Child of Destiny

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Roar!

The terrifying roar of the dragon shocked the enclosing shadow realm, destroying it in the process.

Boom!

The Shadow World Domain that Diablo had summoned collapsed. It not only signified that its duration had ended, but its power had also exhausted.

"Tsk!" Diablo clicked his tongue after seeing this before at Dragulia, who was currently merging with the huge manifestation of the dragon behind him.

Boom!

Dragulia then slowly stood up while staring back at Diablo before continuing. "It was not bad of a try. Unfortunately, it was never enough."

Whoosh!

Immediately after, a mixture of crimson and black auras suddenly emerged from his body while his scales glowed like molten steel, along with torrents of draconic mana poured from every pore, twisting the air with unbearable pressure.

Bang!

The floor on top of the altar then groaned beneath his feet before exploding outwards.

Swoosh!

He then vanished.

Diablo barely crossed his shadow dagger and stiletto before a first crashed into them.

Boom!

The impact folded the air itself while Diablo was launched hundreds of meters, kicked out of the platform. He then skipped across multiple trees of the Illuminating Forest and disappeared.

Swoosh!

Dragulia was planning to give pursuit despite the nature of the Illuminating Forest greatly restraining him and his abilities. He was confident that the blessing from the Demonic Dragon had given him would be able to weaken those restraining effects.

Whoosh!

However, before he could even take a step forward, a shadow portal suddenly appeared behind him.

In response to it, he quickly turned and swiftly swung his blazing fist at it, sending a powerful beam of fire that instantly swallowed the shadow portal.

Boom!

However, right after the shadow portal was destroyed, another appeared on another part of the platform.

Swoosh!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

It also did not stop there since dozens more appeared one after another, surrounding Dragulia from every direction.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Immediately after, Diablo suddenly emerged from one of the portals before disappearing into another in rapid succession.

He shuttled from these portals while slashing with his dagger and stiletto from impossible angles. Every strike carried the condensed abyssal shadow capable of severing anything on their path.

'Celestial Shadow Art: Shadow Movement – Abyssal Waltz'

Shing! Shing! Shing!

One slash.

Five.

Twenty.

Hundreds.

Diablo's afterimages danced around Dragulia like ghosts, forcing the latter into defense once again.

A storm of shadow flashes dominated the entire space, slicing through the air and cutting through space. They then centered their attacks around Dragulia and chose to face them head-on instead of retreating.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Black crescents carved across Dragulia's scales with each strike that he received. These attacks detonated into bursts of shadows that were capable of purifying his demonic powers.

Roar!

However, Dragulia still did not retreat, welcoming the incoming attacks along with his maniacal grin.

He then started to move his body with unexplainable patterns and incomprehensible movements while facing the incoming attacks. His body twisted in impossible precision, with each movement flowing to the next as though they were forged through centuries of battle.

'Demonic Dragon Art: Ancient Movements – Eight Extremities'

Along with the blessing of the Demonic Dragon of Terror, Dragulia's martial arts reached an extremely level.

Swoosh!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

His elbows shattered the incoming shadow blades while his knees intercepted the other incoming invisible strikes. Even his shoulders deflected any killing blows. It was as if his every movement was both for attack and defense.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

However, Diablo would not let himself get swept by the opponent's incomprehensible rhythm.

He activated his Demon's Eyes, using its third phase along with the previous two phases. He started measuring the movements of his opponent, closely observing them in every exchange, and learning all the hidden tricks behind them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He stopped retreating or avoiding any frontal confrontations, facing them head-on while dodging some of the most dangerous strikes that he could not afford to take.

Each of his dodges became narrower while every exchange moved a bit closer.

The devastating combinations coming from Dragulia continued exactly as before, but Diablo had started to adapt with his unpredictable and unique rhythm.

This did not mean that Diablo had memorized all his movements. Instead, he had started to focus on 'feeling' them rather than reading through their patterns.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

When a punch almost grazed his cheek, he was already gone from his opponent's vision.

When a knee split the air, he had already slipped beneath it, dodging with extreme precision.

When an elbow shattered the floor underneath their feet, he was already behind the latter and preparing to launch a counterattack.

After a few more exchanges, Diablo's shadows no longer fled and started facing Dragulia in an honest confrontation.

Bang!

A few moments later, the two sides clung, pausing their attacks against one another and locking their positions while suspended in the air.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Tiny wisps of darkness, left behind by every blocked strike and every grazing cut, quietly seeped into Dragulia's aura. They then formed a series of channels that resembled the root of a lotus.

'Celestial Shadow Art: Ultimate Move – Blooming of the Shadow Lotus'

Dragulia urged the two powers within his body, the demonic and draconic powers, to prevent the shadow powers from further invading his body and stopping the shadow lotus of death from fully blooming.

On the other hand, a burning pain spread throughout Diablo's body. Crimson lines then crawled across his skin like molten veins, pulsing with every beat of his heart.

'Innate Trait: Demonic Dragon Curse – Dragon's Ruin'

This curse carried both the powers of demons and dragons. It did not explode or poison its target. It also did not corrupt Diablo, who was using his two shadow powers to constantly clash against it.

This curse was slowly devouring the foreign mana, burning it away from within.

Roar!

For some reason, this curse seemed to have also sensed another curse within Diablo's body, wanting to fuse with it and further strengthen itself.

Diablo could not help but frown quite deeply, understanding that he was in a slightly more disadvantageous position. He was not expecting to become afflicted with another curse, which seemed to be capable of triggering the Demonic Curse of Betrayal.

With this situation, his already limited time was further shortened.

His breathing grew heavier while the very shadow that he had summoned had become thinner. Even teleportation seemed to consume more mana than before.

Diablo clicked his tongue, realizing his predicament. At this rate, he would most likely lose. He had to adjust his strategy.

No more probing, only one decisive assault.

Swoosh!

With a swift retreat, all the surrounding portals disappeared while his shadow clones all vanished.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Every remaining strand of darkness in the surroundings rushed toward him and merged with the shadow robe that he was wearing.

Diablo swapped left and right before his body dissolved into a single streak of darkness, much faster than before.

Whoosh!

Dragulia, who was trying his best to suppress the sprouting buds of shadow lotus within his body, was forced to move as well.

Bang!

Bumping his fist against each other, charged forward to meet the incoming shadow.

BOOM!

The battlefield exploded with a storm of black flashes and crimson fists once again, producing a series of shockwaves for every collision.

Each clash shook the entire altar while each missed strike would erase a huge portion of the Illuminating Forest in the surroundings.

The overwhelming power that Dragulia possessed forced Diablo into retreat again and again, yet he still persisted and never disengaged.

He truly could not afford a prolonged battle, especially with the dual curses within his body. Every heartbeat made him weaker, so he had to wagered everyone on one final exchange.

If he failed, then these curses would most likely ruin him.

Boom!

Crimson markings spread across Dragulia's scales as he activated an even more powerful ability of his race.

'Demonic Dragon Innate Blood Art: Primordial Awakening'

Boom!

The entire place buckled beneath the overwhelming demonic and draconic pressure that he was emitting. Even the creeping shadows that were slowly and silently creeping out of the altar were forced to collapse in an instant.

Only one remained; it was Diablo, who was standing not too far from him.

Diablo's health bar was already reaching its most critical state, signifying that he was already in an extremely dangerous situation.

Regardless, he still smiled while mumbling. "I've been waiting for this."

He then snapped his fingers.

Every fragment of shadow embedded within Dragulia's aura awakened all at once.

Diablo was already expecting that Dragulia would use his bloodline powers for the final struggle, especially when the Dragon Race was heavily reliant on their overwhelming blood powers.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Dark Chains erupted from inside Dragulia's own mana, wrapping around his limbs before his overwhelming power could tear them apart. Such a familiar sight made the expression on his face extremely ugly.

Dragulia's aura also faltered for a single heartbeat.

But it was already enough.

Diablo disappeared immediately after.

This time, there were no shadow portals, no shadow clones, only absolute silence.

Then—

A single thrust pierced through the opening beneath Dragulia's raised arm. It slipped between the overlapping scales and stabbed into his chest.

Swoosh!

The shadow man flooded inward, disrupting the flow of energies within Dragulia's body and upsetting the balance between his draconic and demonic powers.

'Celestial Shadow Art: Ultimate Move – Silent Requiem of the Shadow Queen'

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