Child of Destiny

…

Shin stood at the center of the severed corpses piled around him, maintaining the last posture that he had after the previous move. He breathed out heavily, releasing a visible vapor produced by his breathing and the energy residual from the earlier skill.

He had a mysterious air around him that made it hard for the others to divert their attention away from his location. It was the air of an expert, the strong, and a person who was bound to pave their path to greatness. It was an atmosphere that could only be seen by those people who were born to stand at the peak of the world.

Justin, who saw this sight, clenched his fist tight and grasped his halberd. Even though he was strong and one of the Godlike Players who stood at the peak of the virtual world, he still couldn’t achieve the greatness that those exceptional individuals had.

He had the fame that all of the players wanted and even the commander of one of the top adventurer teams that everyone looked up to, but it still paled in comparison to what ‘those’ individuals had.

He had beaten a lot of strong gods of the game and snatched their positions and solidified his position in the Godlike Ranking List.

But that was all into it.

He was still not as great as Sword God Zero, didn’t have the prestige that Dragon God Siegfried had, nor could be compared to the reputation of War God Simba. 𝚋𝚎ｄｎｏ𝚟𝚎ｌ.ｎ𝚎𝚝

His adventurer team was one of the best but their achievements were not on the same level as what the Dark Hero Adventurer Team had. Led by the God Slayer ‘Tora’ and Death God ‘Yami’, of that time, they swept through everything during their activeness.

Their small team filled with elite members stood toe to toe with the great guilds and powerful organizations, the hegemons of the virtual world.

Justin might be feared by most of the players but the ‘fear’ that he could inflict on them was nothing in front of the ‘terror’ that Haowin, the Great Villain, possessed.

There was also Immortal, who was synonymous with the words ‘wicked’ and ‘evil’. Mentioning the name of the Lich God was more than enough to make the players shiver in fear and terror.

Justin lacked in many areas compared to those individuals. He might be the same status as them in the eyes of everyone, but he knew deep inside that his prestige was not even a quarter of those shining ‘stars’.

But right now, right in front of him, stood a person who had the same air as those people. Someone who was bound to be on the same summit as them and stood haughty at the peak, overlooking everyone.

But despite the truth laid in front of him, Justin still refused to accept it. He would never accept that Shin was better than him, not in this life and even not when he was reborn. Especially when he remembered the look that Cloe had when she was looking at Shin.

“I will never accept it!” shouted Justin like a madman while activating the additional conditions that the contract with the Demon King had.

“I don’t care what price I am going to pay as long as I get rid of you!” he roared as the purple flames shrouding his demonic arm turned denser before spreading to his entire body.

The corruption that his demonic had spread through different parts of his body, turning him into a hideous demon from the depths of hell.

The horns on his sticking out from his forehead grew longer as his mouth became wider and filled with razor-sharp teeth. The spreading dark scales from his demonic arm devoured his armor and other equipment while his body grew larger.

His metal boots were destroyed as his feet turned into a pair similar to reptilian creatures. It had long toes with sharp nails.

His other arm, the one holding the halberd, also became the same as the demonic arm while the halberd itself melted and turned into a wicked flame that maintain its previous shape. Then a long reptilian tail grew from his back, swaying threatening from side to side.

Whoosh!

Then a purple flame suddenly appeared on his head, forming a crown shape, before running through his spine and tracing through the surface of his long tail until it reached its tip.

Roar!

He then opened his hideous mouth wide and released a defeating roar that resounded throughout the whole place.

That roar sent a powerful ripple in the air that extended in every direction followed by the strong tremors of the ground. What followed after it was the revival of all corpses present on the Ancient Battlefield.

A smirk seemed to appear on the corner of Justin’s mouth as he pointed at Shin, ordering every zombified monster to attack.

Shin, on the other hand, ignored the seemingly endless horde of monsters swarming at him from every direction as he locked his at the Demonized Justin. He only had a single target in mind, and once he defeated that person, all of these zombified monsters would also disappear in the process.

After regulating his breathing, Shin quickly kicked the ground and propelled forward without any hit of fear on his face.

The monsters naturally tried to block his path but not of them stood a chance. He repeatedly executed the ‘Ghost Evanescent’ foot technique during his charge to leave a series of afterimages behind as he constantly cut down all of the zombified monsters blocking his path.

He advanced steadily as he switched between the quick draw attacks and the basic sword movements of the ‘Jade Kirin Scripture’.

Justin would naturally not wait passively for Shin to arrive and cut him. He constantly moves backward while ordering the zombified corpses of different creatures to continue swarming at Shin.

He was unaware of it, but he actually feared Shin right now. His subconscious retreat was proof of it. He was afraid of the current Shin, who now had the bearing of greatness, even though his current form greatly enhanced his overall strength.

Shin already forgot how many times he swung his word or how many monsters he had cut while advancing forward. But there was an undisputed fact right now, his familiarity with the ‘Jade Kirin Scripture’ grew significantly, and even reached the level of proficiency that he had with the ‘Four Symbol Scripture’.

At this point, he already forgot about everything and continued to advance alongside his sword. And within this trace, his movements became more refined and polished.

He left a pile of lifeless bodies of those zombified monsters behind as he continued to move ahead, completely unstoppable.

It continued to be this way until he finally broke through the last blockade of zombified monsters and reached where Justin was.

The two stared straight into each other’s eyes and paused for a brief moment alongside their surroundings.

During that short span of time, Justin saw that despite Shin staring at him, the latter was actually looking for another place.

Shin actually looked past him and stared at the place that was completely unknown to him. A territory that only a selected number of individuals could set foot on. A place that he would never be able to reach.

Roar!

Justin wanted to say something but only a crazy roar came out from his mount as he started swinging his weapon made of fire like a madman.

Whir!

Bang!

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bang! Bang!

A series of explosions were immediately produced as Shin and Justin exchanged blows. Due to the powerful shockwaves from each collision of their weapons, the remaining zombified monsters were unable to approach them. Those who tried were either got obliterated or sent flying away by the impact.

Justin swung his blazing weapon like crazy, trying to suppress Shin with his overwhelming strength. But despite all of his efforts, the latter refused to budge even with the seemingly insurmountable difference.

Shin relied on multiple things to bridge the gap between the two of them. He used his sharp awareness to read the trajectory of his opponent’s strikes, then relied on insane reflexes to respond to each of them before adding them to the various skills and techniques from his arsenal.

Justin might have absolute strength as his weapon, but Shin calmly countered it with his deep understanding of techniques and applied them in battle.

“What an idiot! You are too blinded by rage and can no longer see what is ahead of you. You may have a slight chance if you stick to your original fighting style,” said Shin as exchanged blows with Justin.

He already broke out of his trance as he already achieved his goal. He originally don’t want to say anything to Justin since it would be no point in talking to him. But he felt that it would be a waste if he didn’t reap everything from this final battle.

He at least wanted Justin to use his original trump card before he stumbled upon the demonic powers.

Shin saw a couple of videos of Justin when he was studying how to defeat him during their first battle. And there was one signature technique that he really wanted to experience. It was the technique that shaped him into what he was now and solidified his reputation.

Unfortunately, Justin was too blinded by his rage and could no longer think properly.

“Relying on external forces will never be able to help you to reach the summit,” added Shin, provoking Justin even more.

It was at that time that Justin finally responded. “Shut up! Don’t you dare to lecture me!”

Bang!

Then started another flurry of crazy strikes that made Shin shook his head while deflecting each of them skillfully. ‘He completely lost it.’

Shin found it a pity that he would never be able to experience that particular technique. The look in his eyes then turned sharp as he knew that it was finally time to end this.

Boom!

The two were separated from each other after a strong exchange. They skidded on the ground, being pushed at least a hundred meters away from each other.

Shin took that chance and sheathed his sword and took his signature sword-drawing stance. At the same time and inspiration suddenly stuck in his mind as he was reminded of the scene when Hanzo was executing one of his Ultimate Skills.

Controlling his breathing according to the method of the ‘Jade Kirin Scripture’, Shin converted all of the energies within him into spatial elemental powers and channeled them in every part of his body and sheathed sword.

Boom!

When the accumulation of powers reached its peak, the pressure coming from Shin instantly reached another height and made the space around him distorted a little.

Seeing the transformation of the surrounding air from his opponent, Justin felt the pressure that could almost suffocate him.

He then remembered the words that Shin had said earlier and gritted his teeth. He clenched his hands and held his blazing with both of his hands and raised it in the air.

Swoosh!

The surrounding corrupted mana was suddenly sucked toward his blazing weapon as if they were being devoured by a hungry monster. It didn’t take until the accumulation reached its peak and exploded with an outburst of pressure.

Boom!

A violent vortex seemed to appear above Justin, revolving around his blazing weapon. It then turned into a gigantic halberd that extended hundreds of meters in the sky.

He did not wait for Shin to finish his preparations and quickly swing the halberd down, cleaving everything on its path.

‘Class Fighting Style: (Modified) Apocalyptic Extinction’

Seeing the sudden change in Justin, Shin could not help but raise his eyebrow a little before breaking into a smile. It might be a little different but he was sure that it was the same technique that he wanted to see from the latter.

He stared at the descending halberd with its gigantic size before muttering to himself. “It might be a little but it perfectly fits to pull the final curtain.”

Bang!

He then stomped on the ground and launched himself forward.

Swoosh!

The gigantic halberd was almost upon him at that time but he was still wearing a calm look in his eyes

He was in the middle of unsheathing his sword when he suddenly disappeared from his sight and quickly reappeared a distance behind Justin, ending a horizontal slash motion.

Boom!

It was at that moment that the gigantic fell in front of Justin, creating a deep gully that extended hundreds of meters away. Unfortunately, his target was no longer there.

Shin shook his wrist a little alongside the [Yamato] before sheathing it back in an unhurried manner.

Click!

Crack! Crack!

When the subtle sound finally resounded, a series of shattering sounds, similar to broken glass, suddenly followed it alongside the formation of a spatial rift behind him.

‘Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw – Spatial Rending’

Bang!

A huge tear in the space suddenly appeared on the path that Shin had taken earlier. It then eliminated everything that was on it. They were being devoured by the void within that chaotic spatial tear. Justin, who was standing right in the middle of it, was naturally included.

He stared blankly in front of him, watching the space repair itself after the tear on it was created. He tried to open his mouth and say something but he couldn’t force out the words that he wanted to say.

The shock and unwillingness in his eyes still remained as his vision turned black alongside his dissipating body.

And when the space was finally restored, Justin could no longer be seen. Not only he lost this battle and got ejected from the Ancient Battlefield, but his in-game avatar would also forever disappear.

…