Child of Destiny

...

A few moments before the duel between Shin and Dylan started.

Deep within Shin's Sea of Consciousness.

In this place, time seemed not to exist. There was nothing within it aside from pitch black darkness, not even a hint of light was present.

It was a total abyss.

At the center of this place, there was a silhouette of a person sitting with his legs crossed, meditating. This person was radiating with an ominous aura, as deep purple steam was coming out from his whole body.

Swoosh!

A few moments later, a blinding light pierced through the darkness and created a huge tear on it.

"Heh!" the silhouette sitting in the middle of this abyss scoffed as he felt the changes in his surroundings.

"It seems like you are a stubborn one, aren't you?" he added as he slowly opened his eyes and stared at the tear that was created by the blinding light earlier.

"Oi, old man! This time, I am going to absorb you for real," said the rude voice from the other side of the tear.

"Hah! Don't make me laugh! You're just a little fledgling who is still trying to learn how to fly," the man sitting at the center of the abyss laughed after hearing those words.

"If you don't even know how you fly, how are you going to fight an eagle that already became a vicious predator over the years," he added as he slowly stood up from his sitting position.

At the same time, a young man suddenly walked out of the tear in the abyss, carrying a vicious look on his face.

This young man looked like Shin but also not at the same time. They had similar physiques and physical features but the air around them was completely different.

Unlike Shin who was usually calm coupled and always carrying a particular blaze in his eyes, this young man had an overbearing nature and a pair of eyes that were full of coldness.

If Shin was now carrying a radiating aura around him after training under Professor Plum and Grandmaster Benn's supervision, this young man had a wicked and dark aura which was the complete opposite of what Shin's had.

And if there were a noticeable difference in the outer appearance of the two, then it would be the colors of their pupils. Shin had grey pupils while this one had a pair of purple eyes.

This young man was Uno, who was residing within Shin.

"Hah! An eagle?" Uno sneered right after walking off the tear created by the blinding light earlier.

He then turned his head at the man standing in the middle of the dark world before adding to his words. "You don't look like a predator no matter how much I look at you, old man. You are nothing but a nutrient that is going to make me much stronger."

Bang!

A loud explosion seemed to occur in the middle of the abyssal world as the man standing opposite Uno released a powerful aura.

Rumble!

Then a series of rumbling sounds could be heard in every direction as the dark world took some changes.

The complete darkness started to disappear as it was replaced by a bloody world.

A sky suddenly appeared!

But instead of having a blue ocean on it, this particular sky had a sea of blood and crimson clouds.

A ground also appeared all of a sudden. And within the thick pool of blood that was covering it, mountains of skulls and bones started to rise from beneath.

It didn't take long for the world that was full of darkness earlier to turn into complete hell. And standing in the middle of this hellish world was a man who was shrouded with black smoke from head to toe.

But despite seeing all of that, Uno seemed to be unimpressed at all. "Tsk! I have seen this ridiculous stunt multiple times already. Do you have anything that is more entertaining than this?"

"Heh! A stunt? You really don't know anything," said the man in a sneering tone.

"How many times do I have to tell you? This is called Domain Manifestation! And only experts at the level of-…"

Swoosh!

He was in the middle of explaining things when a sharp sound suddenly cut through the air, making him stop talking.

Bang!

With a loud sound, he caught a piece of a bone that was thrown at him with great force.

"Oi! I already heard that countless times already, so about we get down to business and get this over with?" said Uno with sharp eyes before adding. "You, filthy inner demon."

Hearing those words and seeing the indifferent look that Uno had, the demon standing a few distances away from him suddenly said. "Us, inner demons, may be nothing but a sign of weakness of an individual. But when an opportunity is presented in front of us, we will immediately devour our host and become that person itself. So-…"

Swoosh!

Yet another piece of bone was sent flying in his direction to prevent him from continuing what he said.

"You son of a bit-…" he was about to curse when he suddenly saw a fist rapidly magnifying right in front of his eyes.

Bang!

The inner demon managed to block the incoming attack with his quick reaction even though he was still sent flying by it.

"You sure talk a lot for an insignificant demon. Even though you are created by that idiot due to his cowardice, that doesn't mean you are different compared to the 'seed' planted by that bigger idiot," said Uno as he chased after the inner demon.

It only took him an instant to appear in front of his opponent. And right after arriving, he immediately threw his fist, targeting the face of the demon.

Puff!

But different from what he was expecting, the demon in front of him suddenly turned into a cloud of black smoke that slowly dissipated in the air.

Ta-ta!

Then Uno turned his head towards the other direction and saw the body covered with black smoke standing on top of a mountain of bones.

"It looks like you haven't learned your lessons yet, kid," said the inner demon as he stared at Uno with mocking eyes.

He took a brief pause to conjure a cluster of dark Qi on top of his right hand before continuing. "I've been created since our host is at a very young age, so the accumulated Demonic Qi that I have is much denser than that one that you've got from that little demon."

"So, if you are thinking that you can devour me, then you are completely wrong. I will be the one to devour you and erase your existence."

The 'Seed of Hatred' gave birth to inner demons of a Martial-Artist that would consume them completely the moment they lost control over their negative emotions.

These negative emotions could make these inner demons more powerful depending on how strong they were or how long they were held inside a person's heart.

Based on what this 'seed demon' was saying, it was much stronger than the first demon that Uno had already absorbed, which was also the one that came from the 'seed of hatred' that was transferred to Shin by someone else.

And to back up those words, the demon released a massive amount of Demonic Qi from its body to showcase its strength.

"You never learned your lesson, kid. How many times did you lose to me already? A hundred? No, maybe it is a couple of hundreds already? I actually lost count when it exceeds fifty or something?" said the inner demon mockingly.

He then turned to Uno to see the frustrated look on his face after reminding him of their past battles. But contrary to what he was expecting, the latter was currently wearing a huge grin while looking at him.

That expression alone was more than enough to tell what was currently running inside Uno's head.

He was definitely mocking the demon!

The demon became immediately became enraged and released an even more powerful Demonic Qi. And due to the overwhelming amount of that Qi, the whole hell-like world shook violently.

But despite that being the chase, Uno remained calm and continued to wear his mocking grin. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying the overwhelming Demonic Qi that was trying to suppress him.

"I really hate talking when having a fight. But since you seemed to be confused about something, let me clear some things first," said Uno while shaking his head and wearing a bitter smile.

He took a brief pause before curving his grin much higher before continuing. "Didn't you just say that I lose to you hundreds of times?"

"Hah! Don't make me laugh! I do not lose during those times, instead, I just spare your existence during every time I decided to retreat."

With yet another quick pause, the expression on Uno's face suddenly became serious while the aura surrounding him took a massive change. "And let me show you why."

And right after those words came out of his mouth, the hell-like world that the inner demon had created shook once again, but because of a completely different reason from the one earlier.

At the same time, the inner demon saw something more horrifying than his existence right in front of his eyes.

...…