Child of Destiny

...

Seven instantly recognized that he would not stand a chance if he didn't give his all from the beginning.

'I only have a single chance to end this, so I need to stay focused and not let my guard down,' he thought as he also took a battle stance.

At the same time, his swords also underwent a transformation. Both of them became blazing swords with crimson blades while a flickering fire flowed through his arms.

His armor, on the other hand, turned from white to black as golden patterns appeared on its edges.

'Sword Guardian Skill: Spirit of the Flame Lord'

Bang!

Right after his transformation, Seven quickly initiated the fight, now willing to wait this time. He knew that he was weaker compared to his opponent, so he needed to seize this opportunity to control the rhythm of the battle before he was suppressed by the opposing party.

Swoosh!

Voltage was already expecting that to happen, so he quickly threw a stab forward, perfectly timing his attack and matching it with Seven's speed.

Cling!

Seven swung his sword to redirect the spear that heading toward his head. He also leaned to the side before twisting his waist and swinging his swords forward in a horizontal manner.

'Sword Guardian Skill: Twin Talons'historical

The counterattack came a little too sudden and put Voltage in an awkward position to retaliate. But despite that being the case, he was still able to respond properly.

He pressed the lower part of his spear, positioning it in front of him vertically. Quickly after that, he slammed the spear on the ground planting it firmly like a sturdy pillar.

Crackle!

Then an electric current flow through the spear before transforming its whole body into lightning.

'Storm Spearmaster Skill: Lightning Spear'

Bang!

The blazing swords and the lightning spear collided with each other, creating a powerful explosion that sent the two away from each other.

Swoosh!

A curtain of snow blocked surrounded the two as they continued to slide backward. They firmly planted their feet on the ground as they slid the snow and left a long trail on it.

Whoosh!

While Voltage was trying to stabilize himself, the curtain of snow in front of him was suddenly split open in a spiraling manner as Seven jumped through it.

Seven was holding one of his blazing swords beside his waist while the other was being held over his shoulders. He left a blazing trail in the air as he flew straight to his opponent.

'Sword Guardian Skill: Cross Talons'

He then swung the blazing swords successively with a speed that seemingly made his movements look illusionary.

Shing! Shing!

The sword slashes left a blazing cross in the air, moving straight to Voltage who was still in the middle of stabilizing his footing.

Seeing that he would not be able to counter this attack, Voltage quickly used his movement skills to escape his current predicament.

'Storm Spearmaster Skill: Lightning Steps'

Crackle! Crackle!

Voltage's body suddenly turned into a lightning current that move forward, passing through the blazing cross as well as Seven who was behind it.

Seven quickly covered his body with fire elemental mana as another layer of protection when he saw the lighting current heading towards him.

Swoosh!

After failing to harm Seven, the lightning current continued to move forward before gathering in a single spot and later forming a humanoid figure that turned into Voltage in the very next second.

Voltage was holding a lightning spear in his hand as he postured a throwing motion right after materializing his body.

'Storm Spearmaster Skill: Lightning Strike'

Crackle!

The moment when Voltage threw the lightning spear, a flash of blinding light immediately followed before leaving a lightning trail in the air.

Boom!

And just like the appearance of real lighting, the thunder immediately followed after it, resounding in the whole forest.

Voltage was confident that this attack would land cleanly on Seven's back, injuring the latter severely, if not killing the swordsman in the process.

But contrary to his expectation, Seven manage to turn around at the last moment and crossed his sword in front of him, accurately blocking the tip of the lightning spear with them.

"Hoh~! You survive that?" commented Voltage, showing his surprise.

But it didn't take long for him to smirk mockingly when he noticed that the HP Bar above Seven's head only had a sliver of health on it, signifying that he was barely hanging with a thread of life left.

Voltage was about to say something when he saw the flame covering Seven's body was suddenly absorbed, giving him a big surprise.

It first turned into a blazing bird, spreading its wings wide before embracing Seven with them. After that, the HP Bar that only had a tiny health left was suddenly healed back to full, turning Seven back to his healthy state.

'Sword Guardian Skill (Tier 2): Blessing of the Vermillion Bird'

Voltage suddenly remembered something and spoke. "Vermillion Bird? I see, so you are the one who gets its recognition. No wonder, you fearlessly stayed here instead of running away."

"Our Big Boss is looking for the traces of the 'Four Guardian Beasts' of this world, but who would have thought that one of their hosts will come at us on its own."

Seven frowned deeply when he heard those words, trying to read the meaning behind them. From the tone that the opposing side had, he couldn't help but had a feeling about it.

Voltage ignored the dark expression that Seven had and continued. "Now, this is going to be a little troublesome. I am originally planning to kill you and move on, but I guess I have to put more into it since I need to catch you now."

"Ah! That's right, it is also going to be troublesome if the Sword God learns about this. After all, it is the same as provoking him if we capture someone under his protection. I better inform the captain about this matter."

He then opened a virtual screen in front of Seven, not caring if the latter was going to ambush him while he was distracted. Right now, it was more important to inform his captain about his discovery than anything else.

Swoosh!

As expected, Seven quickly charged forward when he saw Voltage not paying attention to him. But before he could even reach the halfway mark between them, he immediately halted his tracks and started hopping backward.

It was because of the lightning spears hovering behind Voltage and also creating a fan-shaped formation.

"I suggest you not make any funny moves as I may accidentally kill you, causing you to fail your quest," said Voltage with a warning tone.

"I heard from those guys from the Corrupted Cult that it is Quest with at least a character-deletion penalty."

​ "Tsk! Tsk! It is pretty harsh, but it is completely understandable given the scale that it has. I guess it is a top-class Empire Quest given its harsh condition," he added as the moved his fingers and controlled the floating spears behind him.

Seven didn't know what Voltage was thinking but he could feel that it was not good in any way, especially when he heard that the latter was planning to capture him. It was giving him an unpleasant feeling.

Ding!

Then Voltage received a message from Flouree, giving him permission to take action. Receiving such a positive reply, he couldn't help but smile from ear to ear before casting his gaze at Seven.

"Tsk! It sure is your unlucky day today, Seven. But don't worry, aside from losing a couple of levels as well as your special class, nothing much is going to happen to you."

"Who knows, our Big Boss may even give you a suitable compensation," he added as if he was not putting Seven in his eyes. He was also not afraid of provoking Zero, who was behind Seven.

Crackle! Crackle!

Then Voltage was suddenly clad in lighting armor as well as a helmet that looked like an eagle's head. There was also a pair of wings made in wind and lightning behind him, spreading widely on each side.

'Storm Spearman Skill: Descent of the Thunderbird'

"I don't have much time left, so let's wrap this up before my captain arrives here," said Voltage as he walked forward while dragging his lightning spear behind him, drawing a long trail on the snowy ground with its tip.

Seven understood that there was really no escaping this time, so he quickly activated another strength-boosting skill, initiating a two-fold berserk.

'Mystic Inheritance: Embodiment of the Vermillion Bird'

Blaze!

Seven's body was immediately covered by a vermillion flame transforming his armor once again. And this time, the armor turned bright red as if it was a metal that was being heated by a raging flame.

Golden patterns also appeared on the surface of the armor as its edges were filled with a series of runes.

His head was also covered by a helmet that had the appearance of a mythical beast, the vermillion bird. Then a pair of blazing wings appeared behind him, matching the span of the ones that his opponent had.

Then his swords also underwent another transformation, making them grow in size as well as having strange mystical patterns on their blades.

'Five minutes, that is the longest I can hold on this form. I hope the young master and the others arrive in time,' thought Seven as he got ready to give his all for this battle.

He might be planning to buy a time before he was rescued by the others but he was not betting everything on it. If he wanted to survive against a Monster Class Player, then he needed to clear his thoughts, forget about everything else, and focus on battle.

This was his first time fighting a player who was much stronger than him aside from Zero. And instead of a sparring match, it was a real battle with his in-game avatar was on the time.

But rather than being afraid and having doubts in mind, he was feeling excited instead.

He was inspired by Zero and the others who reached a higher realm just recently.

He might not be able to reach the state that they were in, but he was confident that he would be able to barely touch it.

He might still be far from it but he could at least get a glimpse of their back from a faraway distance.

He was still not left behind!

...…