Child of Destiny

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Shin could hear the wails of anguish and resentment from the souls of the dead World Serpents right after his feet touched the surface of the altar.

They were telling him to revenge their deaths and punish the traitor of the sea, who had killed them and turned their bodies into nourishment for his demonic powers.

Right after Shin agreed, these souls climbed toward his body leaving a portion of their power left in them along with the unique abilities that they possessed when they were still alive.

At the same time, their respective World Serpent Fangs also fused with his ice sword, changing its appearance. The originally brilliant white blade was dyed by bloody color, seemingly symbolizing their resentment toward the great enemy.

As all of these were happening, a flood of information suddenly surged inside his mind, seemingly technique him how to utilize these newly acquired powers and abilities to their fullest potential.

"Rest assured, seniors! I will avenge you with these powers that you have lent me," mumbled as he raised his head and glared at the colossal black serpent in front of him.

His eyes were completely crimson due to the bloody hue that mixed in them.

He then swung the newly transformed sword forward, stroking a straight line that was immediately followed by a beam of light that flew forward.

Swoosh!

The light beam went through the body of the black serpent by entering its widely opened mouth before exploding and turning the colossal monster into shattered fragments of ice.

Then a blindingly light donned Shin's body before slowly dissipating, leaving a crystalline armor filled with mysterious runes on its surface. A crimson line of runes was also engraved on its edges while pulsing with a certain rhythm and shining like a flowing liquid.

Hiss!

This armor was also constantly releasing a cold vapor, which manifested a colossal figure of a World Serpent behind him.

The image of the serpent looked straight at Nuguro, sharply glaring at the opposing party with a murderous aura.

Nuguro could not help but narrow his eyes, washing his face with a solemn expression. The current aura that Shin was currently emitting was no weaker than what he currently possessed.

Even with the combined forces of his Demonic Powers and enhanced Magical Powers, Nurugo could still feel an immense threat coming from Shin.

He knew that something must have gone wrong. It seemed like he had underestimated the determination of the World Serpent Race, which still clung to their duties and faith despite their death.

Moreover, the great resentment that they possessed right before their deaths was so strong that it transcended the death itself and manifested into a new type of power that Shin currently possessed.

"World Serpents-… you guys have always been a great obstacle to our grand plans," said Nuguro as he glared at Shin, who was currently in a completely different form compared to earlier.

The crystalline armor also became filled with scale patterns along with the glowing runes swimming on its surface.

Nuguro was still in the middle of talking when Shin's figure flicked from the top of the altar before suddenly appearing right in front of him while hacking with the crystalized sword in his hand.

Swoosh!

Nuguro's pupils shrunk when he saw Shin before him before quickly raising his left hand forward and summoning an invisible barrier between the two of them.

Bang!

A powerful shockwave erupted right after the collision, sending violent ripples in every direction.

The barrier was sturdy enough to block the attack from Shin, but the expression on Nuguro's face turned ugly as he could feel how much power was behind that attack.

But before he could even recover from his surprise, Shin suddenly took a deep breath and held the air in his lungs before suddenly swinging the sword multiple times.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The expression on Nuguro's face instantly turned grim when he sensed the overwhelming might coming from those swings, which was why he urged the Seven Sea Gems revolving around his arm to release more power to reinforce his barrier.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A series of explosions immediately followed as Shin repeatedly hit the barrier, bombarding it with mana-infused attacks with every swing of his sword.

The barrier shook violently every time the sword hit it, but there was no visible damage to it, signifying that its hardness and sturdiness were very strong.

But as time went by, Shin started to become accustomed to his newly improved strength and adjusted himself on how to utilize it.

He started pushing Nuguro back due to this, making the latter enraged. "How brazen! I will show you what my real power can do!"

After infusing more Mana Essence into the barrier, further enhancing its defensive capabilities and turning it into a crystallized wall.

Roar!

At the same time, five gigantic heads of Sea Serpents appeared behind Nuguro, which quickly swam past the barrier and attacked Shin from different directions.

They opened their mouth wide as they tried eating Shin whole in a single mouthful.

Boom!

The entire place turned silent for a moment after the brief explosion. The huge serpent heads were pressing against each other, trying to crush Shin if they failed to swallow him.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

This scene lasted for a brief moment before beams of light shot out from the gaps between the mouths of the five giant serpents.

Boom!

Not long after, something exploded from the spot where they were pressing sending multiple layers of shockwaves that crushed the five giant serpents.

Swoosh!

Nuguro was forced to retreat due to the might of the explosion while protecting himself with the crystalized barrier before him.

Swoosh!

But as he retreated, someone appeared in the direction where he was ahead of time and blocked his escape path.

Shin ducked forward as he lowered the ice crystal sword beside his waist, seemingly trying to initiate a sword-drawing stance.

The crimson blade of the sword released a blinding light as Shin channeled his Mana Essence into it. He then swung the sword diagonally upwards when the accumulation of powers reached its peak, releasing everything into a condensed crescent energy.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

But that was not the end as multiple such crescent waves flew forward and stacked on one another like the surging tides in the stormy ocean.

'Four Symbol Scripture: Heavenly Black Tortoise – Endless Tide of the Great Ocean'

Swoosh!

Nuguro quickly spun around when he sensed the danger behind him and swiftly swung his left arm, summoning a barrage of crescent waves that bombarded the huge sword energy that Shin had sent.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of explosions erupted as the crescent energy continued to fly forward while losing its momentum and energy with every passing second.

When it finally lost the majority of its strength, a colossal monster appeared right in front of it while opening a huge mouth that swallowed the rest of the energy that the crescent wave had left.

Roar!

The sword energy that Shin had sent disappeared from its mouth as if it was devoured by the endless abyss itself.

Seeing the deep darkness within the mouth of this colossal creature, Shin felt like his soul was being dragged into it.

Shin suppressed the fear that the darkness was trying to pull out from his deep consciousness while clutching the crystalized sword tightly.

Whoosh!

As the colossal monster was approaching Shin, he focused the energy within his body and circulated it alongside his blood through the special technique of the World Serpents.

Then his body was set ablaze by a white flame that swiftly grew as large as a mountain before turning into a manifestation of a giant serpent, which rivaled the incoming colossal monster in terms of size.

Holding the sword horizontally in front of him, Shin focused all the accumulated energy into it before suddenly swimming towards the monster.

Swoosh!

Following his movements, the World Serpent that was manifested by Shin's Mana Essence opened its mouth wide to match its opposition.

'Four Symbol Scripture: Heavenly Black Tortoise – The Serpent Devours the World'

Roar! Roar!

The two monsters entangled against one another for a moment before exploding.

Boom!

As Shin protected himself with a spherical barrier in the middle of chaotic and violent energies created by the huge explosion, multiple snakes swarmed at him from every direction to try coiling around his body and bite him.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

In response, Shin swung his sword multiple times, sending a series of sword energies in every direction that cut through everything.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

But when he was done annihilating the swarm of snakes, he suddenly sensed a huge concentration of mana from the distance.

The purpose of those snakes was not only to lock him in that place but also to distract him from noticing the powerful magic spell that Nuguro was preparing.

When Shin's line of sight was finally cleared, he saw huge heads of serpents around Nuguro while opening their mouth wide and gathering a large amount of energy in them.

They were currently facing Shin's direction while Nuguro was pointing at him.

The absorption of energy accelerated for a moment as the accumulation reached its peak. Then all the energy spheres in the mouth of all the serpents fired a beam of light that flew toward Shin at unbelievable speed.

They twirled and spiraled around one another before merging into a giant beam of light that flew straight to Shin.

Swoosh!

Shin took a deep breath when he saw this before exhaling a cold vapor from his mouth.

The residual energy from his previous technique gathered once again before forming a spherical barrier filled with mysterious runes on its surface.

It seemed like a combination of multiple hexagonal barriers that were connected while an extra layer of energy ran over its surface along with the scale-like patterns in them.

'Four Symbol Scripture: Heavenly Black Tortoise – Divine Protection of the Northern Heavens'

He looked like a dwarf in front of the giant beam heading in his direction, but Shin fearlessly jumped into it while channeling the rest of his mana toward his sword.

Swoosh!

Boom!

Shin looked like a marble going against the violent current of a raging river as he advanced under the protection of the spherical barrier.

But against all the odds, he managed to go through the beam of light and appeared before his opponent, who was looking at him in full astonishment.

Regardless, Nuguro was still able to regain his composure within an instant and pressed his left hand forward while shooting a powerful spell at a close distance.

At the same time, swarms of snakes besieged Shin from every direction alongside the huge black serpent that emerged behind Nuguro and tried to devour the two of them.

Shin ignored everything else. He slashed his crystalized sword down and released all the accumulated energy that he gathered in it.

'World Serpent Swordsmanship: The First Fang'

Shing!

...…