Child of Destiny

…

Bang!

Aoki’s body shattered like broken glass and scattered and dissolved on the ground like crystallized ice.

Boa frowned deeply when he saw this, realizing that Aoki had gotten them good.

“A clone skill and location swap?” he mumbled when he saw what had happened.

Cobra was also wearing a grave look when he saw this, making him feel a bit humiliated due to what happened earlier.

“Oi! Focus, we are not in the clear yet,” Boa disturbed Cobra’s thoughts, waking up the latter.

Cobra then raised his head and swept his gaze at the surroundings, watching the receding cloud of dust to clear itself.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Not long after, he saw multiple silhouettes appearing around them, one after another, surrounding them from all directions.

He first thought that they were the army of jiangshi closing in and filling the huge gap in their formation that Gunner had created.

But he later realized that it was not the case. After having a clear look at them, Cobra was able to see that those silhouettes belonged to Aoki and his clones.

BOOM!

They were still trying to find the true body when all these clones suddenly charged at them at the same time.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Every clone seemed to have transformed into an azure dragon.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Boa and Cobra immediately made their moves right after seeing the incoming enemies.

Poof!

One seemed to have exploded and released a thick poison miasma that spread in every direction, while the other produced a series of phantoms that spread out and faced each of the incoming azure dragons.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

An intense battle immediately broke out between the two sides, exchanging a series of highly advanced moves with one another.

Boa took advantage of the spreading poison miasma to cover his movements while also utilizing its properties to enchant his weapon with them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Each of the azure dragons was shattered like glass under his attacks, which seemed to be too fast for other people to catch with their naked eyes.

A minute had only passed during that time, yet all the azure dragons had been taken care of. He seemed not to have even broken a sweat during the entire process.

Unfortunately, their real target did not appear during all those exchanges.

“Tsk! So, he still has run away, huh?” said Cobra as his figure slowly emerged beside Boa while also gathering the poison miasma he had spread earlier.

He was about to say something more when Boa suddenly cut his words off. “He has gotten us quite good this time.”

“Huh!? What do you mean by that?” Cobra was quite confused when Boa suddenly ditched him.

“You deal with this problem for now. I’ll find a way to land a critical strike at them later,” said Boa before suddenly disappearing.

Poof!

“Wait-…!” Cobra wanted to ask more when he suddenly realized that something was wrong with the surroundings.

A moment later, he found out that his current location was being surrounded by a huge number of jiangshi.

Moreover, this bunch was giving off an insanely dangerous feeling compared to the ones that they had been dealing with until now.

Looking at their eyes, he could see the crimson red pupils and pitch-black color surrounding them.

Their physique was quite different as well. They were neither too muscular nor too lean for a martial expert during their previous lives. Their bodies were just right for an average person.

However, what truly made Cobra wary of them was their ability to devour the poison miasma that he was trying to gather.

On top of this, he also instinctively felt that all these jiangshi had locked on him, particularly the poison that he always carried.

“No wonder Boa ditches me just like that,” he mumbled, realizing his current situation.

Based on what he was seeing alone, he could tell that this bunch of jiangshi had thoroughly locked onto his entire existence and would surely chase after him until he was killed or all of them were wiped out.

“So, this is the real reason why that guy has come here alone. It is to purposely lure us out,” he mumbled before adding. “And particularly targeting me and my poison arts.”

Roar! Roar! Roar!

He was still in the middle of gauging the opposing side when the group of jiangshi started charging at him without restraint.

This bunch of jiangshi would truly give him a lot of trouble, especially when their abilities greatly countered his own.

For a bunch of jiangshi who seemed to eat poison for breakfast, dealing with him would be easy.

“Such a handicap is not fun,” he complained a little before swiftly executing a series of movements according to a different set of martial arts.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

…

In the meantime, back on the other side of the battlefield, Aoki just returned.

Swoosh!

He appeared to be emerging from a crystal mirror laid on the ground.

Right after appearing, he was immediately surrounded by a bunch of azure dragons flying in the air. They coiled their bodies around him, seemingly protecting him from any kind of ambush that might come at him.

Whoosh!

Right after his entire body emerged, Aoki swiftly retreated, abandoning the slaughtering array that he had been using since earlier.

He then regrouped with the others, who seemed to be expecting something like this to happen already.

“It seems like it is a mission accomplished!” greeted Riko right after seeing him.

“I am not expecting to be this early as well. It seems like our earlier preparations paid off,” replied Aoki.

“Got anything good?” asked Ryoto.

Aoki glanced at his inventory bag before answering. “It seems like I know how those guys have found this dungeon. And they have used quite a fascinating method.”

Swoosh!

At the same time, Arthur had returned as well, retreating from the frontline.

Boom!

Along with him, the giant dragon had also retreated, letting the others jump on its back before flying into the air.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Gathered at the back of the giant dragon, the group looked down at the army of jiangshi that looked like an overwhelming swarm of ants from a distance.

Swoosh!

In the distance, Chaotic Luck could also be seen riding a flying skeleton, catching up to them. The group then started discussing their next move right after he landed on the back of the giant dragon.

Looking in the distance, Leonard could not help but say. “It is going to be quite challenging if we let this continue. We have to find a way to push through their ranks and reach the ziggurat as soon as possible.”

“How about flying over the army and heading straight to it?” suggested Arthur, looking quite serious.

“It is not going to be a wise move, especially when we have yet to find the true depths of their forces. Who knows if they have other methods to deal with special creatures like this dragon?” said Aoki while also standing at the edge and looking at the distance.

Arthur did not immediately respond, especially after recalling how he and his dragon had struggled when fighting those strange jiangshi and their special weapons.

He knew that they had to adjust their strategy, especially when the jiangshi were growing stronger every passing second.

“We have to be mindful of those two from the Hydra Guild as well,” added Aoki while turning his gaze in the direction where he ditched Cobra and Boa earlier.

“Especially that troublesome guy with unrivalled speed,” he continued while recalling his bit of exchange against Boa.

“We will only become their meat shield if we directly dive too deep into the enemies’ ranks, which will give those sly snakes more opportunities that they can take advantage of,” said Riko, chiming in on the conversation.

Hearing this, Arthur then turned to Chaotic Luck and asked. “Have you prepared what we have asked you?”

Chaotic Luck immediately nodded in response. “Don’t worry, Vice. I have already scattered enough of them around and am waiting for your signal.”

Arthur briefly nodded before adding. “What about your other trump card?”

Hearing this, Chaotic Luck could not help but roll his eyes before answering in a somewhat aggrieved tone. “If not for your repeated signal to surrender in the previous trial, then I would have most likely used it and taken down either one of those guys without exhausting myself.”

Arthur just shrugged his shoulders, ignoring the resentful glare from the latter.

“Anyway, about what you have said earlier, Senior. You have found the key that helps the Black Market find this place?” he said while turning at Aoki, clearly dodging Chaotic Luck.

Aoki gave him a scornful look before answering. “Yeah. And it is quite an amusing pair of items.”

After that, he took out a book and a pearl-like object from his inventory before showing them to everyone.

He then swept his gaze at them before asking, along with a mystifying smile. “Do you happen to know these items?”

……