Child of Destiny

……

Clang! Clang!

A pair of silhouettes were moving at an extreme speed as they moved across the snowy field and clashed against each other from time to time.

Shin was matching Diablo in speed, surprising the latter greatly. But at the same time, he was also impressed at the assassin since their strength was clearly on par with each other. He could clearly feel it every time their weapons collided with each other.

If a spectator was trying to watch their battle, then they would definitely have a hard time catching a glimpse of their figures due to how fast they were. If not for the metal sparks that were flying in the air for each collision, it would be impossible to guess their positions.

Shin had a lot of stacking passive skills that were granting him a massive increase in attack speed, movement speed, and attack power. This was the main reason why he was able to match Diablo in terms of speed.

Unfortunately, he was gradually falling behind despite those stacking effects.

If he had those kinds of skills, then how come an agility-type class such as a Shadow Dancer would not?

Diablo would obviously have a similar skill that was slowly stacking up as the battle progressed. And since his class greatly focused on AGI Stats, it was not surprising for him to outclass Shin in terms of speed.

Realizing that it was no longer possible for him to match Diablo’s speed, Shin quickly changed his approach in battle.

He suddenly stopped at a certain location and quickly assumed another stance for battle. He then waited for Diablo to come at him, without moving a single muscle.

This time he would use his main weapon in battle, his reaction speed!

Seeing that Shin suddenly stopped, Diablo didn’t hesitate and quickly launched an attack coming from the blinded spot of his opponent. Together with his insane speed, his attack was definitely going to be a dangerous one.

Swoosh!

But contrary to his expectation, Shin responded to it almost instantly!

Right before the tip of his stiletto reached his target, it was immediately deflected by the saber of his opponent and redirected its course.

Sensing how dangerous to move forward, Diablo forcefully halted his steps and hopped away from Shin, barely dodging the swing that was thrown at him.

The tip of the [Dawn Blade] barely missed him. He could feel the heat of the brilliant flame coving the saber as it brushed past his face.

Diablo knew that it was not an ordinary mana control technique. He was sure that it was an advanced one that could be ranked as one of the top energy techniques.

But it didn’t mean that Diablo didn’t possess a similar skill.

In this battle, he was using his best weapons to match his opponent. He knew that Shin’s skills were way stronger compared to the Sweepers that he was fighting since earlier, so he needed to be at his peak to avoid any accidents from happening.

In his right hand, he was holding a shortsword with ancient runes written on its blade that gave off a strange aura.

Then a pitch-black stiletto was being held by his left hand. It looked like an ornamental item given the fancy design on its handle.

This pair of weapons definitely had a high quality given that they were able to withstand the attacks of Shin’s sabers enfolded with the powers of the Brilliant Sun and Abyssal Moon.

But it was not the most impressive thing that Diablo had. Instead, it was the purple aura that was covering his body.

This aura was able to ward off the negative effects that the ‘Eclipse Wielding’ had.

Most of Shin’s opponents were having a hard time facing him in such a long battle mainly because of that Combat Technique.

The power of the Abyssal Moon was giving a slowing effect every time he hit his opponent with it. It was also gradually stacking up which would turn into a freezing effect which was fatal for the fight. ．

On the other hand, the power of the Brilliant Sun had the stacking heat effect that was slowly turning into a burning effect that would hinder his opponents during the span of the battle.

But these two effects were ineffective to Diablo as he was being protected by the purple aura covering his body. And due to this, his speed was getting much faster as the battle progressed.

But despite his insane speed, Diablo’s attacks were also ineffective against Shin. Even if he combined that speed with the unpredictable courses where it was very hard to defend.

It didn’t take long for Diablo to realize that Shin was actually using powerful defensive techniques to ward off his attacks.

The first technique was something that set up a territory surrounding Shin, where he could sense every single movement, no matter how minimal they were.

It was the ‘Zone’ Territorial Technique that Shin had created after combining his knowledge of the ‘False Territory’ of a Martial Artist and the ‘Spiritual Sense’ of a Mentalist in the real world. He recreated this technique within the game using his ‘Sensing Circle’ and ‘True Sight’ Skills as its core.

The other skill was the ‘Infinity Edge’ Combat Technique which was making Shin grow stronger as the battle progressed. He was absorbing the force behind each attack of his opponent and sending it back to them with doubled power.

Combining the strength of these techniques with his innate talent within the game, the Ultra Instincts, landing a clean hit to Shin became practically impossible.

Cling! Cling!

No matter how much Diablo attempted it, breaking through such a solid defense would always end up in failure.

Unless he overpowered Shin, it was impossible for him to win this battle.

Having that thought, Diablo decided to reveal more of his cards. He stopped attacking Shin and created a considerable distance between the two of them before moving in circles.

While doing that, he gathered some mana towards his eyes, making his pupils have a purple color. Then he focused his gaze on Shin, seemingly studying the stance that his opponent had.

Sensing the gaze locked on him, Shin felt that something serious was about to happen. He was not sure what it was but he could sense the threat that it had.

‘Special Ocular Skill: Demon Eyes’

Swoosh!

Then Diablo suddenly changed his direction and charged at Shin with the same speed that he had since earlier.

He was sprinting at Shin with large strides. He was so fast as if he was moving with the speed of light. And as he approached Shin, he swung his shortsword forward, leaving a purple trail in the air behind him.

‘Shadow Dancer Skill (Tier 2): Vorpal Steps’

‘Basic Combat Skill: Second Drive’

‘Extra Skill: (Modified) Shining Cut’

Despite seeing how insane the speed Diablo had, he still had a calm look on his face as he responded to it with a powerful vertical slash.

‘Slayer Skill: (Modified) Solar Cut’

The [Dawn Blade] left a trail of burning flame in the air as Shin swung it downwards. The power behind the strike was quite heavy as it was supported by the force that he had accumulated previously.

But since Diablo took a brief pause on his attack to prepare his next move, some of the accumulated force already vanished.

This was one of the weaknesses that the seemingly perfect combat technique such as the ‘Infinity Edge’.

Bang!

Due to the powerful momentum that Diablo had, the power behind his attack was much stronger than what it was supposed to be. And because of that, he slightly overpowered Shin, forcing the latter to take a step forward.

Diablo might have found the weakness of the impenetrable defense of the ‘Infinity Edge’ by accident but it didn’t mean that he successfully cracked the technique.

Shin immediately absorbed all of the force behind that powerful attack upon contact with their weapons. He then quickly contained it within his body and swiftly transferred all of them towards the other side of his body.

As he took a step backward with his right foot, he borrowed the momentum of his movements to swing the [Dusk Blade] accompanied by the force that he just absorbed.

‘Extra Skill: (Modified) Destructive Slash’

That counterattack seemed to be in an instant, making anyone get hit by it without being able to dodge, much less retaliate against it.

But there was always been an exemption for everything and Diablo happened to be one of them.

‘Shadow Dancer Skill (Tier 2): Extreme Vanish’

Diablo suddenly disappeared in front of Shin, making the [Dusk Blade] hit nothing but air. His presence also disappeared which made Shin unable to sense his location.

It was at that moment that a figure appeared behind Shin completely unnoticed. He then swung the shortsword in his hand, targeting the back of his opponent.

‘Extra Skill: (Modified) Backbreaker’

Swoosh!

Right before the sword land on his back, Shin’s body suddenly turned into a light that moved forward, dodging that attack with the skin of his teeth.

‘Slayer Skill: Moonlight Steps’

Now that he already broke the perfect stance of his opponent, how could Diablo let Shin re-establish it?

His ‘Demon Eyes’ completely locked on Shin as he gave chase with a similar speed as that moving light.

‘Shadow Dancer Skill (Tier 2): Shadow Waltz’

A Shadow Dancer might not have a lot of powerful offensive skills unlike the other special classes, but it was definitely the one that had the greatest number of movement skills which was the reason why running away from them was a foolish thing to do.

Even if Shin had exhausted all of the three charges of his ‘Moonlight Steps’ and even use the ‘Void Step’ to teleport away, attempting to shake off his opponent, Diablo was still able to catch up to him with ease.

Shin already knew that it was impossible to outclass Diablo in terms of speed and movement techniques but he still did it to buy enough time as he tried to re-establish a stable footing where he could gain an advantage.

Bang!

When Diablo tried to strike Shin with his stiletto right after catching up, a dome-shaped barrier with alternating black and white color suddenly blocked it.

‘Slayer Skill: (Modified) Eclipse Pulse’

Diablo suddenly raised his eyebrows as he remembered this skill from a few of the battle videos that Shin had, so he quickly escaped without any hesitation.

‘Twight Skill: (Modified) Shadow Decoy’

He then disappeared with a soft poof as Shin detonated the barrier protecting him.

‘Slayer Skill: (Modified) Eclipse Counter’

Bang!

The barrier exploded sending a strong shockwave in every direction, preventing Diablo to approach him.

After that, the two stood a few distances away from each other, resetting the battle back where it begone.

But this time, the two of them already familiarized themselves with the battle styles of the opposing side, so the next round would be different since they would not showcase their real strengths.

……