Child of Destiny

...

Roar!

The Three-Headed Snake released a deafening roar, rendering everyone around it immobilized. It even started moving restlessly when it sensed what was happening inside the floating castle.

"Garuda! You cunning bird!" shouted the three-headed snake as it raised its head to look at the sky.

At the same, it also felt some movements inside its stomach, indicating that the sacred items it swallowed were trying to break free from it.

Roar!

With another loud roar, the three-headed snake tried to suppress the sacred items within its stomach.

Unfortunately, an outside variable suddenly interfered with it; three fireballs suddenly fell from the sky and hit the three-headed snake, making it lose its focus.

Boom!

The fireballs accurately struck the heads of the three-headed snake, causing them to fall on the ground due to the powerful impact. And while its mouth was open, the sacred items inside its belly took that opportunity to get out and flew straight to the sky.

Roar!

The three-headed snake obviously was going to be enraged after seeing that. It quickly picked itself from the ground before raising its heads, trying to stop the sacred items.

Whoosh!

A beam of light was released from its mouth and flew straight at the sacred items, seemingly planning to destroy them.

BOOM!

But just like earlier, a fireball suddenly came out of nowhere and blocked the path of the energy beam.

Seeing that, the three-headed snake became even more enraged, making it challenged whoever was interfering with him. "Ah!!! Who are you! Show yourself right now and stop hiding!"

Unfortunately, no one replied to it which made it even angrier.

...

Meanwhile, high up in the air, Shin and the group were watching the scene while riding behind Arthur's golden dragon pet.

'Someone is interfering? Could it be that guy who disguised himself as the Head Keeper earlier?' thought Shin while watching everything happened with squinted eyes before sweeping his gaze at the surrounding, trying to find who it was.

Unfortunately, it was practically impossible with his current strength.

"So, what is that plan now, Shin?" asked Arthur without removing his eyes at the three-headed snake below.

"Well, since Garuda is about to get reborn, I guess there is nothing for us to do right but observe," answered Shin after a slight frown before quickly asking. "Can that snake be considered a dragon? I mean, it says that it is a Draconic Serpent from the description it had."

Arthur knitted his eyebrows for a moment before replying. "Nah~! It may have some blood of the Dragon Race but it can't be considered as a real dragon."

"Oh~! I see. Though, I'm still thinking of capturing and transforming it into an Elemental Spirit," said Shin while nodding his head.

"Eh~!"

Meanwhile, the group simultaneously turned their heads at him when they heard those words. And from the expressions that they were making, Shin could decipher it as – "Care to elaborate what you mean by that, Mister?" –

With that, Shin chuckled a little before explaining. "Well, I am also not sure about this. But based on what I've heard from that fake Head Keeper earlier, we are supposed to get something from this battle and I am suspecting that it is their souls or something."

Shin pointed at the three-headed snake on the ground and the giant golden cocoon in the air. "I mean, it is still a suspicion but it is what can come up with given the current track of our quest."

"Though, I am still not sure if we are supposed to catch them separately or together," he added with a slight frown.

"Together, I'm pretty sure that we are going to catch them together. And my Dragons are also saying so," said Arthur all of a sudden.

Hearing that seriousness from his tone, the group suddenly turned their heads at him. They were quite curious why the most energetic and easygoing person in the group became serious all of a sudden.

Meanwhile, Shin saw something different from his perspective. Using his 'True Sight' he could easily see through the camouflage technique that Arthur was using to hide his Elemental Spirits.

'Eh!? They are glowing pretty brightly!?" thought Shin when he saw the three glowing lights circling around Arthur's body.

Sensing the gazes directed at him, Arthur could only take a helpless sigh before explaining. "They are telling me that a dragon is about to be born."

"Eh!?"

The group became even more surprised when they heard those words. Even more so for Shin who couldn't help but ask. "And how is it going to happen?"

Though, he also asked his own question by quickly adding. "Don't tell it is because of the souls of those two over there?" while pointing at the three-headed snake and the 'golden egg' high up in the air.

Arthur nodded his head before replying. "Most likely. But even if the Draconic Serpent has some Dragon Blood running in its veins, it is no is still not enough to give birth to a dragon."

"It still holds true even if it fuses with Garuda's soul," he added with a deep frown on his brows.

Shin trusted Arthur's knowledge when it came to these kinds of things. After all, this guy was a total dragon fanatic.

"So, are you saying that there is another unknown variable that is needed to complete the process?" asked Shin for confirmation.

And when he saw Arthur nodded his head, Shin felt another headache coming. "Tsk! What's with this f*cked-up quest? No! What's wrong with this f*cked-up game!?"

"I'm already amazed that the NPCs can trick the players by giving some suspicious quest, but to think that they are even involved with a lot of unnatural things like this? Tch! It is more ridiculous than intriguing!" he added with a completely annoyed tone.

"That is why this game is considered perfect compared to the previous ones since it has a world of its own," commented Arthur after hearing his brother's complaints.

"So, what do we need to do?" asked Cloe with a slight frown.

"Nothing," answered Shin instantly while messing with his hair. "Even if I hate it much being in a passive state, we have no other choice but to wait for what is going to happen next."

"Though, we don't have anything to worry about aside from keeping our guard against Mammon," he added before sweeping his gaze below.

At the same time, the golden egg-like cocoon finally showed some signs of movement after absorbing all of the mana that it needed.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Then a series of cracks started to appear on its surfaces, indicating that whatever inside it was finally hatching!

"Arthur, order Goldie to create some distance!" shouted Shin when he sensed something threatening from the golden cocoon.

"Tsk! How many times do I need to tell you that he is not Goldie!" complained Arthur with a sharp glare. Though, he still complied with Shin's command.

Boom!

Not long after, a golden cocoon suddenly exploded which also created a strong ripple in the air, sending everything around it flying.

Fortunately, Shin and the others already distanced themselves away from it before it could happen.

Shriek!

At the same time, a golden bird with a massive size and blazing body suddenly came out of the cloud of smoke created by the explosion, rivaling the size of the giant three-headed snake on the ground.

"Garuda! You cunning bird! Let's end this right now!" roared the three-headed snake before opening its mouths amassing a large amount of mana on each.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

And when the accumulated mana was released, three beams of light suddenly flew out from its mouth and went straight at the golden bird in the sky.

"Hmph!"

Despite seeing how powerful the incoming attack was, the giant bird seemed to smirk at the three-headed snake before flapping its wing a couple of times which created a vortex made of wind and fire.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The collision of powers created yet another explosion which was also much stronger than the previous one.

"D*mn! I guess we need to watch this battle from a much farther location," said Arthur with a stiff smile on his face.

...

Meanwhile, somewhere behind the clouds, there was a pair of individuals watching everything unfold with calm eyes.

Despite how powerful and strong the explosions were, it seemed to be nothing serious in front of these two individuals. And one of them was the Wingman that Shin had met earlier.

"I've already done everything I could, Shadow Leader. The rest is all in them now," he aside while kneeling in the air behind the other person.

If Shin was here, then he would be able to recognize this person since he has already met him quite a few times already. Moreover, he was also the one who gave Shin his second class, the Phantom Swordsman Class.

Kentas was staring at the battle with tranquil eyes before turning his head away from the fight. "So, I guess there is no reason for us to stay here any longer."

He then turned around and looked at the Wingman before asking. "But are you sure that your church is not going to complain about this? After all, you guys are supposedly overseeing the two beasts."

The Wingman turned his head at the golden bird and the three-headed snake for a moment before nodding his head. "It is the Supreme Leader's orders anyway, so we don't have anything to say about this matter."

"What's more, he also said that the souls of the Bird King and Serpent King have suffered enough for the past century, so it is time to free them from their sins," he added after a slight hesitation.

Hearing that, Kentas couldn't help but feel a little skeptical and said. "Heh! Free them? It is more like extinguishing their existence completely. After all, their wills will disappear once they fuse together."

He then started smirking and said with a sneering tone. "I guess that conceited is just trying to pick a fight with the other church since he is bored."

He paused for a moment before sighing helplessly and shrugging his shoulders. "Though, it is not my problem anymore."

After that, he took another look at the battle before shifting his gaze at Shin and the others. "Though, I really hope that these kids will get the 'Dragon Soul' after this event."

"Especially that little one from the 'Sanctuary of Dragons'. He will definitely be someone useful in the future," he said after focusing his gaze on Arthur.

Kentas stared at them for a moment before saying to the kneeling Wingman. "Let's go."

Then they simultaneously disappeared as if they had never been there, to begin with.

....