Child of Destiny

...

Taking a deep breath, Shin stared at his opponent, devoid of emotion.

Unlike when he was using the Ying-Yang Swordsmanship under the state of Reality Manifestation, his current style was pretty much incomplete, so it was better to throw every useless thought at the back of his head and put all of his focus on this battle.

And since he didn't have proper swordsmanship for this particular style, he was planning to use the variety of skills from his arsenal, especially the ones from his Class Fighting Style, the sword-drawing arts.

He could also use the other Mentalism Techniques that he created in the real world, which were also inspired by his in-game skills.

As for the form of energy that would replace the Mental Energy, the surrounding Mana and the one that was present within Shin's body was more than enough for it.

He might not be as proficient with this energy control compared to when he was using his other style. After all, the powers of the Brilliant Sun and Abyssal Moon were similar to the energies of the Ying-Yang Arts.

Fortunately, his in-game avatar had a great familiarity when it came to the energies within the game.

And since the principle of controlling those energies was similar to the real world, he would not have much problem applying some of his Mentalism Techniques inside the game, especially with the help of Reality Manifestation.

At the same time, the formless Mana that he spread in the surroundings established an invisible dome-shaped barrier.

This technique was the product of his current state and the 'Sensing Circle' Territorial Skill.

It was different from the 'Zone' Skill that he previously created. The Skill was from the combination of the 'False Territory' of Martial Artist and 'Spiritual Sense' of a Mentalist.

It was a special technique that was purely derived from Mentalism.

As Shin was adjusting his senses for his current state, Caelum pointed the loaded arrow forward while infusing it with a lot of Mana.

And even if his eyes were fully locked on Shin, his other senses were observing Ara and Alucard who were currently aiming at him.

Those two were already focused on their aims and fully ready to fire their respective shots, but they were not confident about landing a hit on their target despite Caelum being stationary.

Then, all of a sudden, Caelum released the arrow from his bow, sending it to Shin.

That arrow spun in the air as it was traveling toward Shin, creating a spiral flow of mana on its path.

The speed of that arrow was so fast as it could reach Shin within an instant, especially with the short distance between them.

But despite that being the case, Shin remained calm. He focused his eyes on the incoming arrow as it approached him with its insane speed.

That spinning arrow seemed to slow down from his perspective. Its speed decreased even further the moment when it reached the invisible barrier surrounding Shin.

Taking a deep breath, Shin pulled out the sword from its sheath before swinging forward.

Shing!

The blade of the sword was blazing with a brilliant white flame as it moved toward the incoming arrow.

'Class Fighting Style: (Modified) Quick Draw: Flash Strike'

It was the same modified version of his Class Fighting Style Skill, but the speed, power, and accuracy that it had were much faster compared to what it was before.

It was because this particular execution was done under the state of Reality Manifestation.

Then his blazing sword cut through the incoming arrow and split it into halves.

And alongside it, the power that accompanied that shot diminished within an instant.

It was also at that moment when Ara and Alucard made their moves.

Swoosh!

Bang!

Ara released the loaded arrow from her bow. Then it flew toward Caelum at extreme speed, leaving a light trail in the air.

'Guardian of the Forest Skill: Power Shot'

On the other hand, a sphere of Mana was formed at the tip of Alucard's gun. And right after he pulled the trigger, when the magic bullet was released from the barrel, that Mana sphere was pieced and popped like a balloon.

It started shrinking like a crumpled paper as it wrapped into the magic bullet.

'Devil Hunter Skill: Slaying Bullet'

And just like the arrow that Ara had sent, this particular shot also left a trail of light in the air.

At the time when Shin split the arrow sent by Caelum, those attacks were already upon their target.

Those were a pair of perfectly timed attacks set to be released when Caelum was not able to dodge.

But Caelum would not be the Archer King if he fell on such an obvious ploy.

Right after he released the arrow earlier, he quickly hopped backward and slid. And due to those actions, he managed to dodge those attacks and did not even let either of them graze his body.

Bang!

That was also the moment when Shin made his move. He stomped on the ground and launched himself forward, reaching their opponent in almost an instant.

And right after he appeared in front of Caelum, he quickly swung the blazing sword downward.

'Slayer Skill: (Modified) Solar Cut'

It was another in-game skill, but just like the previous Class Fighting Style Skill that he used, this particular skill exceeded the maximum limit it was supposed to have.

Seeing that it was already too late to dodge, Caelum chose to face that attack head-on. He shook his bow with a quick flick of his arm, summoning a pair of blades on each end of his bow.

Then he used the limb of the bow to block the incoming strike.

Cling!

After that, he pulled his arm backward and skillfully angled the blade attached to one of the ends of his bow toward Shin. And with a quick press of his other hand, he tried to strike his opponent with that blade.

Those movements were executed by Caelum pretty smoothly, making it impossible for Shin to counterattack. And due to that, he was forced to take a step back and retreat.

Bang!

Swoosh!

Then another support fire came from the pair in the distance, covering Shin once again and making sure that he was not going to be vulnerable during his retreat.

But just like earlier, Caelum showcased his basic yet effective foot technique once again. He used the momentum to turn around, dodging the magic bullet with a very small margin. And quickly after that, when he was back to facing Shin sideways, he suddenly kicked the ground to propel himself backward and avoided the arrow following closely after the previous attack.

With those series of movements, not only he dodged the incoming attacks, but he also created enough space between Shin and himself once again. Moreover, he was already in the most ideal position to continue his attack.

His left hand and arm flickered a couple of times while his other arm one where he was holding his bow moved back and forth, matching those flickering movements.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

That was when Shin found himself in a predicament where all of the possible escape routes that he could have been entirely covered by a group of arrows sent by Caelum.

But despite being caught in such a predicament, Shin remained his composure and calmly responded to it.

The brilliant energy covering the [Yamato] suddenly transformed into another form of energy that carried the power of extreme coldness.

After that, he suddenly swung his sword in the air in front of him multiple times before five vertical sword waves were produced right after he completed those actions. They moved in a cone-shaped formation as they continue moving forward.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

'Slayer Skill: (Modified) Crescent Cleave'

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The magic arrows heading toward Shin were instantly obliterated right after they came in contact with the tall sword waves that he sent to face them.

But didn't let his guard down despite seeing those movements. Instead, he quickly sheathed his sword and infused it with the power of Abyssal Moon.

Click!

And with a soft clicking sound, he pulled the sword out from its scabbard and pointed it forward with a strong flick of his wrist before releasing all of the accumulated powers that it had.

'Class Fighting Style: Eclipse Dragon Draw'

Roar!

The energy that was released from the sword immediately transformed into a ferocious dragon and flew straight ahead, following closely behind the sword waves that were sent first earlier.

Boom!

It was when a powerful beam of light obliterated the sword waves and collided with the head of the black dragon.

Just like Shin was trying to hide his move under the cover of his vertical sword waves, Caelum did the same thing and prepared a powerful skill before Shin could even complete his scheme.

But even if his plan failed, Shin didn't get disheartened as he could feel something after he executed those series of attacks.

He might still be far from it, but he was sure that he was getting closer to the goal that he was trying to achieve – to find an ideal sword art that could complement his current Mentalism Techniques.

"Let's try it one more time!"

...…