Child of Destiny

...

On a particular port on the outskirts of the Eastern Sea Region, David was currently standing in the middle of a huge crater while being surrounded by multiple people. It was the crater that he had created after burying an agent that was pretending to be Shiella earlier.

He stared at the bulky giant guy standing a few meters away from him, trying to gauge the latter's strength. And after a few seconds, he became sure that this guy was at least as strong as Darren who fought against him earlier.

The bulky giant guy was cracking his knuckles while looking at David with a savage expression. He then turned at the other agents surrounding them while saying. "He is now my prey. No one is to interrupt us."

Right after he said those words, the voice of someone suddenly sounded from the distance. "Don't be too cocky, Gamma. He is someone that you can't underestimate."

"Hah! Don't worry, Captain Hakuna. I know very well how strong he is. The fact that he is here can only mean that Darren is already been defeated by him," said the bulky giant, who seemed to have the name Gamma.

David could not help but raise his eyebrows when he heard the conversation between the two, especially when he heard the name 'Hakuna'.

As someone who always clashed against underworld organizations wherever he went, he was pretty familiar with individuals who had special titles in different organizations. And from what he knew, the alias 'Hakuna' stood for someone who was a vessel of special powers, particularly a highly potent 'Seed of Hatred' that was artificially created by the people of the underworld.

He rarely encountered someone who possessed such a title, but there was a significant similarity that he discovered about them. Every person who possessed such an alias were always been a non-combatant official. They were either a commander of multiple units or someone who always worked behind the scenes.

It was not because they were weak in combat, but it was due to the nature of their artificial Seed of Hatred. Those 'seeds' had a certain incubation period that could not be disturbed. They were forbidden to fight a frontal confrontation since it would affect the growth of their 'seeds' when they tried to use their powers.

It was wiser to let them stay on their bases and wait until their 'seeds' sprouted and became a new form of power that was much denser than the Evil Qi of the Unforgiven Ones.

But they could not do that because of another reason. The 'seed' needed constant pressure from life-threatening or high-pressure situations. It was a strange phenomenon that even the researchers of the underworld were unsure of.

This was the reason why people with the alias 'Hakuna' were obligated to do important missions. Fortunately, these people were natural commanders which gave them special standing within their respective organizations.

'Looks like I can no longer afford to let them escape. I need to at least capture that guy with special alias,' thought David to himself as he spread his Spiritual Sense once more, expanding its range as wide as possible.

He would be pushing himself too hard but he did not have a choice since he needed to look for Shiella and the Hakuna.

While he was busy searching for them, Hakuna suddenly said to Gamma. "I will give you five minutes. If you still can't deal with him within that period, given his current state, then the rest will join you."

"That is plenty enough. It is fine if I can't defeat him since my goal is to experience how strong the so-called bane of the younger generation of the underworld is," said Gamma as he started walking toward David.

David, on the other hand, could not help but skeptically look at the bulky giant. 'So much for not underestimating me. Five minutes? Don't you think you are looking down at me already when you set such a timeframe?'

Hu~!

He then regulated his breathing once again while taking his battle stance. It was a pretty standard stance where his left foot and hand were in front and pointing forward while the other foot was at the back with his right hand positioned in front of his belly, facing upward.

When he took that stance, the air around him immediately changed. It looked like he was a part of nature itself as his presence spread in every direction.

The violent mental energy spiraling around his body raged with a much higher intensity as it turned into a giant torrent that shot toward the sky.

At the same time, there seemed to be multiple auras mixed with his own. From the perspective of Gamma and the other agents, there seemed to be a powerful being standing behind David while looking down at them.

This particular figure did not have a distinct form and always changed every second. Sometimes it was a monkey while other times it was a lion. There were also some times when it looked like an unknown hideous beast or a giant whale.

The form of that illusionary being was always changing, not letting anyone see its real form. This was David's Battle Spirit – a higher form of Aura Manifestation that the Martial Artist and Mentalist could only achieve after reaching a certain mastery of their respective discipline. It was mostly seen by the experts of the Ethereal Opening Stage or peak of the Grandmaster Realm.

Gamma could not help but grin widely when he saw the sudden change in David. He excitedly looked at the latter before bumping his fist and releasing his own Battle Spirit.

Swoosh!

The form of his Battle Spirit was similar to a demonic being. It had a monstrous form and hideous appearance – a monster with a muscular body similar to a human but also had the hint of a gorilla's body.

Its figure was shrouded by dark miasma, hiding some of its features but also releasing a dangerous aura.

At the same time, Gamma's body also changed. His already bulky body suddenly became much bulkier as his height increased a little.

His skin also turned pale gray, making him look like a walking corpse. Then a visible aura started leaking out from his body before turning into a black miasma that was similar to the one that his Battle Spirit had.

His eyes turned entirely black with a visible crimson dot on them, signifying his pupils.

His current form was no different from a demon, which was also fitting since it was a title given to him by the organization – a crazy demon.

Bang!

The respective aura of the two created sparks in the air as they clashed against each other.

The two stayed rooted on the ground as they stared at each other's eyes. They seemed to be having an intense staredown from the spectator's perspective, but they were actually having an invisible exchange already.

A slight movement of their bodies and small twitches of their muscles were indicating the move that they were planning to make. The two of them were already having an intense battle inside their heads.

Bang!

Then, all of a sudden, Gamma suddenly kicked the ground and launched himself forward. It only took him an instant to arrive in front of his opponent and swung his right fist forward, throwing a powerful punch.

His attack was a little too sudden and surprised even the agents watching from the edge of the crater. They did not even catch a glimpse of his body when did everything.

But to their surprise, his target managed to respond in time with a move. David slightly leaned to the side right before Gamma appeared in front of him, moving away from the trajectory of such a fast attack.

At the same time, his left hand was gently pressing on the arm of his opponent, slightly changing the trajectory of the latter's attack.

Gamma had already expected that to happen, so he quickly retracted his right arm and was about to swing his other fist with a much strong punch. But before he could even complete his movements, he suddenly saw David's right arm flicker for a brief moment.

Bang!

And it was immediately followed by his head being rebounded in the air. The pain on his chin only followed after that, finally registering what just happened.

He was hit by an uppercut right before he could even make his move.

He was trying to regain his balance when his abdomen suddenly started hurting. And when he forcefully lowered his head, he saw David planting his fist on that place, throwing a powerful strike.

Bang!

A delayed shockwave quickly followed as his body was sent flying away.

Swoosh!

Everything happened a little too fast, making Gamma to have a delayed reaction. His brain could not keep up with everything as it registered all of it a little too late.

Bang!

He then increased the weight of his body to force his body to land on the ground. And with a powerful stomp, his giant and bulky body suddenly flew in the opposite direction, heading back to where David was.

Swoosh!

This time, he was a little cautious. He threw a series of punches right after arriving. Each punch was packed with a destructive force that could turn David into a meat paste if ever he got hit by any of them.

In front of such a scary barrage of attacks, David calmly moved his body left and right, dodging every punch with the slightest margin and smallest movements.

His hands were not idle either as they kept on deflecting the punches that he could not dodge entirely. The gentle movements of his hands were constantly redirecting the attacks away from his body.

Such slight pushes made Gamma frustrated, making his attack pause for a moment to give him the time to stomp on the ground.

Bang!

The ground shook violently before collapsing immediately after. Due to the irregular movements of the broken ground, David lost his solid footing.

It might be brief, but it was more than enough for Gamma to throw a powerful strike straight to his opponent's chest.

David quickly gathered his energy toward the core of his body while moving his hands in a circular motion before throwing a strong push forward, facing the incoming fist of his opponent.

Bang!

Gamma's arm rebounded due to the impact while David was pushed skidding backward. His arms were shaking intensely due to the power behind the earlier strike of his opponent.

'I can't afford to face another attack head-on, or else, my body will not be able to take it,' thought David as he solemnly looked at Gamma.

There was a slight pause in his thoughts before saying helplessly saying to himself. "I guess I don't have a choice but to use that, huh?"

...…