Child of Destiny

...

Silence descended upon the battlefield.

It was not because the battle had ended, but because the remaining Elemental Anomaly had stopped moving.

Their countless crimson eyes remained fixed on the two places where their companions had disappeared completely.

There were no remains, no corrupted flesh, no lingering consciousness—not even the fragments that normally escaped before reconstructing another body.

For the first time since their birth, something had truly ceased to exist.

The surrounding Elemental Essence quietly drifted toward the place where the two anomalies had fallen before slowly returning to the world.

The mountain itself seemed to breathe once again.

…

Shin did not lower his sword.

His Heart Realm Technique remained fully expanded, carefully observing every minute fluctuation of mana around him.

Nothing on this battlefield was normal, especially with the creatures capable of surviving countless years of consuming the entire ecosystem.

Then, something changed.

The nearest anomaly slowly crouched. Its grotesque body lowered until all six limbs touched the ground while its eyes never left the [Yamato] in Shin's hand.

Behind this anomaly, another performed the same exact movement, which was then followed by multiple more.

Within seconds, every remaining adopted the same posture.

Their countless crimson eyes contracted. The silent intelligence hidden behind those grotesque faces had finally acknowledged Shin as a genuine threat.

The battlefield became still. There were no screams nor devouring. They just remained perfectly still.

In Shin's eyes, he felt like he was being observed extremely closely. They seemed to be watching and trying to learn something.

"They seemed to be analyzing?" Shin frowned deeply after sensing the intention of the other side. "No… it is more like they are adapting."

It was at this moment that Solus' voice suddenly echoed within his mind. "My Liege… Elemental Anomalies can survive even in ancient times or even longer than that—and it was for one reason."

"They can evolve! Not just a simple evolution through structural transformation or through overwhelming powers they possessed," her voice turned extremely heavy. "They just become more efficient predators."

The expression behind Shin's mask gradually darkened. "So… you're saying that they immediately realized something?"

"They have already judged that a direct confrontation is inefficient." Hanzo's voice immediately answered. "So, it is only natural for them to change their hunting methods."

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The instant those words lingered inside Shin's head, every anomaly moved.

However, instead of rushing toward Shin, they all distanced themselves from him.

Boom!

Their enormous bodies dispersed across the mountain like a collapsing tide. Some disappeared into shadows. Others burned beneath the earth while the rest climbed vertically across the broken cliffs before vanishing behind enormous boulders.

Within a couple of seconds, the entire battlefield had become empty.

Shin narrowed his eyes while scanning the entire surroundings with his enhanced senses.

Unfortunately, he could not find any traces of the monsters around—not even their shadows, if ever they had one.

Shin quickly adapted to the current situation by shrinking the range of his detection area rather than expanding it further.

He chose to focus all his senses close to him with consecrated Spiritual Sense rather than a larger area that could thin it out.

Swoosh!

That was when a tiny fluctuation was suddenly caught by his senses.

"Behind!" Shin swiftly shifted his body.

Swoosh!

The outline of his body suddenly blurred due to his quick response, which was also further augmented by the stack of overlapping phantoms.

Every phantom copied the same movements of the previous ones, creating an illusion that he looked like an abomination himself with multiple arms.

'Phantom Series: Defensive Maneuver – Phantom Shroud'

Whoosh!

The incoming claw pierced through Shin's chest.

However, no contact had been made due to the claw only catching the lingering phantom Shin had left behind.

While the outline of the phantom was gradually fading, the real Shin had also revealed himself.

However, instead of appearing in a different location, his figure remained stationary in the same spot.

He was taking his signature sword-drawing stance and facing the anomaly while the overlapping phantoms surrounding him continuously shifted positions while copying the movements of his real body one after another.

Click!

The subtle sound immediately rang throughout the quiet battlefield.

'Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw (Darkness) – Flash Horizon (Nightfall Execution)'

Shing!

He swung his sword immediately after unsheathing it.

However, instead of the usual flash of light tracing through the path of the sword, a black line as thin as a thread appeared behind the sword's trajectory.

Whoosh!

Not long after, the space unfolded into two different directions as if it were a thin fabric being cut by an extremely sharp object.

At the same time, the Elemental Anomaly that tried to attack him was swallowed by the rolling darkness before disappearing altogether.

Boom!

However, right at the same time, the ground where he was standing collapsed without warning.

It was not because of a powerful force, but because of the sudden appearance of a strange phenomenon. It was as if the earth itself had suddenly lost every trace of elemental essence supporting it.

Along with it, the corruption spreading from another anomaly appearing beneath him instantly transformed the solid stone into lifeless gray powder, which made the ground violently sink several meters.

Shin's footing disappeared.

Shriek!

At the same instant, a powerful psychic scream descended.

However, it was not directed at him either. Instead, it focused its attack on the space surrounding him.

The invisible shockwave shattered every fragment of space into countless fragments before hurling them toward Shin like a spatial avalanche.

Shin's eyes calmly swept across the incoming destruction. There were no openings nor a direct route to escape—they had completely trapped him in place.

Left without a choice, Shin had to rely on his defense. Fortunately, the current [Death's Shadow] possessed by Grimrace was different from before.

Swoosh!

The cloak of shadow unraveled itself wide before turning into a massive blanket of shadows that swiftly wrapped around him repeatedly, turning into a black sphere that blocked every direction.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Successive explosions immediately erupted, subjecting Shin to a terrifying assault that came from both spatial collapse and the terrifying psychic attacks.

However, the dual attack was repeatedly warded off by the shadow cloak that kept repairing itself right before it collapsed completely due to the repeated bombardment.

Not long after, a small opening suddenly appeared.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Shin did not let that opening slip and sent out multiple phantoms through the gap to thread a path for him before switching places with the one that had successfully escaped from the collapsing void.

'Phantom Series: Final Movement – Phantom Dance'

Immediately after, Shin scattered more Phantoms in different parts of the battlefield, making sure that the same situation would not happen again.

"They are avoiding a direct confrontation now?" Shin concluded after seeing that the Elemental Anomalies immediately retreated away from him after a third anomaly died under his sword.

They all seemed to have a collective thought. — "Do not let that blade touch you."—

They then immediately adapted to attack the surrounding energies around Shin rather than attacking him directly.

However, it did not just stop there since Shin also saw some of them gathering at one spot, devouring one another to further hasten their evolution.

"These guys are too smart for their own good." The corner of Shin's mouth could not help but twitch after seeing this scene.

"I can just let them do that, right?" He mumbled before quickly disappearing from his spot, switching places with the phantom standing near that cluster of anomalies.

Swoosh!

Immediately after appearing, Shin swiftly unsheathed the sword and swung it multiple times at the gathering spot of the anomalies.

'Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw (Darkness) – Flash Requiem (Endless Night)'

Shing! Shing! Shing!

His sword slashed, leaving traces of darkness in the air and creating a blanket of darkness that swallowed all the anomalies in the area before they could even fully devour one another.

Roar!

Right at the same time, a thunderous roar suddenly sounded behind Shin, sending a powerful psychic attack.

Shin was originally planning to ignore it, fully trusting that Grimrace would be able to handle it with the 'Mantle of Darkness' Authority.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Unfortunately, more thunderous roars sounded from different directions.

They all locked at him while initiating a successive burst of psychic attacks.

Given the small gap between each attack, Shin could tell that they were following a certain pattern where they could find a gap in the defenses that the [Death's Shadow] provided him.

"Tsk! Tsk! These guys are too fast at adapting." He clicked his tongue before swiftly swapping places with another phantom to escape from the bombardment of psychic attacks.

Swoosh!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

However, right after he appeared in a different location, he was immediately greeted by multiple attacks coming from every direction.

Shin slightly frowned as he found himself subjected to such an ambush.

Shing!

In response, he immediately unsheathed the sword and swung it multiple times, creating a net of intertwining blank lines around him.

'Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw (Darkness) – Flash Firmament (Black Moon)'

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

All the incoming claws and tentacles were severed by the dark net before they could even reach his body, forcing all the surrounding anomalies to retreat.

However, despite this being the case, Shin could not help feeling the situation escalating into something much more problematic than what it already was. "These guys are getting harder to deal with."

"I guess I have to pick up the pace as well." He added while twirling the [Yamato] and putting it back in its sheath.

...…

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