Child of Destiny

……

The two sides stood stunned for a moment when they saw Shin and Justin disappeared alongside the black pillar of light. But not long after, they quickly recovered themselves and resumed fighting.

Lawless and Simba resumed assaulting the front line of the opposing side, trying to break through it.

Jugo and Elise were already expecting that to happen, so they were not the same as the others. But before they could even use that opportunity to launch a surprise attack, the two beasts in front of them quickly reorganized themselves and resumed their assaults.

Since their composition was not suitable for the front line, they chose to fight a little passively. Jugo became the sole vanguard, trying to stop both Lawless and Simba alone, while Elise gave him enough support to ward off most of the attacks of the two. She was also launching sneak attacks from time to time which was enough to mess up the tempo of their opponents.

The rest of the battlefield also resumed what it was, creating chaos once again.

None of the members from Shin’s side were worried about him as they were fully confident in his abilities.

At the same time, it was also the time when Alucard and Ara found it appropriate to make their moves. They got ready to snipe down the back line of the opposing side, especially the two priests that they had – or Flouree, if possible.

But at the same time, they still hadn’t forgotten the hiding opponent, the ‘Shadow Queen’ of the Silent Night. If it was just individual strength alone, then they would be no match for that particular player. She was a Maverick Player who was comparable to Godlike Players, after all.

Given that, they still had to prioritize looking out for her since it would be disastrous for their group of the ‘Shadow Queen’ to spot them before they could even do anything.

******

In the meantime, Shin found himself in an unfamiliar place right after he regained himself.

The first thing that assaulted him upon his arrival was the foul smell of the place. It was the smell that the decaying bodies had from being left alone for a long time.

It didn’t take long for Shin’s eyes to adjust to the darkness of the place. And right after that, he swept his gaze at the surroundings and found what kind of place he was in.

It was a place full of corpses from different creatures. They varied from land monsters, sea creatures, flying beasts, and humanoid beings. The sky was grey and gloomy indicating that it was supposed to be a world unsuitable for living beings.

Whoosh!

Then purple flame was suddenly lit from the distance before spreading around, moving rapidly to surround the whole place. It didn’t take long for it to enclose the place, creating a circular field.

The light produced by that purple flame gave Shin a clear view of the surrounding. It seemed to be a graveyard – or a dumping place of corpses.

It was at that moment when Shin received the notification from the system.

*Ding!*

System: You entered an Ancient Battlefield – The Purgatory Graveyard!

System: Condition for getting out: Defeat the initiator of the challenge.

…

Taking a quick glance at it, Shin instantly understood what Justin was trying to do. “Heh! What a foolish decision.”

Then Justin suddenly appeared in the distance and spoke. “This is going to be different from the last time. You are now in my personal field. You will die here and fail your quest entirely.”

Justin knew that Shin’s in-game avatar would be deleted the moment he died even once during their quest. He heard it from Immortal and could feel that it could not be more perfect. With the transport item that he had prepared earlier, he was confident that Shin would not be able to escape his demise.

As if responding to Justin’s words, Shin suddenly received another set of system notifications. And this time, it was informing him about some unpleasant news.

*Ding!*

System: Due to the dense corrupted mana present in the surroundings, your overall stats will decrease by 30%

System: You have been affected by the Curse of the Purgatory Graveyard! Your stats will further reduce by an additional 20%.

System: A powerful Demon King is currently suppressing you. The blessings of your Combat Physique, the ‘Heavenly Fighting Physique’, are greatly being affected. Physique overall performance is reduced to 50%.

System: Due to the special condition of the Ancient Battlefield – The Purgatory Graveyard, your connection with your Elemental Companions is temporality severed.

…

Fortunately, not everything was bad news for him.

*Ding!*

System: Your ‘Solar Reaper’, Hellfire Goddess Solus breaks free from the restriction of the Ancient Battlefield!

System: Your ‘Void Reaper’, Ancient Void Spirit Hanzo is unaffected by the rules of the Ancient Battlefield!

…

At the very least, he could still rely on the Elemental Possession of the two when the situation called for it.

Though, he couldn’t help but become a little troubled by the huge decrease in his stats. It was not just a significant decrease but a massive decline that could almost make him a cripple.

‘I have to admit, this guy really came prepared this time,’ thought Shin for a moment before sneering at Justin. “If you think you can defeat me just by relying on these things, then I must say that it will be futile.”

Hearing those words, Justin looked at Shin mockingly before replying. “Heh! You can stop with the false bravado. Your sudden rise in the gaming world will end here. This place will be your graveyard.”

Justin was confident that he would win this time. This Ancient Battlefield greatly favored those who wield demonic and corrupted powers. For someone like him, who was a believer of the Demonic Church and a contractee of a powerful Demon King, this place was his playground. He refused to believe that Shin had the means to win against him here.

Shin clearly understood the train of thoughts that was currently running inside the head of his opponent. It might be troublesome, but he was confident that he would be able to get out of this place alive.

Having that in mind, Shin swapped his current equipment with the [Apocalypse Equipment Set] but retained the [Nightwalker’s Cloak]. At the same time, the [Dusk and Dawn Blades] were also unequipped as they were switched with the [Yamato].

Given the current circumstances, Shin could not use the Elemental Possessions of Blackie and Whitie which were perfect for his Yin-Yang Swordsmanship, so it would be better if he used his other style which didn’t rely on them.

Together with the insights that he gained from his previous enlightenment from earlier, he believed that the respective Elemental Possession of the two would complement his sword-drawing style, especially Hanzo’s ‘Dimension Cutter’.

After that Shin slowly walked toward Justin while saying. “Since you can’t appreciate the mercy that I’ve given you last time, then you can forget about getting another chance.”

Justin immediately became furious after hearing those words. For him, that time when Shin let him retain his level after losing their previous battle was his sore spot.

It was very humiliating!

Moreover, it happened in front of Cloe!

Shin ignored Justin’s current expression and added. “Since you are so confident that you are going to win, then how about signing another Death Match? But if you are too afraid to take another risk, then you can forget about it.”

“Who is afraid of you?! This time, I am going to crush you – enough for you to suffer mental trauma!” refuted Justin while summoning the system to form a contract. 𝚋𝚎𝚍𝚗𝚘𝚟ｅｌ.ｃ𝚘𝚖

Seeing that, Shin gave Justin a mocking smile before signing the Death Match Contract. Whoever lost this match will get their in-game avatar permanently deleted.

“I will not let you off the hook this time,” said Shin as he quickly used his two-berserk without hesitation. And on top of that, he also activated his Domain Skills to weaken the stats of Justin, equalizing their strengths.

‘Equipment Set Skill: Ruler’s Authority’

Boom!

The aura surrounding Shin increased drastically, suppressing his opponent in the process. It was a special aura that was meant to weaken his opponent and force them to submit to him and treat him as the King of the World.

Swoosh!

At the same time, an invisible field was suddenly released.

It started from Shin’s body before spreading in every direction and expanding until it reached a 50-meter radius. Everything inside that field turned black and white aside from Shin. It was as if the world itself was dyed with a dull color.

‘Grim Reaper Skill (Tier 2): Monochrome Field’

It was an overpowered domain skill that could weaken all of the opponents inside by at least 60% of their peak strength. It could also slow down his opponents by 100% of their maximum movement speeds.

No matter how much Justin benefitted from this Ancient Battle, he was about to be weakened greatly by these two Domain Skills. And with such a massive decrease in stats, Shin was able to bridge the current gap in their stats.

Even if he was not currently in his peak form, these Domain Skills balanced everything.

Right now, they were standing on an equal footing once again.

After summoning the two Domain skills and activating his two-fold berserks, Shin stared at Justin coldly before saying in a chilly tone. “Fifteen minutes. If you managed to survive within that span of time, then it is your win.”

Pausing for a moment, he took a sword-drawing stance and entered the state of Reality Manifestation. “That is if you can last that long.”

…