Child of Destiny

...

Shin stared at Justin for a couple of moments before smirking with a mocking look on his face when he saw the ugly look on the latter's face.

He then adjusted his position in the air once again before diving down toward Justin once again, descending with an even stronger momentum than before. He transformed into a streak of light that flew straight to his opponent like a falling meteor.

Swoosh!

Justin quickly recollected himself before assuming an offensive posture while waiting for Shin to reach him.

Bang!

Another explosive collision occurred when they clashed for another time, though the impact that they made was a little weaker than earlier.

Then they quickly engaged in an intense melee, sending shockwaves for every collision of their weapons that swept the surrounding corpses.

Despite Justin having the absolute advantage within this Ancient Battlefield, Shin was still able to bridge the gap between the two of them with his domain skills and sword techniques alone. He didn't even get the upper hand during their exchanges since the beginning of the fight.

On the contrary, he was currently the one who was gradually being suppressed as the battle progressed despite having the home-ground advantage. This frustrated him even more, making him launch a series of attacks more aggressively without considering his defense.

But if he knew that Shin was actually treating him as a training dummy right now, then he would become even more enraged than he already was.

Shin was honing the basic sword techniques that he gained from the 'Jade Kirin Scripture'. He was still not sure if the sword techniques from the said Mentalism Scripture were originally part of it or if it was something he already knew given the 'familiarity' that he had with it.

But at the very least, it complemented his Mentalism pretty well, so he really couldn't complain about anything.

It at least had to wait until he talked to David later, when all of this was over.

The Sword Technique was composed of thirteen movements in total and all of them could be linked together and even mixed them out in order.

Shin couldn't master them all in the short span of time that he had, especially when he just 'learned' them earlier. He also had to wait until he got out of the game to continue exploring their mysteries in the real world.

Unlike the sword-drawing techniques that he was already familiar with due to the set of Class Fighting Style Skills that he had in his arsenal, he only managed to familiarize himself with four sword movements in total during their battle against Caelum.

This opportunity was actually a blessing in disguise for Shin since he had gotten the perfect time and place to deepen his understanding of these four basic sword movements.

Swoosh!

Justin swung his halberd downward, drawing a blazing vertical line in the air. The blade of the halberd fell toward Shin with an unstoppable force, making look impossible to be blocked.

Seeing the powerful force accompanying that incoming strike, Shin skillfully adjusted his position with a quick shift on his ankles. He then held the [Yamato] with both of his hands and raised them up, positioning the sword over his shoulder and angling it in a sharp tilt.

With his great timing, he let the halberd of his opponent slide on the surface of his sword, guiding it to hit the ground beside him.

Bang!

Quickly after that, Shin moved the sword around him before swinging it diagonally from the opposing angle.

He took advantage of the awkward position of his opponent to throw a counterattack!

'Jade Kirin Scripture: Second Movement – Returning Wave'

Shing!

The counter was perfectly timed, making it impossible for Justin to block or dodge by normal means. And given the spatial mana surrounding the sword, he knew that it could deal fatal damage to him if he faced it head-on, even though it seemed to be a simple sword movement.

Left without a choice, Justin was forced to use one of his life-saving skills to escape his current predicament.

Swoosh!

A pair of giant demonic hands suddenly appeared behind him and shielded him from the incoming strike with their tough scales.

Clang!

And quickly after blocking, they opened their palms wide and shot forward, trying to grab Shin and crush him in the process.

'Demonic Palace: Death Grasp'

Shin took a series of quick steps backward to create some distance between himself and the pair of demonic hands before swinging his sword at them quickly after.

Crackle! Crackle!

Electric currents covered the [Yamato] and left an electric trail in the air as he swung it three times.

'Jade Kirin Scripture: Third Movement – Trinity Storm'

Clang! Clang! Clang!

With him fending off the demonic hands, a gap was created between them which gave Shin enough space to advance forward.

Bang!

Holding the sword with both of his hands and raising it above him, Shin stomped on the ground and sent him striding ahead, passing through the gap that he created.

Borrowing the momentum from his charge, he transferred his strength to his arms before swinging the [Yamato] down to Justin, who was now vulnerable once again.

'Jade Kirin Scripture: First Movement – Collapsing Wind'

Swoosh!

That attack came too suddenly and arrived within an instant. Fortunately, Justin already recovered his footing at that time, letting him respond to Shin's attack.

He raised his halberd and positioned it in front of him while supporting it with his demonic arm. He used it to block the incoming strike while channeling some of his demonic powers into it to reinforce its defensive capabilities.

Bang!

Unfortunately, the force behind Shin's attack was much stronger than he had expected. Despite the preparations that he had, he was still pushed quite far from the point of impact, skidding back and drawing a deep trail on the ground.

Click!

When Justin managed to stabilize his footing, he heard a subtle sound that sent an intense chill to his spine. And when he raised his head, he saw a flash of light that blinded his vision followed by a sharp sound of something cutting through the air.

Shin already sheathed the [Yamato] right after he sent Justin away. Then he quickly assumed a sword-drawing stance while circulating the energies within him according to the method of the mentalism scripture.

Using the 'Moonlight Splitter' as the base, he quickly charged ahead and unsheathed the sword in the process.

Right after the flash of light during the unsheathing, a thin glowing line was drawn in the air as he headed toward his opponent while thrusting his sword forward.

Shing!

'Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw – Flash Final'

Swoosh!

Puchi!

But despite the flawless series of movements that he had, he still failed to end the life of his opponent as something blocked his sword right before it reached its target.

Looking ahead, Shin saw a living monster corpse standing between him and Justin, blocking the finishing move that he just executed earlier.

He blasted a huge hole through the chest of that monster with his previous attack. The residual energy from his attack clearly pierced through the tough body of this zombie-like monster, but at the same time, it managed to redirect the course of the energy at the last moment, saving Justin, who was currently standing behind it.

"Tsk!" Shin could not help but click his tongue when he saw that before quickly retreating. And right after he distanced himself away from the zombie-like monster, its body suddenly exploded and blasted off everything around it.

Strangely but expected enough, Justin was unaffected by the explosion. He even walked through the raging flame produced by it as his glaring eyes fixed on Shin's retreating figure.

'Demonic Palace: Living Hell'

Right after the activation of the skill, the surrounding corpses within the fifty-meter radius suddenly became alive and stood up one after another.

The expression on Shin's face immediately turned series when he saw those standing corpses. He clearly understood the indication of their actions – this whole place was filled with 'opponents'.

The corpses of different creatures suddenly became alive and started pouncing at Shin, not giving him the time to think how he was going to escape.

Seeing the hordes of zombie monsters swarming at him from every direction, Shin quickly halted his steps and took his stance.

Huu~!historical

Taking a deep breath, he controlled the energy within him according to the 'Jade Kirin Scripture' once again before transforming them into Spatial Elemental Mana. "This is going to consume a lot of mental strength and energy from me, but I don't have the choice."

"Lend me your powers, Hanzo!" he muttered before closing his eyes.

As if responding to him, the [Yamato] released a series of humming sounds after he said those words. It also produced a dense Spatial Elemental Mana that assisted Shin with the technique that he was planning to use.

Shin, on the other hand, pictured the final form of the technique that he wanted to use inside his head while focusing his senses on the surrounding.

Whoosh!

A silent and invisible aura was suddenly released from his body and swept through his surroundings, scanning everything and informing him of the clear number and position of the incoming zombie monsters.

He patiently waited for all of the zombie monsters to enter his attacking range before unsheathing his sword.

Click!

It released a blinding glow upon the unsheathing that lasted for a brief moment. Then it was quickly followed by light flashes that left a series of crisscrossing lines in the air.

Shing!

'Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw – Dimension Quelling'

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Time seemed to stop at that moment as the horde of zombie monsters swarming at Shin suddenly stopped moving all at the same.

Click!

Thud!

​

And when the sound of Shin putting his sword back into its sheath resounded, all of the zombie monsters started falling on the ground one after another, turning them back into lifeless corpses once again.

But this time, their bodies were severed into multiple pieces.

...…