Child of Destiny

……

While Arthur and the rest of the group were fighting Grand Marshal Draco, Shin arrived at the staircase that led toward the majestic castle at the end of the Frozen City.

The walls on each side of the stairs seemed to be frozen by magic. The ice that covered those walls was so smooth that it made them look like a pair of mirrors facing each other.

Shin looked at the enormous half-open gate where the staircase led before climbing. Just like when he arrived in this place, no one appeared to stop him or obstruct his path.

But despite that being the case, he didn’t let his guard down even for a moment and continued to be on high alert.

But to his surprise, there was really no danger in the surroundings even up until he reached the top of the staircase and stood in front of the metal gate.

Behind that gate was a long corridor surrounded by dark shadows cast by the tall pillars that it had. Those shadows were giving Shin a heavy feeling as he could feel hostile gazes locked on him from them.

Shin couldn’t clearly pinpoint the exact locations of those gazes due to the dark aura shrouding them, making him wary of entering the corridor.

While he was hesitating, he suddenly heard a voice filled with authority coming from the deep place of the corridor.

“It is fine. No one will be able to touch as long as he did not permit it.”

The voice seemingly tried to put his mind at each but from Shin’s perspective, it was also indicating that the owners of those hostile gazes would not hesitate to attack him as long as the owner of that voice willed it.

At this point, Shin sensed the agitation of his Elemental Spirit Companions, especially Vladimir and Grimrace who seemed to be urging him to enter the corridor already.

This might not be much of help but it was good news for Shin since it was the same as telling him that they would be able to help him when the situation called for it.

Bracing himself, Shin took a step forward, trying to test the waters. And when he saw that nothing happened, he took another step and continued to walk on after seeing that those hostile gazes didn’t do anything to him aside from glaring at him sharply.

He felt more relaxed when he confirmed that the owner of those gazes couldn’t do anything to him. And not long after, he arrived in front of tightly closed mental doors.

Stopping right in front of it, Shin couldn’t help but wear a solemn expression as he could feel a large number of powerful individuals waiting on the other side of those doors despite them being fully closed.

Clank!

With a loud metallic sound, Shin cautiously pushed the metal doors with each of his hands. And right after he opened them, a huge wave of pressuring energy immediately greeted him, making him groan painfully. 𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗼𝘃𝐞𝐥.𝗰𝗼𝐦

Boom!

“Urgh!”

Shin strengthened his knees and legs to prevent them from falling due to the heavy pressure that was pressing upon him.

Shin couldn’t even take another step forward or raise his head due to that pressure. “What the heck?”

*Ding!*

Then he suddenly heard the familiar sound of the system giving him a notification.

System: Due to a large number of pressures cast upon you, your mind was starting to get affected.

System: Initiating Willpower Check!

System: Pass!

System: Initiating Willpower Check!

System: Pass!

…

…

…

The series of notifications were telling him that his willpower was being tested due to his current situation. He already heard about this situation before and it only happened when he encountered an existence that far exceed his current strength or a large horde of powerful monsters.

Forcefully raising his head, he couldn’t help but curse his luck as he discovered that both cases could be applied to his current situation.

In front of him, he saw rows upon rows of people kneeling on both sides of a red carpet leading to a throne. Each of those people was as strong as a King Class Monster with some bordering Emperor Class, especially six people kneeling at the bottom of the stairs below the throne.

Based on the visible aura that was being emitted by their bodies, Shin could tell that those six people were most likely as strong as Lycan, Caelum, and Nel, if not stronger.

Sweeping his gaze, Shin couldn’t help but become stunned at the scene in front of him. It was a throne room filled with high-leveled NPCs, or if they were really NPCs. At least, that was what he saw from his perspective.

But later, he suddenly discovered that these people were actually the vampires that they were looking for since the time they arrived in this place.

“That means, the owners of those gazes were also vampires and supposed to be the weaker ones at that,” muttered Shin with a weird gaze as he remembered his experience walking through the long corridor earlier.

And from what he could see, each owner of those gazes was at least a peak Overlord Rank Monster bordering King Class.

“Vampires sure live up to their reputation,” he added in a heavy tone.

He didn’t even dare to take a step forward after seeing the scene inside the throne room. He was afraid that he would be devoured by these vampires despite the reassurance of the voice earlier.

Speaking of it, Shin turned his gaze towards the throne situated at the other end of the room, on the top of the stairs, and saw a person sitting on it haughtily.

It was a person wearing a set of luxurious clothes that the royal families usually wore with the only difference being that these ones were completely black. It was matched with a cape that had a slightly longer collar compared to normal ones.

Looking closely, Shin could also see that the skin of that particular person was relatively paler compared to the rest of the others in the room. His crimson-pupil eyes were extremely cold and filled with authority, seemingly looking down at everything around him.

Shin was suspecting that this person was the so-called Vampire Primogenitor, the person who formed a contract with a Great Demon King in exchange for powers that could grant him revenge.

Strangely, Shin also found some resemblance of this particular vampire with Vladimir who was clearly a Mutated Blood Spirit before his evolution. He was suspecting that there might be some connection between the two.

Vladimir seemed to sense his thoughts and started showing some violent reactions, trying to voice out his displeasure. He might not be able to communicate with them currently, but he could imagine the words that the Elemental Spirit was trying to say.

– “How can this awesome and amazing spirit can be compared to such lowly beings?” –

Shin couldn’t help but chuckle as he could clearly hear those words inside his head, making him relax despite the current situation.

While he was lost in his thoughts, Dracula, currently observing Shin from the throne, narrowed his eyes slightly after seeing the latter laugh.

He then started smiling widely at the scene as he found Shin’s actions rather interesting given that he was currently surrounded by such powerful beings that could crush him anytime.

“You finally arrive. This king is about to die of boredom due to your slow progress,” said Dracula, snapping Shin back to reality.

He didn’t wait for Shin to reply as he quickly continued. “I know that you may have the idea of what is going on given that the ‘Will of the World’ have informed you.”

Hearing those words, Shin couldn’t help but knit his brow, especially on the part where Dracula mentioned the ‘Will of the World’.

‘Is he talking about the system? How come an NPC-turned-Monster knows about it?’ thought Shin to himself, completely confused.

Seemingly able to read what was inside Shin’s head, Dracula immediately explained. “It is natural for this king to know the secrets of this world. After all, I am one of the strongest ‘Enlightened Beings’ of the world and closest to gaining a ‘Divinity’.”

“Enlightened Beings? Are they different from Enlightened Beast?” Shin couldn’t help but ask.

He was already aware of Divinity since the name itself indicated what it was. As for Enlightened Beast, it was a beast with awakened powers and gained an intelligence comparable to humans or even better, Lycan was the best example of this.

Dracula felt like laughing when he heard those words. He looked at Shin with mocking eyes before saying. “If you are talking about that little wolf, then he is indeed an Enlightened Being, but not every Enlightened Beast is like him. He just happens to be the special case.”

“Then what are you talking about? What are their differences?” Shin blurted out, making it sound a little rude.

And right after he said those words, all of the vampires simultaneously cast their gazes on him, making the pressure pressing upon his body become heavier.

The six vampires kneeling below the stairs of the throne even released their powerful auras, fully unrestrained, almost crushing in the process.

“How dare you speak senselessly in the presence of our lord?” said one of the vampires sharply while glaring at Shin, fully ready to rip him into shreds.

But before he could do anything, Dracula suddenly opened his mouth followed by a much stronger pressure that pressed upon everyone aside from Shin. “Silence!”

Boom!

Then the silence instantly filled the throne room, signifying the authority and power of Dracula.

Seeing that scene, the corner of Shin’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch while cursing the system inside his head. ‘And the system wants us to defeat this monster? Maybe our helpers are not too shabby either.’

After suppressing everyone, Dracula continued. “I will forgive your ignorance since you are just a small cub who is about to enter the real world.”

“Let me enlighten you about some of the secrets of this word. You will not be punished by the ‘Will of the World’ after hearing the since you will naturally learn about those secrets after your next awakening.”

He then paused for a moment before continuing. “But first, let me talk about the requirements of becoming a ‘Divine Being’ and the qualification to enter the ‘Lands of Gods’.”

……