Child of Destiny

...

Bang!

Right after separating from his opponent, Vladimir spread his wings wide to stop himself from moving further up in the air. Hovering in the air, he stared coldly at his opponent before gathering the surrounding Blood Elemental Mana once again.

This time, the rate of absorption that he was showing was much stronger than the previous skills that he used just earlier. It only took a couple of moments before the Blood Elemental Mana in the surrounding was exhausted.

But despite that being the case, Vladimir didn't stop and continued to absorb more of the surrounding mana like a hungry beast that was starving for years.

Due to his actions, the blood elemental mana stored in the bodies of the surrounding vampires started to react. It even broke free from their control and started leaking out from their cores.

Seeing that, the vampires started to panic, not knowing what to do. They tried to re-gathered those blood elemental mana leaking out from them, but it was already out of their control, and continue to head over to Vladimir.

There was a visible stream of sanguine lights coming out from the bodies of the vampires and flowing through the air, heading towards the elemental spirit hovering in the air.

Shin could not help but stared blankly at the sight in front of him, especially when he saw the flow of sanguine mana in the air. He knew that Vladimir had gotten strong after his previous awakening, but he was not expecting that it was actually this strong.

It was pretty normal for Vladimir to suppress these vampires since his bloodline powers were superior to theirs. It didn't matter if they were Overlord Rank or King Class Monsters, the suppression that they would receive was still the same.

Aside from Dracula, who was clearly out of Vladimir's league, and Duke Bellion, who had enough strength to ward off the influence of his opponent on his mana core, the rest of the vampires present in the throne hall were completely affected by the suppression aura.

In the air, a huge crimson sphere appeared above Vladimir as he raised his rapier underneath it. The Blood Elemental Mana continued to gather as the crimson sphere steadily grew bigger.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

At the same time, a subtle clanking sound silently rang within the throne room. It was a sound that could only be heard by Dracula. He was very familiar with that clanking sound since he had broken it multiple times already.

"The 'chains of restriction'!" muttered Dracula while wearing a deep frown as he focused his gaze on Vladimir.

A mysterious light came out from his eyes, giving him the ability to see something that couldn't be seen by a mortal's sight.

From his perspective, he could see the crimson chains wrapped around Vladimir. It was the so-called restrictions that the world had cast on the mortal's body, limiting their potential.

Anyone who could break free from those chains would receive a huge boost in their powers. It would make them a step away from reaching the peak of the lower plane.

Elemental Spirits belonged to a special race that didn't need to become an Ascended Being to reach the peak of the world since they could become a partner of Transcendent Beings through contracts, giving them an additional path that could lead them to reach the higher plane.

But it didn't mean that they would be exempted from the rules of the world. They would still be restricted by the rules just like all of the beings within the lower plane.

Forming a contract with a Transcendent Being would guarantee them to be a Divine Being in the future, but it also restricted their strengths, at the same time. It needed to be proportional to the current strength of their contractor, limiting the power that they could have.

Having that in mind, Dracula couldn't help but stare intensely at Vladimir, who was currently wrapped in invisible chains.

The fact that the 'chains of restriction' was summoned by an elemental spirit could only mean a single thing – Vladimir was showing signs of being able to break free from the restrictions of the world as well as the limitations set by the contract that he had with Shin.

"This turns out to be more interesting than I am expecting," muttered the Vampire Primogenitor with a mystifying smile on his face.

…

In the meantime, Duke Bellion, for the very first time since the start of the battle, was finally wearing a very solemn expression on his face.

He knew from his vast combat experience that this particular attack from Vladimir was way stronger than a normal Elemental Spirit should have.

Having the idea of how strong the incoming attack was, Duke Bellion that he also needed to give his all for this final move. Not only for him to win this battle, but also in respect for his opponent who was currently pouring everything for this final exchange.

Taking a deep breath, He held his broadsword with his hand before positioning it in front of him vertically. And quickly after that, he gathered all of his Sword Qi and channeled it toward the sword, making it release a brilliant light.

His broadsword then suddenly glowed with sacred light, contrary to the evil aura that his cursed body was emitting. Then his Sword Qi and the sacred light fused together.

It reinforced the blade of his broadsword, increasing its toughness as well as the sharpness of its edges.

At the same time, the air surrounding him moved toward his body, forming a powerful vortex that sucked every mana in the vicinity. It might not be affecting the spectating vampires but the suction force that he was showing was definitely not inferior to Vladimir's.

Hmm!

There was a silent humming sound coming from the sword of the vampire duke when the accumulation of powers reached its peak. It was as if it was informing its wielder that it was already prepared to unleash the powers that it had gathered.

There seemed to be a void in the space around Duke Bellion, forming an extra layer on his body and sword.

Raising his head, Duke Bellion swung his sword in the air above him, sending out all of the accumulated powers that he had gathered.

Swoosh!

'Draconian Swordsmanship: Final Movement – Immortal Culling'

A huge sword wave was released right after his slash which moved in a spiraling motion before turning it into a huge dragon with a wide-opened mouth.

Roar!

It was only at this moment that a powerful suppressive aura was released. It was coming from the huge dragon formed by the sword wave that Duke Bellion had released. The suppression not only affect the surrounding vampires, but it also made Shin groan painfully due to how strong it was.

He was supposedly protected by the auras of his Elemental Spirits, but this suppressive aura managed to break through it and started pressing on him.

Raising his head, he stared intensely at the soaring dragon before turning his gaze to Vladimir who was still wearing a cold look on his face.

The elemental spirit waited for a couple of seconds before swinging his rapier down in a very gentle manner. And quickly following those actions, a huge crimson sphere over his head started descending toward the incoming dragon with a momentum that was as strong as a falling meteor.

Swoosh!

'Ultimate Spirit Skill (Blood): Blood Sphere of Destruction'

It was the same skill that Shin had seen during the battle between Hanzo and Vladimir during his class promotion quest. It was also the final skill that the latter elemental spirit had used at that time.

But compared to what he had witnessed during that battle, this particular skill was much stronger and many tiers above. It was a clear indication that Vladimir was much stronger compared to their first encounter.

Boom!

A massive explosion immediately followed right after the collision of the two opposing powers. It first sent a powerful air ripple that spread in every direction, sweeping everyone away. Then it was followed by a much stronger shockwave that was threatening to destroy everything.

"Sh*t! This is bad!" cursed Shin as he finally snapped out of his daze. He was too occupied with watching the final exchange that he almost forgot that he might get swept away from the explosion.

Based on the power behind those two attacks, the aftermath that their collision could cause would definitely be a devastating one. He would not be surprised if it even swept away the whole castle and also destroyed half of the Frozen City.

Fortunately, there was an absolute existence present in this place.

Thinking about Dracula, Shin relaxed his tensed muscles and sighed in relief. With such a powerful existence around, it was useless to have such a pointless worry.

Swoosh!

And indeed, Dracula didn't disappoint Shin as he quite made his move right before the explosion destroy everything.

With a casual wave of his hands, a powerful force suddenly spread in every direction before wrapping itself around the spreading explosion, completely containing it.

Then Dracula swiftly extended his hand forward and slowly closed them as if he was grabbing something in the air.

Following his actions, the violent force within the contained explosion was slowly compressed. It was a gigantic sphere at first but it immediately became a glowing orb after a couple of moments before turning into a small marble within a few more seconds.

Pop!

Then a silent popping sound could be heard as thin smoke appeared in the air alongside the disappearance of the glowing marble.

There was a long silence after it before Shin smiled bitterly and muttered to himself. "D*mn! Just how strong is this monster?"

...…