Child of Destiny

…

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Dio waved his hand and summoned an array of dark spears behind him, fanning out like a peacock’s majestic tail.

He then pointed forward, sending them toward Diablo, who was still maintaining his inviting gesture.

‘Devil Peacock Spear: Hundred Feathers’

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Right at the same moment, Diablo suddenly kicked the ground, moving in a zigzag motion and leaving a series of afterimages behind.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With the barrage of explosions behind him, Diablo increased his speed, transforming into a dark streak of light that flew straight to his opponent.

Whoosh!

Raising his left hand forward along with the stiletto that he was holding, Diablo further accelerated while also manipulating the surrounding shadows.

Shriek!

Eerie wails of ghosts suddenly reverberated in the entire battlefield. There seemed to be dozens of vengeful spirits surrounding Diablo as their cries of agony assaulted the ears of his opponent.

‘Shadowless Assassination Art: Vengeance of the Wraiths’

Swoosh!

Dio immediately responded after seeing how dangerous the incoming attack was. He forcefully recovered from the eerie cries assaulting his ears and swiftly gathered himself.

Flipping and twirling his spear, dark flames suddenly surrounded his entire body before spreading to his weapon.

Holding the spear with both of his hands, he suddenly took a powerful step forward, stomping so hard that the ground caved down and formed a small crater.

Swoosh!

‘Devil Peacock Spear: Soaring Feather’

Shing!

He thrust the spear with all his might, forming a spiraling dark energy, and pierced through the air during its advance.

Boom!

A massive explosion immediately followed as the tips of the two weapons met and clashed against one another.

Dio was forced to take a series of steps back, leaving deep footprints on the ground just to nullify the residual force from the impact.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Meanwhile, Diabo was sent skidding back, trying his best to maintain his footing. That powerful impact revealed that his overall strength was still quite inferior to those with combat classes that focused more on strength and constitution, such as the Swordsman, Warrior, and Knight Classes.

Regardless, he was still able to maintain his balance and did not let himself get too overpowered by his opponent.

“Hup!”

Taking a deep breath, Diablo forcefully regained his stance before suddenly disappearing from his spot.

Swoosh!

‘Shadow Dancer Skill (Tier 2): Shadow Strike’

He suddenly appeared before his opponent, who was still in the middle of regaining his footing.

Shing!

With a swift and deadly stab, Diablo sent his stiletto straight to the neck of his opponent.

Swoosh!

But before it could even reach its target, Dio swiftly took a step back and suddenly leaned back, barely dodging the deadly strike.

(-5,232)

Regardless, the force that was produced by that sudden stab from Diablo still sent out a strong gust of wind that somewhat hurt Dio once it grazed his face.

He then swiftly flipped his spear, letting it circle behind him, before throwing a forward stab straight to Diablo’s abdomen.

Swoosh!

Unfortunately, despite his perfect and well-timed counter, all his spear had caught was the fading afterimage that Diablo had left behind.

‘Twilight Skill: (Modified) Silent Steps’

Whoosh!

Diablo appeared behind his opponent without making any sounds before suddenly throwing a sharp stab straight to his opponent’s back.

‘Extra Skill (Basic): (Enhanced) Backstab’

Familiar with such a strategy of thieves and assassins, Dio did not even need to turn his head behind him and leaped forward, trying to create some distance between himself and his opponent.

Midair, he skillfully turned his body while also swinging his spear to deflect the incoming attack. He had also infused some of his unique mana into the spear not to lose in terms of strength.

Clang!

Diablo did not stop and continued pressing forward. He retracted his deflected arm and used the momentum to throw another stab with his other hand, chasing after his opponent.

His body also flickered repeatedly as he charged forward, resembling a translucent ghost.

‘Shadow Dancer Skill (Tier 2): Flickering Stab’

When Dio’s feet touched the ground, the tip of his opponent’s stiletto was already almost upon his face, swiftly magnifying before his eyes.

But right before this stiletto could even put a hole in the center of his forehead, Dio was able to swiftly respond.

He swiftly leaned to the side while turning his spear toward the opposite direction, hitting the forearm of his opponent and redirecting the trajectory of the stab.

Bang!

He then moved his upper body around, twirling the spear and shifting it between his left and right hands. He danced along with his spear, twirling, flipping, rotating, and swinging it around while engaging in an intense melee against Diablo.

Diablo responded in kind, accepting the challenge. But instead of a frontal confrontation, he chose to go with the standard style that thieves and assassins used during the battle.

He would constantly launch an ambush from different directions, continuously coming in and out of his stealth. At times, he would even be utilizing his advantage in terms of speed to the fullest, harassing his opponent with repeated and swift attacks.

Along with the aid of his Ancient Shadow Powers, he was able to cast some shadow-elemental spells that would suppress Dio from time to time.

He was not giving his opponent enough time to recover or even formulate a plan as a counter.

With his repeated and swift attacks, Dio was having a hard time maintaining his peak form, especially when Diablo was craftily utilizing his advantage in terms of class.

But Dio was not someone who could be defeated that easily either. He stubbornly and steadily held his ground, not allowing Diablo to land a clean ambush.

Even if he was a step late in responding, he was still able to save himself at the last second. He always half-blocked or half-dodged those deadly attacks that could threaten to one-shot him.

Even though he suffered some serious damage from barely dodging or blocking the attacks, they were still far from being too fatal to threaten him.

By relying on the overwhelming regeneration abilities of his race, as well as some defensive and healing skills in his skill set, Dio was able to hold his ground quite steadily.

Of course, he was quite worried about the state of the battle on the other side of the map since he had spent quite a lot of time fighting Diablo. But he could not afford to think too much about it since his situation was not that optimistic either.

He might be able to throw a few counters and deadly attacks from time to time, after getting familiar with the rhythm of his opponent, but they were far from what he wanted to achieve.

After all, his goal was to either defeat Diablo in one fell swoop or at least create enough distance away from the latter, allowing him to jump into the nearby void gate and regroup with the rest of the team.

Glancing at the Dragon Rage right below his Mana and Stamina Bar, Dio could not help but slight a little.

He tried his best to use as little energy as he could during this battle, planning to save it for the latter. Unfortunately, it seemed like he was spending much more than he had expected as the battle progressed.

The more he tried to save them, the more he spent them in battle.

Even if he was not holding back in the fight, he was still keeping the consumption of his Dragon Rage in control. Unfortunately, he was draining it a little too much the more the battle progressed.

“I guess I will be thrown in the training dungeon after this match,” he mumbled along with a bitter smile.

…

In the meantime, Ashura was already reaching his limit for controlling the Fallen Golden Immortal for such a long time.

Even though his willpower far surpassed most people, he still had his limit.

The burden he was carrying was much more overwhelming than maintaining all his Elemental Spirit Possessions and his version of Reality Manifestation simultaneously.

It was especially true when he was the core of the Unified Skill that their team was using.

All the burden that everyone was suffering was directed to him, making it harder to keep controlling the Fallen Golden Immortal for an extended period.

He naturally had some solutions to deal with these, just like some unique mental techniques that boosted his mental prowess or forbidden techniques that could help him keep a clear state of mind despite suffering such a huge and heavy burden.

The only problem was the drawbacks that he would suffer later after using them.

This could even damage his mind in the real world, which was why he had set a specific limit on the use of these techniques.

He was supposed to stop it after reaching the border between these two limits.

“It looks like we still have underestimated the peak form of these guys, especially when they were together,” he mumbled with a bitter smile before adding. “Particularly their coordination, understanding, and trust with each other.”

……

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