’ He muttered to himself before striding towards Shin with an insane speed.

Within an instant, he managed to arrive in front of Shin while brandishing his sword downward at Shin.

Hong~! 𝑏𝘦𝘥𝑛𝘰𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The wind surrounding his sword seemed to roar for a moment as the sword itself continued to fall at his opponent.

But at that very same moment, Shin slightly adjusted his posture and positioned both of his swords on his right side, holding them in a parallel manner before swinging them at his opponent at the same time.

Swoosh!

Bang!

A powerful explosion instantly occurred their opposing powers clashed. Due to the elemental mana that was covering their weapons, their swords didn’t even touch each other as their respective elemental mana clashed against each other.

In the meantime, the river near them released a tall torrent of water in the air due to the collision of powers that just occurred.

Splash!

A moment later, the water that was sent in the air fell back and started pouring down the two who were trying to push each other away from each other.

Bang!

Then the two of them were separated from each other as they tried to use the force of their opponent to create some distance between them.

Zero flipped in the air as he tried to nullify the remaining force that pushed him back. On the other hand, Shin slid back while trying to stabilize his footing as fast as he could.

Ta-ta!

Bang!

Zero quickly relaunched himself back to Shin right after his feet touched the ground while latter immediately stomped on the ground and lunged forward right at the same moment.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Clang!

Their swords collided once again, creating mental sparks that were flying in the air. Their exchanges continued on with high intensity as they showcased their respective swordsmanship to the fullest.

There were no skills involved this time as they were only planning to make this clash with their pure swordsmanship.

Aside from a couple of combat techniques that they incorporated within the game, based on their real skills in the real world, they were not using anything else.

It was the same for their foot techniques. Their figures kept on flashing in different places while exchanging blows.

Shin was currently using the ‘Yin-Yang Swordsmanship’ that he learned from Professor Plum. He was more familiar with this swordsmanship aside from the one that he was using alongside his Mentalism because Old Plum personally oversaw his training in it.

Moreover, the ‘Eclipse Wielding’ that he created within the game was also based on it, so it was the perfect choice that he could use at the current moment.

His swordsmanship was very high-leveled that it could match the top swordsmanship techniques such as the one that Zero was currently using.

‘This is different from the last one that I saw,’ thought Zero to himself as he looked at Shin with full confusion. ‘This swordsmanship is definitely suited for Martial-Arts. But that time-…’

His thoughts were suddenly cut off by an attack from Shin that had a strange trajectory. Seeing that, he quickly adjusted the position of his sword and used its surface to block it.

Cling!

“Aren’t you underestimating me a little too much? Being distracted during a duel, is a clear disrespect to your opponent,” said Shin as he threw yet another attack at Zero.

Cling! Cling!

“I apologize for that, it just surprises me that your swordsmanship is actually not that bad,” responded Zero as warded off the attacks that were thrown at him with ease.

“You are talking as if you know me personally,” said Shin while blocking the swords of his opponent that was falling at him.

Bang!

Shin’s feet sank on the ground as the force behind Zero’s attack was much heavier than he had expected.

Hu~!

With a deep breath, he forced the sword that was pressing him back. And quickly after that, his arms turned into a series of blurs as he swung his swords at Zero, leaving a series of black and white trails around him.

‘Epic Combat Technique: Infinity Edge’

Swoosh! Swoosh!

In the meantime, Zero quickly took a step backward to stabilize his footing. At the same time, he tightened his sword grip over his sword as he held it above him.

Zero’s surroundings seemed to slow down a little as he looked at the flashes of black and white light coming after him. With great calmness, he swung his sword to greet each one of them.

‘Epic Combat Technique: The Calm before the Storm’

Swoosh!

Cling! Cling!

Ding!

Metal sparks flew in the air as Zero accurately block each of the attacks that Shin had thrown. But the real exchange only started from there.

Shin absorbed the force behind Zero’s attacks and used them to increase the power of each of his swings. And the more he exchanged blows with his opponent, the stronger each of his attacks became.

But despite that being the case, Zero was still able to ward off each of his attacks with ease. There was also a time when he completely broke the cycle of Shin’s technique.

Shin couldn’t help knit his brow as he could already see the gap between their attainment in terms of swordsmanship.

‘So it is still impossible to bridge the gap between our swords techniques within the game,’ thought Shin to himself with a deep frown.

‘Tsk! One with the Sword, such a troublesome state to deal with when you are not on the same level of attainment,’ he added to his thoughts as he continued his barrage of attack.

Unknown to him, Zero was actually quite surprised with him. He didn’t expect that Shin was able to keep using his combat technique for such a long time. And from what he could see, it was at least an Epic Combat Technique, so using it for an extended amount of time was going to be taxing.

‘This guy should have a monstrous level of willpower to be able to use such a taxing technique continuously,’ thought Zero to himself while keeping up with Shin’s pace.

It was a different case for him since he already attained the state of being one with the sword. With that attainment in swordsmanship, using such a high-level technique constantly was not going to be a problem.

After engaging in an intense melee battle, the two of them started mixing a couple of complicated foot techniques in the battle, making their figures to become much harder to see.

‘Epic Combat Technique: Ghost Evanescent’

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Shin left a series of afterimages behind as he tried to create a breathing space away from Zero. But naturally the latter would not let him get away that easily and quickly chased after him.

‘Epic Combat Technique: The Striding Wind’

Swoosh!

The wind elemental mana gathered on Zero’s feet, making it look like he was riding the wind as tried to catch up to Shin. And along the way, he was also cutting the afterimages that Shin had left behind.

The more time passed, Shin was starting to feel a little pressure due to the continuous unexpected moves that Zero was pulling from time to time. But despite that being the case, he was also feeling excited.

Despite his back slowly being pushed against the wall, the expression on his face was clearly showing his excitement.

Zero might not be able to see the current expression on his opponent’s face, but he could clearly sense what the latter was currently feeling.

‘He really is such a strange guy and also the same as the kid from that time!’ thought Zero to himself as he got reminded by an old rival when he was young.

The duel continued and Zero continued to force Shin to the corner with a series of his attacks. But despite that being the case, he was still unable to fully defeat Shin for some unknown reason.

In fact, he was also starting to sense something else. His senses were telling him that something was about to happen and it was going to be something big.

While Zero was being cautious with what his instincts were telling him, Shin was currently feeling something completely different. As the battle progressed, something within him was being awakened.

Alongside it, he was also feeling where he was about to grasp something. It was already within his reach but for some unknown reason, he couldn’t completely put his hands on it.

All he could do was to continue to endure and hold his ground against Zero for as long as he could.

“A little more, just little bit more,” muttered Shin to himself repeatedly as he continued to throw his attack while trying to fully grasp the strange feeling that was coming from within his heart.

……