Child of Destiny

...

Dragulia was sitting on top of the main altar that they had set up right at the heart of the Illuminating Forest. He was currently waiting for the slaughter energy to fill the air before he could finally gather them and initiate the ritual as soon as possible.

"Tsk! The ritual is being pushed back because of that nosy bunch," he clicked his tongue after looking at the progress bar at the corner of his eyes, which was currently in an extremely pitiful state.

The situation was getting worse than he had first expected. Even their siege against the Oath City seemed to be being repelled quite well by the little forces that had been formed quite recently.

"Tsk! If not for someone seeing through our true intention ahead of time, then the situation is not going to be this bad," he mumbled, trying to figure out the person behind it.

"There is the matter regarding the members of the Demonic Church of Envy," he frowned quite deeply before quickly adding. "They had become quite stubborn and hard to control after we lost contact with Leviathan."

"Fortunately, the system contract is still in effect, or else the situation would be incredibly difficult to handle with the unhinged nature of those from the Demonic Churches of the Seven Sins."

He was waiting for Henrick to send the signal so that he could start the gathering of slaughter energy, which had to be done all at once to avoid any other accidents.

While he was waiting, his senses suddenly picked up something. "Oh!? Someone has stepped into the barrier?"

Swoosh!

He just sensed the presence of the intruder when the latter reached the altar in almost an instant.

"Finally found it!" Diablo, who rushed to this place as fast as he could, finally appeared.

He raised his head and looked at Dragulia, who was sitting arrogantly at the top of the altar, and said. "You seem to be waiting here quite comfortably."

"To think that you would choose this map as the location of the main altar and use the unique nature of the Illuminating Forest as a cover to hide the foul energy of the demonic ritual."

"It may be quite risky, but once successful, you can also increase the effects of the ritual quite exponentially if you have successfully corrupted this place that is supposedly rich in light and sacred energy," he added, seemingly understanding what the opposing party was thinking after finding out that the location of the main altar was in this place.

"It seems like you have learned quite a few tricks from being the Demonic Dragon of Terror," he added while entering his strongest state almost instantly.

Swoosh!

'Shadow Dancer Skill (Tier 3): Shadow Equip – Divine War Robe'

The shadows around him immediately converged toward his direction and swiftly climbed on his body before merging with his cloak. The continuous flow of the shadow energy ran through the surface of his armor while also creating a blanket of darkness behind him along with his shadow cloak.

At the same time, his dual elemental possession was immediately activated, possessing the dagger and stiletto in his hands.

'Shadow Equip Possession: (Ancient Shadow Spirit) Genina Umbra'

'Shadow Equip Possession: (Demonic Abomination Spirit) Diaboli Umbra'

Along with the two higher forms of mana that he controlled, the Ancient Shadow Powers and the Sanctified Demonic Powers, Diablo instantly exploded with his strongest power.

Boom!

His figure flickered for a moment before appearing right before Dragulia, who was casually looking at Diablo despite all those transformations. He was still in a sitting position when a pair of pointed black lights appeared before his face and rapidly magnified right in front of his eyes.

Boom!

A massive explosion immediately erupted, reverberating throughout the place. It had also shaken the massive altar that was covering almost half a kilometer in perimeter.

Swoosh!

Not long after, Diablo's shadowy figure flew out of the cloud of smoke and stood at the top of the altar.

He was looking warily in the direction where he came from while also maintaining his guard.

Tap! Tap!

Not long after, the subtle sounds of someone's steps rang out, followed by a vague silhouette walking out of the cloud of smoke.

"Someone afflicted by the Demonic Curse of Betrayal? This is quite rare," said Dragulia as he walked out of the receding cloud of smoke.

At this moment, his current appearance was completely different from usual.

There was currently a pair of huge horns sticking out of his head along with a series of small horns sticking out of his forehead and temples, which seemed to be forming a crown.

His hair had also grown longer, almost reaching the back of his waist. His eyes turned extremely dark and terrifying, painted in pitch-black color and without any pupils. There were also black scales covering the side of his cheeks, which were spreading around his neck and shoulders.

He was currently topless, revealing his muscular body. There was also an array of black and crimson runes running throughout his body, which seemed to be enhancing his overall physique and its physical capabilities.

There was also a pair of wings folded on his back, while the reptilian tail sticking out of his lower back was swaying quite intimidatingly as he walked forward.

It was clear that he had also entered his powerful combat state, which could be considered a Demonic Dragonification.

"Lord Deimos would surely be interested in a specimen such as yourself," said Dragulia, mentioning the great name of the Demonic Dragon his demonic church worshipped, seemingly asking for its attention.

Roar!

Not long after, an extremely overwhelming presence seemed to have descended from the sky, seemingly trying to crush anything standing before it.

There was also a hazy silhouette of a terrifying dragon manifesting behind Dragulia, who seemed to be granting him a certain blessing that further enhanced his overall capabilities.

Boom!

Immediately after, Dragulia disappeared from his current location before appearing right before Diablo and striking with his dragonified fist, seemingly trying to give the latter the taste of his own medicine.

Poof!

Unfortunately, Diablo instantly disappeared, turning into a shadow mist that slowly dissipated and letting the incoming fist hit nothing but air.

Bang!

The impact of his punch sent shockwaves in front of him and spread outwards, signifying the powerful might that it carried.

Whoosh!

Diablo then appeared behind him, preparing to launch an attack.

Swoosh!

However, he was immediately greeted by a powerful swipe of the opposing side's tail, which seemed to have transformed into a thick whip to attack him.

Poof!

Diablo turned into a black mist once again before appearing in a different location.

Swoosh!

However, before he could even make his move, he found that his opponent had already locked on to his location despite him being in stealth and hidden by his unique shadow powers.

"Tsk! Draconic Senses sure are troublesome. And this curse is further exposing me to people of the same level," he clicked his tongue after realizing the reason behind this situation.

Swoosh!

He then dodged once again, letting Dragulia hit the solid floor in that area.

BOOM!

Dragulia did not immediately give chase and just raised his head to look at the opposing party. "There is no point in running. You will never be able to escape my senses."

Diablo, who had reappeared in the distance, slightly furrowed his brows before using one of his most powerful skills. "Since this stage is too much of a restriction for me, then let me use one of the cards that I have prepared just for you."

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Right after he said those words, the shadow under his feet suddenly flickered. It then spread outwards, expanding at unimaginable speed and covering the entire platform on top of the demonic altar.

'Shadow Dancer Skill (Pseudo Tier 4): Domain Skill – World of the Ancient Shadow'

BOOM!

The spreading shadows seemed to have swallowed the world, blanketing it in absolute darkness.

At Diablo's command, the world seemed to have been folded into an endless realm of shadows, where a pair of moons hung above their heads, one being black-gold while the other was crimson-gold.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

At the same time, the ground seemed to have rippled in darkness, 'revealing' that the shadow in this world seemed to be alive and breathing with malicious intent.

Seeing this, an excited grin surfaced on Dragulia's face, welcoming the stage that Diablo had set. He rolled his shoulders while a mixture of black and crimson draconic aura crackled around his scaled fists.

It was clear that this domain was much more powerful than the one that Diablo had summoned during their first encounter.

Not only did it have the silencing effect that restrained his signature draconic chants, but it also possessed an overwhelming suppression that seemed to be trying to restrain his demonic powers.

The power that he wielded was a combination of demonic and draconic powers, making it incredibly difficult to counter.

However, this absolute power that he was completely confident in seemed to be sensing an incredible danger coming from this world made of shadows.

This world was made by the combination of the Ancient Shadow Powers and the Sanctified Demonic Powers, so it was only natural that it would restrain any powers that were related to demons and other dark and evil creatures, which the Ancient Queen of Shadows despised.

Diablo had already experienced how troublesome it was to deal with the Demonic Power of Terror, so he naturally had to prepare something even stronger to deal with it.

Roar!

However, the Demonic Power of Terror within Dragulia's body seemed to have been provoked by this domain, releasing an even stronger wave of power to further enhance his overall powers.

Diablo and Dragulia had a standoff for a moment before both sides made their move almost at the same time.

BOOM!

...