Child of Destiny

...…

The battlefield became a huge mess due to the intensity of the battle. The originally flat ground was now full of craters which made the battle arena have uneven ground.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

But despite that being the case, the battle was still ongoing as both Shin and Immortal didn't care about that factor.

Immortal was having an intense aerial battle against the Sun and Moon Clones. And after a few more exchanges, he became sure that Shin was manually controlling these clones despite battling his Undead Monsters at the same time.

Moreover, those three undeads were currently fused with his 'Abomination Spawns' (the term for his personal Elemental Spirits), which made his summoned monsters to be much stronger than before alongside their high intellect.

Regardless, it was quite noticeable that Immortal currently had a huge disadvantage in this aerial battle. He kept on pushing the clones back whenever they tried to get near him. What's more, he was also forcing the two clones into a passive state with the barrage of spells that he was throwing at them.

Aside from the aerial battle prowess that Immortal was showcasing, the spectators of this fight were also interested in the battle prowess that Shin was showing against the three high-ranked undead monsters.

Not only he was keeping them at bay as he was even suppressing them despite being overnumbered.

The three undead monsters obviously had an overwhelming strength and power given their body sizes.

At the same time, each of them was also possessing a unique set of skills of their own. And together with their very high AI, battling them would surely be a hellish experience for most of the players of the game.

But despite that being that case, Shin was able to get the upper hand.

To every spectator who knew the Nameless Swordsman, the signature sword-shapeshifting style that Shin had was quite satisfying to watch since it was too flashy. But now that Shin was able to raise it to a higher level, they couldn't help but admire his style even more.

The unpredictable attacks and strange trajectory of his whip-sword, the swift and unseeable attack speed of his rapier, and the partial space-rending ability of his longsword, each of these swords were weapons that were deadly enough to pose a threat to anyone in the game.

If not for the fact that these swords were showing some signs of being a skill, then the players watching the match might suspect that Shin was possessing a set of weapons with a very high rarity.

Bang!

Shin was sent flying in the air right after blocking a powerful charge from the Dullahan.

Taking a deep breath, Shin did a quick flip in the air to readjust his center of gravity. And when he regained his control over his body, he suddenly activated the 'Abyssal Form' of the 'Mondi's Style' to change the longsword on his left hand into its whip-sword form.

At the same time, he also changed the 'Elemental Possession' from 'Dimensional Cutter' to 'Soul Eater' to reinforce the sword abilities of the sword.

After that, he swung the whip-sword to the side to extend its blade before wrapping it at the neck of the Boneyard which was coming from that direction.

He then slightly pulled which made him fly towards the direction of the Boneyard and let him dodge the incoming barrage of oversized rocks thrown by the Blaspheme from the ground.

Meanwhile, the Boneyard opened its mouth widely when it saw Shin flying towards its direction.

But right after it opened its jaws, Shin suddenly swung the [Yamato] in the air in front of him while releasing all of the accumulated Power of Eclipse at the opened mouth of the Boneyard.

'Slayer Skill: Eclipse Slash'

Swoosh!

Boom!

Roar!

The Boneyard cried in agony the moment Shin fed it with that powerful skill. And due to the pain caused by the explosion, the undead swung its head left and right as it tried to extinguish the strange flame that had an alternating ice-cold and blazing-hot sensation.

At the same time, the Boneyard was also wagging its head left and right as it tried to shake off the blade of the whip-sword wrapped on its neck.

Meanwhile, Shin tightened his grip on his sword, not willing to let go for the time being.

He waited for the right opportunity before borrowing the momentum from the wagging movement of the Boneyard's head. And with that force, he was able to send himself flying back on the ground with an even greater speed.

In the direction where he was heading, the Dullahan was already waiting for his descent and was getting ready to swing its sword upwards.

Seeing that, Shin took yet another deep breath before kicking the air behind him to accelerate his descent while also transforming himself into an incorporeal form.

Pa!

'Legacy Skill: Mondi's Jump'

'Basic Combat Technique: Second Drive'

'Slayer Skill: Moonlight Steps'

Swoosh!

'Advance Combat Technique: Triple Drive'

'Extra Skill: Falling Lightblade'

Shing!

Due to the series of Skills and Combat Techniques that Shin had executed, his body transformed into a streak of light which was descending like a shooting star falling from the sky before hitting the ground in an instant.

At the same time, Shin was also able to separate the Dullahan from his undead horse due to the powerful shockwave accompanying his descend.

Boom!

Through the 'Sensing Circle' territorial skill, Shin was able to perceive the movements of the incoming Boneyard and Blaspheme which were coming from the air and charging from his front respectively.

Shin calculated their speed in an instant while taking a quick glance at the ongoing battle in the air. "This should be it."

"First, restrained their movements," he muttered to himself while pointing the [Yamato] towards the sky and chanted a couple of words at the same time. Then he waited for the two undead to reach his desired distance before swinging the sword downwards.

A moment later, the ground beneath Shin's feet suddenly released a blinding light which expanded up to a five-meter range away from him. And right after that, a barrage of pillars of lights suddenly fell down from the sky before striking the undead monsters around him.

'Self-Created Skill (Personalized): Eclipse Shower'

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Dullahan and its undead horse were impaled in the ground right after getting hit by the falling pillar of lights while the Blaspheme was unable to take another step forward after being struck by them.

Meanwhile, the Boneyard fell on the ground right beside Shin after getting struck by the descending pillars of light repeatedly.

But despite being struck repeatedly by the 'Eclipse Shower' and having impaled movements, the three undead monsters seemed to be still unharmed as Shin could see that they were regenerating their injuries at a visible rate.

But that was more than enough for Shin.

He quickly used the 'Void Steps' to teleport away from the three undead monsters before pointing his sword at the sky once again before focusing his mind to summon something.

On the very next instant, Shin suddenly swung the [Yamato] in a very powerful manner while summoning a destructive force from the sky.

BOOM!

A deafening thunder exploded in the sky as a strong energy wave struck down from the sky and fell towards the three undead monsters with impaled movements.

'Grim Reaper Skills (Tier 2): Ragna Blade'

Swoosh!

BOOM!

The three undead were further impaled on the ground, restraining their moments. And naturally, Immortal was able to see that and quickly formed a series of hand seals as he planned to free the three from their current predicament.

But how could Shin let him freely do that?

The moment he cast the 'Ragna Blade', he immediately controlled his clones and pressured Immortal with a crazy series of synchronized attacks.

But Immortal was not an ordinary player after all. So, he was able to complete his spell successfully despite being pressured by the two clones. And right after the completion of the spell, he immediately pointed his fingers at the three undead on the ground and sent a beam of black light towards their direction.

But as if waiting for that very moment, Shin controlled his clones once again and teleported them on each of Immortal's sides before doing yet another synchronized attack.

Immortal suddenly smirked when he saw that. He knew that Shin was trying to exploit the fact that he couldn't take off his pointing fingers away from his undead monsters since it was going to forcefully cancel the spells.

Unfortunately, he already considered it earlier and made some preparations ahead of time.

Clang! Clang!

The swords of the Clones were blocked by a pair of barriers that suddenly materialized in front of them.

After that, Immortal raised his bone scepter in the air before summoning a powerful shockwave that sent the clones flying away from him.

Bang!

But while Immortal was doing that, Shin suddenly threw the [Yamato] in a very powerful manner and sent it towards Immortal.

Swoosh!

The sword flew quite fast as it managed to reach Immortal in just a couple of seconds.

Clang!

Unfortunately, Immortal already freed his undead monsters at that time and healed their injuries. So, he was able to turn his body around and blocked the flying sword successfully before it could even hit him.

The sword was deflected upwards right after getting blocked. It flipped a couple of times in the air before starting to fall down.

Meanwhile, Immortal planned to blink away from that spot right after blocking the sword, but he couldn't do it in time, since the clones were already right beside him once again and were already in the middle of throwing yet another attack.

This particular synchronized attack was perfectly timed as Immortal could tell that he was going to get hit by it even if he managed to cast blink in time.

So, he decisively abandoned the idea of casting a blink and decided to block the incoming attacks instead.

Clang! Clang!

The sword of the Sun Clone was blocked by Immortal's bone scepter while the sword of the other clone was caught by his other hand which was currently covered with dark elemental mana.

While he was currently locked in that position, Immortal suddenly noticed the falling sword which was flipping right in front of him. And looking closely at it, his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of a strange mark drawn on the hilt of the sword.

Seeing that, Immortal suddenly got a bad feeling as a chilling sensation ran through his spine.

He wanted to do something to prevent his premonition from happening. But due to the sudden pause that he took to process the information, everything was already too late.

'Elementa Skill (Shadow/Psychic): Shadow Mark'

Shin's real body suddenly appeared right in front of him while catching the falling swords. And before Immortal could even react, he quickly swung both of his swords with a stronger force on each strike.

'Self-Created Skill (Personalized): Triple Slash'

'Basic Combat Technique: Second Drive'

'Grim Reaper Skill (Tier 2): Purgatory Slash: Penta Slash'

Shin's arms transformed into a series of blurs as he threw the consecutive slashes at Immortal with a fluid motion.

And right after throwing the eighth slash, he took a very brief moment of pause to gather the accumulated forces on the [Yamato] before releasing it with a final slash alongside the Life Energy that was accumulated from the previous slashes. 

'Grim Reaper Skill (Tier 2): Purgatory Slash: Energy Wave'

Swoosh!

And with that final strike, the first round of the best of three series finally came to an end.

...