Child of Destiny

“B*st*rd!”

Old Man Roger immediately became enraged when he saw the police inspectors and their team started falling after another.

As a Void Manifestation Expert himself, he could feel the life forces of those people slipping out of their bodies. It was obvious that they were going to die in just a few seconds.

Bang!

The old man quickly kicked the ground and launched himself forward, not caring about his safety anymore. He knew that the person in front of him was a realm higher than him, but it did not mean that he would be standing still and waiting for his death.

He was still an expert who was a step away from that realm!

Swoosh!

He clenched his fists as he accumulated large amounts of energy on them. The Natural Force that he had nurtured since he stepped into Ethereal Opening Stage but remained dormant up until now was awakened once again.

At the same time, more energy comes out from his core and spread to different parts of his body. Not long after, a golden armor covered his body from head to toe and donned his entire being.

This was a signature technique of Void Manifestation Experts, the upgraded version of Qi Reinforcement Skill – the Qi Armor.

But it did not in there. More and more Natural Force gathered on the arms of the old man before materializing into a pair of battle gauntlets that was filled with glowing runes.

Yet another version of Qi Reinforcement Skill – the Qi Armament.

Ha!

Old Man Roger stomped on the ground and threw a powerful punch forward, accompanied by a strong gust of wind.

Boom! ｂ𝚎ｄｎ𝚘ｖ𝚎𝚕．

An explosion quickly erupted as the punch created a shockwave that spread forward. Everything that was on its path was quickly obliterated, turning the dense woods of the mountain into a cleared area.

Swoosh!

“That was not bad for an old man,” said Coffin Maker as he soundlessly appeared behind Old Man Roger. He then smiled sinisterly before saying. “Unfortunately, that is still not enough.”

After that, the surgical knife that he was holding suddenly released a dangerous glow before he swung it forward.

Swoosh!

The old man quickly spun around and met the surgical knife with his battle gauntlet. He threw yet another punch that was no weaker than the previous one.

Bang!

The impact quickly sent Old Man Roger skidding back while Coffin Maker took a couple of steps back. This clearly showed the difference in their strength. But despite being an advantage, the latter could not help but wear a gloomy look as could feel a little discomfort from that collision.

In the end, he was still weak when it came to frontal confrontation. He had to end this as soon as possible to prevent accidents from happening.

Old Man Roger seemed to be able to realize this too, so he quickly charged forward and initiated a close combat quarter. As a retired officer, he was familiar with hand-to-hand combat which was his advantage in this current situation.

Bang! Bang!

The two quickly engaged in an intense melee. Naturally, the old man had the more active role while Coffin Maker was constantly avoiding the frontal confrontation.

…

At the same time, right when Old Man Roger decided to attack, Shin quickly shouted to Leonard. “Now, run!”

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The two of them quickly hopped back and turned around. They ran away at full speed without any hesitation.

They were clear about their current situation. This was not a drama, where they had to insist on staying here due to a sense of comradeship or something.

They would not act foolishly and stay, hoping to help the old man.

They were clear of the big difference between their strength and their opponent. With their current ability, they would only be a hindrance to the old man if they continued to stay there.

Even though it was rare to watch such a battle between experts with high martial art attainments, they knew that this was not the right time for it.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The two ran down the mountain while executing their fastest movement technique. The gust of wind that was accompanying them was even blowing the nearby tree branches and bushes along their path.

As they were running away, Shin’s Spiritual Sense suddenly sensed a huge group of people chasing after them.

“Tsk! There are people on our tail. And they are quite fast,” said Shin, informing Leonard.

And when he realized that they could not outrun their pursuers, Shin decided to fight. “We are going to fight as we run.”

“Brother John, how long do we have left?” he asked while taking out the pair of katana and getting ready for the fight.

At the same time, John quickly answered. “I think, three more minutes-… if the commander did not get delayed.”

Shin frowned deeply when he heard that and could not help but ask. “What do you mean by that?”

John was continuously tapping the keyboard in front of him without taking his eyes away from the screen in front of him. He then took a glance at the other screen beside him, where there seemed to be a radar map being shown.

“There is a strong energy fluctuation on the path that Commander Nathan is taking. I think Someone is planning to obstruct his arrival,” said John with a troubled expression.

Hearing that, Shin could only curse silently before a decisive look appeared on his face. “Then let’s do both plan A and B together.”

“Eh!?”

Both Leonard and John were confused by his words, and couldn’t understand what Shin had said.

Then he quickly explained. “We are going to engage in a battle with those guys while retreating as best as we can. If we manage to escape before that guy, Coffin Maker, manages to catch up to us, then it will be better.”

“But if we get captured before Uncle can arrive, then we will proceed with the original plan. We will let ourselves be dragged away by those guys and see if we can find their base.”

“If we manage to find their main location and confirm the safety of the elite students, then the military can proceed with the plan.”

“Contact Senior Brother and the others to start moving as soon as possible. I think these guys are plotting something and are already at the most critical stages. They also seem to be running away as soon as everything is over, which is why they decided to reveal themselves right now.”

He paused for a moment and slightly turned his head, looking over his shoulder. Behind them, he could see the silhouettes of their fast-approaching pursuers.

After that, nodded to Leonard, who quickly went in another direction, before saying. “Brother John, pin our coordinates all the time, especially if the signal disappeared – note down our final location. Maybe that would be the entrance of their base or something.”

“I’ll make sure to let the others know our location as soon as I find the opportunity. I hope the special gadgets that you give us will be helpful when that time comes,” he added before abruptly stopping and quickly turning around.

While turning, he unsheathed the white katana as it released a blazing mental energy while being swung.

Shing!

‘Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw – Solar Cleaver’

Swoosh!

A circular blazing energy was formed and spread outward, cutting through everything on its path.

Urgh!

Augh!

Clang! Clang!

Bang!

A series of painful groans immediately followed alongside the clashing sounds of metals.

The unfortunate ones were either cleaved in halves as they did not expect Shin’s unexpected move while the guys with the fastest reaction speed managed to save their lives in the final moments.

This was yet another sword technique that was inspired by his skills within the game. After the previous incident at the academy where he fought against the evolution puppet, Shin was able to control this innate fire attribute of his Mental Energy, which also gave him more freedom at incorporating his in-game skills into the real world.

Shin raised the katana over his shoulder after executing that move. He quickly swept his gaze at the surroundings and memorized the positions of his opponents inside his head kicking the ground.

Bang!

His figure suddenly disappeared before flashing across the mountain forest as he took down his opponents one after another.

He had already figured out the strength of these guys. They were at the early phase of the Ethereal Opening Stage, which was not that far from his current Mentalism Attainment. His strength was slightly stronger than then, other than the ones who seemed to be their leaders.

“Don’t engage! He is too strong for us to handle. Just delay their escape until the reinforcements arrive,” shouted one from the distance as he watched his subordinates fall one by one.

Shin quickly spotted him and locked his gaze. “That guy should be in command.”

Then his figure disappeared once again. The guy who just shouted quickly felt that he was being locked down, so he quickly retreated. He could sense the fast-approaching presence of Shin.

Swoosh!

He just took a couple of steps back when Shin finally arrived in front of him while swinging the katana at the same time.

The blade of the katana was almost upon him when the guy suddenly smiled sinisterly. “Caught you!”

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

A series of rushing sounds quickly followed when he said those words. Another group of people suddenly appeared and jumped out from the surrounding bushes, launching an attack at Shin in a coordinated fashion.

The smile on the leader’s face suddenly turned stiff when he realized that the figure standing in front of him was gradually fading.

“An afterimage?”

The leader was still thinking about what just happened when he noticed that Shin was already ducking forward. And unknowingly, his katana had already been sheathed back once again.

Shin assumed a sword-drawing stance while his mental energy was gathering on the sheathed katana.

He was preparing to use another sword-drawing technique. But instead of the inspired sword movement from the game, this one was among the techniques that his body had remembered after he found out the real essence of the Jade Kirin Scripture.

It was the combination of the two sword movements, the ‘Flash Crecent’ and ‘Flash Horizon’.

Clink!

When his thumb pushed the guard of the katana and the clinking sound reverberated, a sudden flash blinded everyone for a moment, making them slow down their movements momentarily.

Then they felt a series of crescent sword gales surrounding Shin and flew in every direction, cutting everything in their path.

‘Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw – Flash Firmament’

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The leader of the group stared blankly in the air as the gusts of wind passed through his body as well as his subordinates.

Then their bodies were diced into small pieces before being blown away by the remaining gust of wind that accompanied Shin’s previous move.

Hu~!

Shin took a deep breath as he suppressed the discomfort within his body after preparing that technique. He frowned slightly as he sheathed the katana once again.

His face was a little pale when he resumed his run.

“Performing an advanced movement of the Jade Kirin Scripture can still burden my body. I guess I have to undergo conditioning training for the quick-draw style after everything is over,” he muttered to himself while running.

He then glanced in the direction where Leonard headed earlier. “I hope Leo is still fine.”

…