Child of Destiny

...

The people watching the live feed of the battle between Shin were surprised when they saw Pogo, the Killer Clown, especially when they saw the perfect timing when ambushing the target.

But they became even more impressed when they witnessed Shin dodging everything with complex and tricky maneuvers.

The initial exchange between the two was quite intense, but they were not as stunning as the viewers initially thought. After all, this was Pogo they were talking about – one of the notoriously known villains within the virtual world and a founding member of Blood Carnival, one of the largest and most powerful dark guilds in the game.

Some people even said that Pogo was nothing but an old god now and could not keep up with the current Godlike Players in the Godly Ranking List – even though he was still very young given that he was not older than twenty-five years of age.

Despite that, these bored idlers without anything better to do loved to trash-talk people and said that Pogo was already behind the times and past his prime.

Other people also joined the fun, especially when they saw Shin was in the upper hand during the first few exchanges. It was more fun to join the crowd, particularly the majority when it came to these situations.

It was not until when they saw Pogo showcased his real capabilities.

Shin might have gotten a few enlightenments and understood more about his swordsmanship, particularly the sword techniques under the Jade Kirin Scripture. But Pogo was still not someone who could be underestimated.

The moment Shin showed his aggressiveness and tried to press Pogo with his momentum, the latter finally showed his fangs.

The Killer Clown finally showed what he was capable of when he was serious.

Pogo used his signature moves and techniques that were familiar to most of the players but in a much better way and improved versions.

The familiar combat techniques that he used in the past were now much more powerful and carried a more dangerous air in them.

Pogo bombarded Shin with attacks along with his chained sickles, manipulating them in the strangest way possible and showcasing his amazing control over them.

There were also some combat techniques that he was using where that made it look like he was controlling multiple chained sickles when there were only two. This illusion technique amazed most of the new players and shut up the trash talkers in the live feed.

These keyboard warriors were in the middle of trash-talking when Pogo exploded with a series of combat techniques, suppressing Shin in an instant. That scene made these people pause their hands from typing and swallow their words back.

Aside from the attacks with the two chained sickles, Pogo was also throwing more attacks with his other chained weapons like the one with kite daggers that he used during the earlier exchange. Some flying daggers seemed to come out of nowhere, trying to ambush Shin from a different angle as well as the blind spots that Shin had.

But Shin always had his True Sight active, he was always able to read the trajectory of the chained sickles no matter how tricky the angle was. As for the unseen attacks that always came from his blind spots, none of them were able to successfully harm him due to his territorial skills, the Sensing Circle.

No matter how powerful Pogo was and how amazing his control over his chained weapons was, none of them were able to pressure him much.

Aside from using the lighting version of his 'Infinity Edge' repeatedly to ward off most of the attacks of his opponent, he was also using a series of movement techniques as he tried to close the distance between himself and his opponent while also dodging the rest of the attacks at the same time.

With the cool black-and-white lighting that was crackling around his body and covering his sword, the viewers could not help but feel in awe, especially when Shin used the 'Infinity Edge' and created a dome-like net of crisscrossing lines with his swords.

Then there were also those movement techniques that were enhanced by his 'Primordial Lightning', which made each of his actions much cooler, particularly when he was leaving a series of afterimages behind and when a trail of lighting followed his path.

The battle was in a deadlock as Shin was unable to get closer to Pogo since the last time when he had successfully approached the latter.

After that instance, Pogo was more cautious in his movements and kept a certain distance between him and Shin.

He was quite good at controlling the space between them, especially when he was trying to kite Shin. The distance between them shrunk from time to time, but it always grew wide once again as Pogo did not want to engage Shin in a frontal confrontation.

Even if he was confident in his abilities to fight in a melee battle, he knew that he would be suppressed in such a battle given that it was the speciality of the opposing side.

Moreover, he would be able to showcase what he was capable of in mid- to average-range battles with his chained sickles, especially when most of his combat techniques specialized in this area.

On the other hand, Shin was slightly frowning his brows as he was trying to look for other solutions to break the current deadlock. He knew that he would be in trouble if more people joined the battle later.

Even if a battle royale occurred due to the competition of the people trying to capture him, he would still be the main target of everyone, which would put him at a great disadvantage.

Shin knew that Pogo just happened to join the fun, but that was also one of the problems since these random assassins or mercenaries would most likely try targeting given that there was a major event connected to him.

Aside from these 'scavengers' who were trying to fish in troubled waters.

There were also the people from the four factions that were after him, so Shin knew that he had to finish these fights earlier before the others arrived.

However, it was quite hard to fight the temptation of experiencing such a thrilling battle.

It was quite uncomfortable that he could not use his other techniques and skills, particularly the ones meant for movement. He had to keep his identity unknown as long as possible to make sure that the players that were coming after him to counter him, especially those guys from the Demonic Churches and Corrupted Cult that he always clashed with.

He was already familiar with them, it would not be strange for those guys to be familiar with him as well, especially his moves and techniques.

Glancing at the timer in the corner of his eyes, he saw that already dozens of hours had passed, which made it more than half of the total time that he had to spend being hunted was left.

To to exact, there was still a total of a day and a half (in-game time) before the final tick of the clock ended for this particular event.

He had been roaming around the Shunkai Forest for quite some time already. He was trying to waste the time of the other people chasing and looking for him while taking down one team after another by constantly ambushing them.

It also wasted the time when his coordinates were being revealed to the four factions every two hours.

He just kept appearing and disappearing in different parts of the map, making it harder for the other people to find him.

He could log out of the game at this point if he wanted to and take a little rest before logging back again. It might pause the timer, but it could also give him enough time to recover the peak condition of his mind after he continues fighting since he was forced into this 'event'.

However, he wanted to use that opportunity when it was finally time to go offline, which was almost in the final hours of this 'hunting event', especially when someone had already 'booked' him for a duel at that time.

He had to prepare first before taking on such a strong opponent.

After glancing at the timer, Shin also saw that there was still quite a lot of time before the system sent his coordinates to the 'hunters.' But considering that the other people might have already figured out his location after fighting Phantom and the others, then against this current opponent.

He was not sure if they had informed more people or asked for reinforcements. There was also the possibility of someone stumbling in this place. Given the intense battle, it would not be strange for other players to hear the clashes and notice that there was going here.

He had to end this as soon as possible. "I guess I have to reveal a few more of my cards this time."

Thinking about this, Shin took a deep breath after dodging a series of attacks from Pogo. He utilized the brief period where the chains needed time to set themselves up to catch his breath and adjust his form.

Pogo instantly the sudden change in the air surrounding Shin, making him warier of what was about to come.

At the same time, he also adjusted the formation of his chained sickles, taking a more defensive approach rather than an offensive one.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

As the chained sickles were about to reach his desired position, something unexpected suddenly happened – Shin, who was supposedly standing 50 to 60 meters away from him, suddenly appeared in front of him without a sound.

'Equipment Skill (Leg Armor: Megumi's Shadow): Death Travel'

Shin was ducking forward while holding his swords beside him, one positioned on beside his waist while the other was being held over his shoulder.

Pogo might have been caught off guard by his opponent's sudden appearance, but as an expert himself and an old god with a lot of experience, he was still able to respond in time.

Pulling his arms down and tugging the chains that he was holding; he calmly took a step back to have a clearer view of Shin. He then raised his arms and shook them in a twisting motion. The crimson chains then wrapped themselves around his arms as he placed them in front of him in a parallel manner, putting up a defensive stance.

He even lowered his head to hide it behind his fists while slightly curling his upper body like a boxer on guard.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

That was when Shin swung his swords at him consecutively.

Pogo strengthened his arms and braced himself for impact, but the attack that he was expecting never arrived. The sword that was being swung at him passed through him before the 'Shin' in front of him slowly faded away.

"F*ck!" Pogo could only curse under his breath as he realized that he had been duped.

Without any hint of hesitation, even a fraction of a second, Pogo used one of his lifesaving skills.

'Extra Skill (Tier 2): Gale Steps'

Swoosh!

Pogo did not care about the instantaneous stealth that the skill gave him since he could tell that Shin was still able to see through it through a special ocular skill. What he wanted from this skill was the few seconds of invulnerability and the boosts in his movement speed that it provided.

Dashing forward for a second, Pogo suddenly leaped while twisting his body in the air and turning around.

Swoosh!

He barely dodged the sword strike that Shin did while targeting his neck.

During his turn, he swung both arms around, making the chains twist and turn along with his actions.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

'Blood Killer Skill (Tier 2): Sanguine Storm'

The chains were swung randomly, carrying a powerful force behind them. They then wreak havoc around him, slamming on the ground and leaving deep fissures on it. Their air was also cut by a series of crimson flashes as they covered a larger area.

But despite how powerful that violent attack was, it still hit nothing but air as the target disappeared like a ghost.

This might be a powerful skill and covered quite a huge area, but it still exposed a fatal flaw in Shin's eyes. Despite its huge range, the area above Pogo was completely left unaffected.

Shin appeared up there right after being spat out by a small void rift.

He was positioned upside down as he let himself fall naturally. He then took advantage of the gravity and even kicked the air under his feet with 'Mondi's Jump' to accelerate his descent.

Swoosh!

With such a powerful momentum, Shin positioned his sword parrel to himself while infusing the 'Primordial Lightning' on it. He then swung it down along with his fall, leaving a vertical line in the air.

'Extra Skill: (Modified) Falling Lightblade – Lightning Strike'

Shing!

The sword cut through the air and almost reached the head of his opponent.

But Pogo was still fast to react. The blood sickles appeared on his hands as he raised them over his head while channeling all his mana on them.

At the same time, crimson light covered his entire being while the chains attached to the sickles gathered and wrapped themselves on his body.

'Self-created Skill (Combined): (Enhanced) Crimson Protection'

Swoosh!

Crackle! Crackle!

Bang!

The sword covered with black-and-white lightning finally fell from above and hit the crossed sickles, creating a powerful shockwave.

Pogo felt that his body was shaken to the core due to the powerful impact. His feet even sank a few inches on the ground.

It also did not stop there as the aftershock spread in every direction and made the ground sink further, forming a deep crater beneath Pogo.

Pogo finally experienced the true might of Shin's attack!

And this was just the beginning since Shin finally closed the gap between them, he would never let this opportunity slip away.

...