Child of Destiny

...

Shin shifted his gazes between Leviathan and Belphegor as he listened to the assessments that Blackie and Hanzo had reported to him. His gaze lingered on the latter one for a couple of seconds before sending a voice message at the party channel.

"Be extra careful when facing that Dark Mage. He seems to have a strange skill that can affect your mind or something."

Hearing his warning, Alice slightly nodded her brows as she could already see that ability from this strange Dark Mage through her special eyes. She could feel that her mind was constantly being disturbed whenever she was staring at the opposing side, particularly the feeling of drowsiness and exhaustion.

This strange feeling seemed to be pulling her to a state of sleep and relaxation. This feeling was so powerful that she would be instantly pulled into it if not for her strong mental fortitude forged by her Mentalism Training in the real world.

Applying the techniques that she had learned from the real world along with the tricks that Shin had taught the rest of the Empyrean Talons on how to enter an ideal combat state within the game and find her path to take, Alice was able to forge a firm will that was strong enough to fight against the strange ability of Belphegor.

Seeing that Alice was able to fight against his secret technique, Belphegor could not help but become more interested in her and look forward to fighting her.

In the meantime, Leviathan was frowning deeply as he observed the other party. He could not help but admit that this particular variable that the other members of Pandemonium Troupe had encountered was quite formidable.

The air surrounding Shin was indeed different compared to the rest of the targets that they had put on their list of utmost observation.

"No wonder the others keep on warning us to be careful if we encounter him," he mumbled as he recalled the warnings of the other troupe members who had already crossed swords against Shin.

He was also starting to understand why most of them suffered a loss when facing Shin. He also came to understand why Paimon and Belial were too careful with their movements recently, avoiding any frontal conflict with Shin and Empyrean Talons as well as the other powers supporting him from behind.

"It looks like the new rankings released by the Mystery Pavilion will have some drastic changes," he mumbled as he recognized the fact that there were more and more experts appearing one after another that were greatly disrupting their plans.

"Tsk! I guess I can't underestimate him," he continued to mumble to himself as he looked sharply at Shin. "I guess I have to reveal my trump cards to avoid any accidents."

Right after he said those words, he suddenly activated one of his buffs that boosted the stats of all the members of his group who had their bodies connected to his strings.

Boom!

A powerful pressure quickly exploded from the bodies of the group, releasing a visible flow of mana that disturbed the already chaotic surroundings due to the raging storm.

Not waiting for Shin and Alice to respond, Leviathan quickly waved his hands as his fingers danced to control the people around him.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Seeing the opposing side take the initiative to attack, Shin quickly kicked the ground and charged forward, facing the incoming group head-on.

Shing!

Unsheathing the sword and swinging it horizontally, a brilliant crescent wave was released from the tip of his sword and flew toward the opposing side.

He infused the Power of the Abyssal Moon on this attack since he wanted to check on something.

'Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw – (Frost) Lunar Flash'

Swoosh!

Boom!

The group was immediately swallowed by the sword wave as they jumped straight into it. A cold mist was also formed right after the energy wave exploded, blocking the line of sight on both sides.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

But not long after, a series of gusts of wind broke through the mist as the silhouettes of the 'puppets' of Leviathan continued to head toward Shin, brandishing their respective weapons.

Shin's eyes turned sharp as they shone with a gentle glow, activating his True Sight in combat mode to read the movements of his enemies along with his Sensing Circle Skill. He even added his Demonic Telekinesis to generate the same abilities as his Spiritual Sense in the real world.

From his perspective, he could see a gentle flow of mist shrouding the bodies of the group. It was a little different from the one that was produced by the explosion of 'Lunar Flash' earlier. He could feel that they were formed by a different source of powers with similar ice properties to his previous attack.

As he was observing the energies surrounding the bodies of his opponents, Shin constantly moved to counter each of the attacks that were being thrown at him.

He waved his sword in a circular fashion to deflect the strikes of his opponents while constantly moving side to side to dodge the rest of the attacks that managed to sneak through his defense.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A chaotic fight quickly broke out as the group surrounded Shin from every direction. Shin swiftly moved, exchanging blows with the opposing group while dodging the sneak arrows and magic spells that were being thrown at him.

He was constantly shifting between different breathing techniques during the exchanges while applying all the sword principles that he had learned to match each of the sword strikes he threw and the defensive moves that he performed.

The effects that the produced by the combination of these two surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, had surpassed Shin's expectations. Even the most basic sword movements became much stronger and more profound with this combination.

The final result became even more amazing when he applied everything in combating along with Mentalism Techniques.

After adjusting these techniques, Shin started using his new fighting style, particularly the Myriad Transformation Swordsmanship.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

With the constantly changing swords and styles along with the skillful shifting of breathing techniques and sword principles to match them, Shin started suppressing the group even with the most basic sword techniques and movements.

He had yet to use any of his Elemental Spirit Possession, but he was already overpowering the group that was constantly moving in systematic movements and synchronized attacks. Even with their seamless formation and perfect teamwork, they were still unable to break through the solid defenses of their opponent and instead got countered every time they tried something.

Shin even managed to eliminate two of them in the process.

Leviathan, who was orchestrating the movements of his 'puppets', wore a deep frown when he saw that he had lost more of his people without forcing Shin to reveal more cards during the initial clash.

Understanding that he could not let this continue, he had no choice but to get involved.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Taking out a scroll from his inventory and crushing it, Leviathan was suddenly shrouded with a barrier purely made with the densest mana in the surroundings.

At the same time, the 'puppets' that were surrounding Shin started exploding one after another, sending shockwaves and raging energy that swept through every direction.

Shin was immediately swallowed by the explosions while the area where the battle was taking was continuously being bombarded by ice spikes that came out of nowhere.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Boom! Boom!

Everything came a little too sudden, making it impossible for most of the people to escape.

But Shin was an exemption as he was able to quickly notice the slight movements of mana in the surroundings, particularly the violent waves that were boiling with the bodies of the 'puppets' that were surrounding him, with his sensing skills and techniques.

Before the explosion could even occur, he had already formed the Psychic Barrier with his Demonic Telekinesis.

Leviathan, who was standing near the explosion and being protected by his barrier, watched the explosions with a deep frown as he knew that Shin somehow survived.

Swoosh!

When the mixture of mist and cloud started to recede, Leviathan could vaguely see a silhouette in the middle of a chaotic storm of mana, seemingly completely unharmed.

When Shin's figure was finally revealed, the expression on Leviathan's face became even more serious, especially when he could feel that there was an invisible barrier that was protecting Shin. This barrier was different from the information that he had gotten, and it was not even revealed in his battle against Ashura.

Without any hesitation, Leviathan took a few chunks of ice from his inventory and quickly threw them in the air.

Not long after, those chunks of ice rapidly grew and became giant ice blocks before coming alive and transforming into a bunch of Ice Golems.
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Bang! Bang! Bang!

They landed heavily on the ground, surrounding Shin once again.

Shin slightly frowned as he could feel the immense power coming from each ice golem, particularly the elemental mana that their bodies contained. He could also see demonic runes spread across every part of their bodies, giving Shin a slight idea that they were vastly modified and greatly enhanced.

He then twisted his neck left and right, producing a series of popping sounds, before licking his lips.

He rested the greatsword on his left shoulder while twirling the [Yamato] with his other hand. At the same time, there was an invisible wave revolving around his body, which signified his Demonic Telekinesis.

There was a dangerous glint in his eyes as smirked at the ice golems that were surrounding him.

…

Meanwhile, at the same time when the exchange between Shin and Leviathan had started, the two magic-class players had also started to move.

Belphegor suddenly disappeared from his position and appeared hundreds of meters away from the Shin and Leviathan, not wanting to get involved in the battle of those two.

At the same time, he seemed to be inviting Alice to come and chase after him.

Alice did not refuse as she was fully confident that Shin would not lose. She also used a series of Blinks to chase after Belphegor.

Along with her actions, a huge group of wind blades and icicles was formed behind her, which she quickly fired toward her opponent.

Belphegor smirked when he saw those spells flying in his direction. He did not even chant or wave his hands and broom when a strong gust of wind suddenly swept away the wind blades and icicles and dissolved them into nothingness.

Alice was slightly surprised at first before frowning her brows deeply. She tried to recall what just happened but could not find when and how her opponent had cast that spell.

Temporarily giving out that question, Alice suddenly tapped the bottom of her elemental scepter on the ground, summoning huge ice spikes from the ground that headed toward her opponent.

There was disdain in Belphegor's eyes when he saw the incoming ice spikes that sprouted out from the ground. And just like how he did earlier, a single thought was all he needed to cast another spell.

This time, a transparent cube was formed in the air before crashing onto the ice spikes and preventing them from moving forward.

Belphegor was about to give Alice a provoking look to challenge her with her understanding of magic. But before he could even do what he had planned, a slight frown suddenly surfaced on his face before turning his head to the side.

Bang!

There was a huge ice hammer heading his wave from that direction. Fortunately, he was fast enough to form a transparent wall to block it.

But that was only the start as more and more spells flew in his direction, seemingly not showing any sign of stopping.

Belphegor continued to summon more of his spells to block each of his opponent's attacks, but the frown on his face was only growing deeper.

He was too lazy to deal with these simple spells and wanted to see Alice's advanced magic, so he was getting annoyed that he had to constantly deal with them.

"Foolish!" an annoyed shout came out from his mouth which was immediately followed by a violent storm of mana that disturbed the natural flow in the surroundings.

Due to this, all the spells Alice had prepared were instantly obliterated, turning them back into mana particles.

In the distance, Alice had finally realized how trick her opponent was using when casting those spells. But the expression on her face was currently extremely grave as she understood what it signified. "What a monster."

She now realized that she had encountered a mentalism genius that might even surpass her talent by a great margin.

...