Child of Destiny

...…

The mountain gradually returned to silence.

Only the countless emerald particles drifting in the air remained as proof that several Elemental Anomalies had truly met their end.

The surrounding world quietly reclaimed those purified fragments.

Elemental Essence flowed once more through the mountain veins, slowly repairing the scars left behind by the battle. The twisted trees that had nearly withered under corruption seemed to recover ever so slightly as faint traces of life returned to their branches.

Shin stood motionless.

His breathing remained perfectly steady despite the intense exchange moments earlier. His right hand maintained a firm but relaxed grip on [Yamato] while his left hand naturally rested beside [Death's Shadow], allowing the cloak to sway gently behind him with every subtle movement of the wind.

His 'Heart Realm Technique' was continuously monitoring the surroundings along with his enhanced senses.

Any minute movements in the surroundings were clearly reflected in his mind.

"They're coming?" He mumbled silently.

However, the instant those words left his mouth, the ground remained completely still.

There were no footsteps that sent vibrations on the earth, nor deafening roars that could distort the surrounding mana and space. Not even a killing intent directed at him, which could easily expose their whereabouts.

There was nothing at all.

However, Shin could feel the tingling sensation at the back of his neck, signifying that he was being closely watched.

It was not observation out of hostility, but something that came out of calculation.

He slightly furrowed his brows beneath the mask. "They are changing."

The creatures that had previously charged without hesitation were nowhere to be seen. Instead, they seemed to have disappeared completely—not because they had fled from the battlefield, but because they simply chose not to reveal themselves.

"Hunting, huh?" Shin mumbled, seemingly understanding what the Elemental Anomalies were trying to do.

BOOM!

Right at the same moment, the ground he was standing on suddenly collapsed, forcing him to swap places with another phantom standing at the same distance.

Swoosh!

However, he was immediately greeted by another swarm of attacks right after appearing.

The elongated arms turned into black spears that were flying straight at him from every direction while the shadow tendrils coming out of the shadow underneath his feet tried to wrap themselves around his legs.

Their attacks did not even give him enough time to respond, forcing him to escape once again.

Swoosh!

With yet another swapping of places, Shin arrived at another safe place, which was immediately subjected to another ambush.

"So that is how you guys want to play it, huh?" he smirked before proceeding to switch with another phantom.

But this time, he did not just stop on a single swap.

The first phantom drew two anomalies away, the second forced another to expose its flank, while the third intentionally remained still for half a heartbeat longer, baiting an attack.

He had just appeared in that location for less than a second before switching places with another phantom once again.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Shin repeatedly shuttled through different places, almost making him appear in multiple places at the same time.

Shing! Shing! Shing!

Moreover, he kept on slashing with his sword every time he appeared in different locations, regardless of how long he stayed there.

The phantoms were constantly moving toward the nearest elemental anomalies that appeared around them, executing different kinds of movements that made them look like the real body.

Unfortunately, the moment when the anomalies attacked them, they only found that they were only attacking a mirage that could not hurt them.

And when they were about to ignore those phantoms, the real Shin would suddenly swap places with it before finishing them with the help of the 'Abyssal Severance' authority that he currently possessed.

Shriek!

The cries from the anomalies rang throughout the battlefield, signifying that they were unable to do anything against Shin at this moment.

Wherever he appeared, one Elemental Anomaly would die. They would then immediately be purified by his two authorities, turning them back into motes of untainted mana.

However, the situation did not last that long since these natural predators had started adapting once again.

Boom!

Without warning, one of the rocky cliffs at the spot where Shin suddenly appeared exploded.

As if expecting him to appear in that place, an enormous black silhouette burst through the falling debris. It quickly stretched its massive hand, seemingly trying to grab Shin.

Shing!

In response, Shin swung the [Yamato] with all his might, drawing a beautiful arc of darkness to meet the incoming attack.

However, instead of charging straight to Shin, the massive creature had suddenly contracted and turned into a thin, grotesque creature that twisted midair with impossible flexibility.

Swoosh!

It avoided Shin at first before directing its eyes at the sword in his hands.

Shin's pupils contracted, sensing an ominous feeling behind those eyes.

A moment later, it took another impossible turn midair before its claws flew straight to his chest that just got exposed to it.

Swoosh!

Shin instantly shifted his weight onto his rear foot while rotating his hips to the right. His shoulders followed a brief second later, allowing the upper half of his body to lean backward just enough for the incoming claws to skim past his chest.

Swoosh!

However, the claws never continued to attack him and instead took another abrupt turn midway through their swing.

The elbow bent unnaturally while its wrist folded inward before the five distorted claws immediately hooked toward the blade itself.

Clang!

The [Yamato] collided against the sharpened claws, producing a deafening metaling shriek.

The impact traveled through Shin's fingers, forearm, shoulder, and spine before disappearing into the ground beneath his feet. His knees instinctively bent to absorb the remaining force while the muscles around his waist tightened, preventing his stance from collapsing under the tremendous pressure.

"Did it just ignore me?" he mumbled in disbelief, recalling what just happened.

It ignored the opening on his ribs, the same for the exposed neck, as well as the heart.

Every trajectory, every angle, every adjustment was directed toward only one thing.

The sword in his hands.

"They aren't trying to kill me..." A chill slowly crawled across Shin's spine. "They're trying to stop me from killing them."

However, before the realization could even fully process inside his head, another fluctuation erupted behind him.

Swoosh!

In response, he took advantage of 'Phantom Dance' once again, swapping with multiple phantoms all at once.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Unfortunately, when he appeared in one of these places, another anomaly emerged from the shadows.

Its elongated jaws stretched impossibly wide right at the same time, seemingly lying in wait there to immediately greet him right after he appeared.

Bang!

The timing was too perfect for Shin to switch places with another phantom.

Whoosh!

At this most crucial moment, the [Death's Shadow] moved once again, expanding wide and wrapping around Shin with its combined powers.

But that was what exactually what this anomaly wanted.

Its mouth expanded until it resembled a bottomless abyss, releasing an overwhelming devouring force that distorted the surrounding space. The cloak fluttered violently as countless strands of darkness were pulled toward the creature's mouth.

The strands of darkness stretched until they became razor-thin.

Every thread trembled violently—some snapped, others slowly inched toward the anomaly's mouth.

Shin seemed to have heard Grimrace let out a mocking snort inside his head at this moment.

Immediately after, the shadows surrounding the cloak changed.

However, instead of resisting, they embraced the incoming authority. Then, they swallowed it as if an endless abyss consuming another abyss.

Swoosh!

Sensing the situation, Shin swiftly swapped places with another phantom, which was standing quite far from the main battlefield.

"They're learning quite fast." He mumbled while staring at the anomalies in the distance, which were retreating once again.

Not only had they adjusted with terrifying speed to the constant teleportation produced by his Phantom Series, but they had also begun predicting the exact place and timing of every exchange.

Rather than wasting their efforts attacking whichever phantom happened to be standing before them, they carefully observed the subtle flow of the battlefield, tracing the nearly imperceptible distortions that accompanied each swap.

Before Shin could even fully materialize at a new location, an ambush was already waiting for him, forcing him to immediately abandon that position and escape once again.

What made it even more frightening was that every successful prediction was immediately shared throughout the entire pack, allowing the rest of the Elemental Anomalies to instinctively adjust their hunting patterns without the need for any form of communication.

Shin also realized that they had stopped actively targeting him, which made him feel quite unsettled.

He could sense that they were plotting something, but he could not tell what exactly it was.

The fingers gripping [Yamato] subtly shifted.

His thumb loosened the pressure against the guard while his index finger slid imperceptibly along the wrapping of the hilt, allowing his wrist greater freedom.

At the same time, his left shoulder rolled backward, making the [Death's Shadow] flutter behind him along with the wind.

A moment later, Shin shook his head, taking back what he just said. "No…"

"They have already learned."

...

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