Child of Destiny

……

As the entire class was having a hard time dealing with the organized attacks of the clay golems and mechanical puppets under Old Man Lin’s control, Shin was currently busy dealing with the evolution puppet in front of him.

The battle took longer than he had expected, and he suffered quite a bit during their exchanges. Fortunately, his Celestial Vermillion Bird Method saved him the trouble as he was able to constantly heal himself during the battle. And due to the special fire attribute, that he just awakened recently, his healing capabilities reached an unimaginable degree.

The harvest that he had during this battle was too bountiful, making him very satisfied with it. Not only he had become fully accustomed to the new sword techniques under his arsenal, but he also gained a lot of insights on how to properly utilize them during the battle.

What was left right now was how he was going to apply the offensive capabilities of the fire attribute of his Celestial Vermillion Bird Method.

He already got inspiration from copying his skills inside the game, but he knew that it was still not the full potential of his attribute as he could feel that there was still something lacking on it when he was using it during the battle. ．

He did not know if it was because the other attributes were not awakened yet, or if he was still not familiar with the attribute itself. Regardless, he could still use the inspirations that he got inside the game and polish them during the battle.

After a couple of moments, Shin managed to find a small window to catch his breath with space that he had barely created. This also gave him enough time to turn his head away from the mechanical puppet for a moment and swept his gaze at the ongoing battles in the distance.

It was at that moment that he realized that the situation on the other side was getting dire. The class was being pushed back repeatedly by the combined forces of the clay golems and the mechanical puppets. He also noticed that the latter group was moving in a very organized and systematic manner as they pushed the students back.

But at the same time, he also saw that most of the students were working with one another, especially the ones that he usually saw working alone.

He even spotted Arthur and Dylan joining forces to take on a huge clay golem. There was also Jean and Diel, who was currently fighting a pair of mechanical puppets that were flanking them from different angles.

Shin found it rather interesting as he could remember that those guys were supposedly fighting one another earlier.

At the same time, he also noticed that the battle formation that the mechanical puppets and clay golems had was very solid and hard to penetrate, their defense was perfect. Their attacking pattern and offensive movements were also very strong that which put the class in a difficult situation.

Shin looked for his group and noticed that they were also in a predicament. Fortunately, it seemed like the group were able to establish an alliance with the other groups and started working together.

After a quick look, he swiftly jumped away from his current position, dodging the attack of the evolution puppet that finally caught up to him.

He then assumed a sword-drawing stance as he thought of what he was going to do next.

He had already gotten his fill of battle, so he could now stop being stubborn and stay occupied with this strange mechanical puppet.

He was guessing that Old Man Lin was plotting something, given the organized movements that the clay golems and mechanical puppets had.

Shin was now caught in a dilemma where had to decide whether to ditch this evolution puppet or continue fighting it.

If he chose the former and regrouped with his team, then had had to risk this evolution puppet throwing everyone in havoc. And when it joined the other mechanical puppets and the clay golems, he could already imagine the inevitable defeat of the class.

But if he remained here and continued to engage in a battle with it, he did not know whether the group would be able to hold their ground until the end. At the same time, he did not know if he could fight this evolution puppet until everything was over. After all, his stamina was still limited, so he did not know if he could last that long.

After contemplating it for a couple of moments, Shin decided to continue fighting the mechanical puppet. It was better to keep this monstrous puppet occupied rather than let it loose in the battle and create chaos. The damage that it could deal to the class was devastating.

Moreover, his style was already taking its perfect state while the evolution puppet seemed to be far from its ideal form. He was currently in a clear advantage at this point in time. He had to utilize it properly if he wanted to defeat this mechanical puppet before it reached perfection.

Bang! Bang!

Clang!

Cling! Cling!

Shin continued to exchange blows with the evolution puppet, fully trusting the others on their side. He executed a series of sword techniques and foot techniques to deal with the puppet during the battle.

And after linking the sword movements and foot techniques to perfection, he was finally able to find an opening that he could take advantage of.

He tossed the white katana in the air, making the eyes of the mechanical puppet get attracted by it. And at the brief moment when the puppet got distracted, he swiftly unsheathed the other katana hanging on his waist and swung it.

It was not his usual quick-draw attack as he was utilizing his mental energy in a different way. He was using the inspiration that he got from the game as he infused the black katana with the fire attribute mental energy that he recently gained.

He had already used this technique before when he assisted the agents and guards of the Cilvana and Springfield Families when facing that powerful mercenary, Mad Dog. Due to that, he became more familiar with this technique and was able to instantly execute it with a flawless motion.

Shing!

‘Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw – Solar Flare’

Shoosh!

The katana burst out with a blazing flame as it traced a beautiful arc in the air, releasing a burning crescent wave in the process.

Everything happened a little too fast for the mechanical puppet to respond. Even though it managed to read the attack ahead of time, the little delay that Shin’s previous action of tossing the other katana in the air brought enough time for Shin to execute everything.

Moreover, this particular technique was not in its database since it was the first time Shin had used it in their battle.

The evolution puppet was caught completely off-guard, making it unable to properly respond to Shin’s move.

It only managed to take a couple of steps back, avoiding the worst-case scenario.

But it was still not enough.

The blazing crescent wave still grazed the chest of the evolution puppet, leaving a clear mark on it. The cloak that the mechanical puppet had was cut by the blazing wave while a deep horizontal cut could be seen on its chest.

The edges of the cut were still burning hot, leaving the mixture of orange and red color that indicated how hot that ‘wound’ was.

The mechanical puppet paused for a moment, making it look like it had short-circuited for not being able to properly process what just happened.

Shin did not care about that as he quickly sheathed the black katana before catching the white one that was falling from above.

He strode forward to reach the evolution puppet within an instant. He held the white katana with both of his hands as he swung it down with great momentum. There was also the mental energy and violent gale revolving around his body and the sword as he did those actions.

‘Jade Kirin Scripture: First Movement – Collapsing Wind’

Swoosh!

The speed and smoothness of his actions were too perfect for the current situation. It could also be said that it was too perfect that it was impossible to be dodged or blocked given the current circumstances.

If this attack landed on the mechanical puppet, the damage that it could deal would be pretty much disastrous. Given that momentum, Shin could possibly cleave the puppet in halves the moment when he swung the katana down.

The evolution puppet analyzed its current situation, processing all of the data inside its head at an extreme speed.

Upon closer inspection, one could see its eyes having a series of text and symbols flowing at a rapid pace.

Within an instant, the evolution puppet evaluated that it was currently in a very dangerous situation and could not save itself with its current mode. Because of this, the emergency and protective features of the puppet were accidentally triggered to protect itself.

It adjusted its mode from ‘practice’ to ‘combat’.

The glowing runes engraved on different parts of the mechanical puppet’s body suddenly turned red while its eyes released a dangerous glow.

All of this happened within an instant and Shin immediately noticed the sudden change and sensed the danger coming from the puppet.

Unfortunately, it was already too late to stop in his tracks, especially when his body was being pushed by the generated moment. He could only give his all and pour everything he had into this attack and hope that it would be enough to stop the incoming disaster.

The white katana was already about to descend to the mechanical puppet when it suddenly raised its head and stared at Shin.

Bang!

……