Child of Destiny

...

As Uno and Arthur stared at each other, the manifested bloodlust and multicolored flame enveloped their bodies, seemingly accumulating momentum.

Roar! Roar!

At the same time, the Battle Spirits behind them leaped into the air, clashing against each other. These two colossal beings wrestled in the air – biting, hitting, and scratching each other.

These two manifested beings represented the insight, battle style, and talents of the two combatants, so the two beasts represented the martial exchange between the two without movement.

They might not have moved physically since the start of the battle, but they were exchanging multiple times inside their heads already, which was also what the Void Beast and the Ancient Dragon were doing.

This was how the experts at the Ascension Realm tested each other when trying to measure the opposing party's strength.

Uno and Arthur might not have reached the next real yet, but they were infinitely close to it, which was they could do something like this. Moreover, it was similar to how the Aura Manifestation of the lower realm worked when clashing against one another, but a little more intense, which was why they were not having much of a problem doing it.

The collision between the two Battle Spirits represented the moves that the two sides were planning to make. Every little twitch, slight movement, and minuscule gesture of their muscles represented the next move that they were planning to make, which was what the Battle Spirits were trying to execute when clashing against the other.

After what it felt like hundreds of exchanges, neither side had yet to gain the absolute advantage. But this did not make the people watching the battle bored despite them not moving an inch and staying stationary from the very beginning.

However, when the clash between the Battle Spirits lasted for quite a while, their momentum slightly weakened and made their movements slow down a little.

Bang! Bang!

That was when Uno and Arthur simultaneously made their moves.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

They kicked the ground and propelled themselves at each other, launching powerful attacks right from the opening exchange.

'True Nine Dragon Arts: Breaking Through of the Divine Dragon'

Arthur used his favorite opening move as usual. But instead of the regular golden flame that he always used, the multicolored that was surrounding his body replaced it instead.

The flame grew larger and left a blazing trail behind him before manifesting a huge dragon that was charging toward his opponent.

Arthur was spearheading this charge as he was running within the dragon's head while thrusting his spear forward with all his strength.

Roar!

At the same time, Uno's crimson wings grew larger as he flew toward the opposing side, not losing in terms of momentum.

During his flight, he pulled out the shortswords sheathed behind his waist and held them in reverse grip before slashing them forward.

Shing! Shing!

At the same time, the signature energies representing the Powers of the Brilliant Sun and Abyssal Moon formed a thin layer over the blades of the sword, showcasing his absolute control over them.

Roar! Roar!

Shriek!

Along with his actions, a white tiger and a black dragon, representing the elements of Yin and Yang, briefly appeared behind him before merging and forming a hybrid beast that carried both of their features.

After that, the crimson wings behind him, disappeared in merged with this beast, filling its eyes with fierceness and savagery.

This beast swiftly pounced forward and fearlessly clashed against the multicolored dragon charging toward it.

'Yin-Yang Cultivation Arts: Unification of Yin and Yang – Behemoth Beheading'

Roar! Roar!

Boom!

A huge explosion was immediately created right after the two sides clashed against each other. The world seemed to shake after the two beasts clashed against each other, making even those people watching from the audience stand to feel the collision despite being separated by the invisible barrier.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Then everyone saw two figures flying out of the thick cloud of smoke and dust, heading in opposite directions.

It seemed like even Uno and Arthur could not withstand the power of the explosion. They even suffered huge damage from it as a huge chunk of their Health Bars disappeared with just a single exchange.

But that did not stop them from continuing the battle!

It was just the start!

Ta-ta! Ta-ta!

Bang! Bang!

Right after their feet touched the ground, they quickly leaped forward and flew straight at each other with an imaginable speed!

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Right after the other party stepped on his effective range, Arthur quickly thrust his dragon spear forward.

This simple thrust seemed to carry the weight of the mountains as the air collapsed with its advance.

But despite it having such a destructive power, Uno calmly stepped to the side while turning his wrist to twirl the left-hand shortsword on his hand.

Clang!

He used the surface of the sword to skillfully deflect the incoming spear and even absorbed some of the force from that thrust. He then transferred it toward his other hand before swinging the right-hand sword forward.

Shing!

The shortsword carried a speed that could not be seen by the naked eye. The sword seemed to have teleported in front of Arthur's face in an instant, not giving him much time to react.

But Arthur was not to be underestimated either. His eyes shone with a golden light as his pupils turned into vertical slits, resembling those of a dragon's.

'Unique Ocular Technique: Dragon Eyes'

In it was a product of his bloodline powers, special talents, and experience. He had created this technique, which was similar to Shin's True Sight skills but slightly better as it had a more complete form and better factions.

After all, this technique was combined with his 'Foresight' Talent, which was also somewhat promoted to the lower stages of 'Pinnacle Omniscience' within the game.

He could read the intention of his opponents and see the trajectory of his opponent's attacks with this technique, seemingly able to see a few seconds into the future.

Swoosh!

Leaning his head backward, Arthur created a little space between his face and the incoming sword, which gave him enough time to avoid it.

He then used the momentum of his spear that Uno had just deflected to turn around while dodging the strike of his opponent completely.

Swoosh!

After that, he spun with great force and swung the spear at Uno from another direction.

"Hoh~! A unique version of Foresight? Not bad~!" commented Uno, giving out a rare compliment.

He then swiftly stamped his front foot on the ground, firmly planting it for a better center of gravity. Then he quickly ducked to the side, dodging the incoming spear and letting it fly past over his head.

Bang!

Right after the spear missed its target, Uno immediately leaped into the air. He twisted his body midair before throwing a powerful diagonal kick toward his opponent.

Arthur had already predicted ahead of time, so he just raised his round shield to block the kick while preparing for a counterattack.

Bang!

But to his surprise, that kick was too heavy even for himself. He was forced to take a couple of steps back, trying to relieve the force that he had received from the impact.

What came next was a series of attacks from Uno.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Uno had just planned to throw Arthur off the rhythm and break the latter's stance so that he could take an advantageous position and get near where he could attack better with his shortswords.

But Arthur was still able to respond in time, raising his shield time and time again, and blocking everything with great accuracy.

Clang! Clang!

Clank!

At the same time, he was taking one step back for each block he made, creating enough space between him and his opponent where he could regain the advantageous distance where he could use his spear properly.

Uno was aware of this, so he pressed forward even harder and intensified his advances. But despite everything, Arthur still regained his footing and started fighting back properly.

Uno's attacks were fast and accurate due to his shortswords being light. It was a pair of weapons perfect for swift and fast attacks.

But Arthur's stance was firm and steady, which made it hard to break through normal means. Moreover, with his 'Dragon Eyes', he was able to form a battle stance that had the perfect balance of offense and defense with his spear and shield.

Uno then swiftly created a series of attacks with irregular patterns and disoriented rhythm while circling Arthur around, who had a perfect frontal defense.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Arthur would be having a hard time keeping up with Uno's speed if it was before. But since the time he had seen that dragon from the Original Emperor Flame, his sixth sense improved by a large margin.

In the outside world, he was able to see the flow of energies filling the air in clearer detail if he used his 'Dragon Eyes' along with his sixth sense.

Inside the game, he was able to do the same, but with a better result since his innate trait was a notch higher compared to the outside world.

With this, he was able to further strengthen his 'Full Guard' advanced combat technique, which he usually used in battle. It was a special technique that let him sense his surroundings clearer, where his situational and environmental awareness was at its peak.

This 'Full Guard' was the same as Shin's 'Sensing Circle', which was territorial skill.

But with the help of 'Dragon Eyes', this combat technique reached another level and became a bona fide Legendary Combat Technique.

Adding the combat state of 'Reality Manifestation', it even transcended the limits of in-game combat techniques.

'Unique Combat Form: Dragon Stance'

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Uno turned into a series of afterimages that was dashing around Arthur while throwing relentless attacks from every direction.

'Yin-Yang Movement Arts: Ghost Evanescent'

It was Shin's regular movement technique, but with a slightly different medication as the afterimages that Uno had left behind were not stationary. They even resembled a real person as they launched a series of attacks along with the real body.

After a few more exchanges, Arthur and Uno changed their forms and styles once again.

Arthur suddenly started flipping, twirling, and spinning the spear on his right hand as it let it dance around his body as if it were alive.

He was not only blocking and deflecting Uno's attacks with his round shield anymore but he was now using his spear to achieve the same result as well.

He was still attacked with the spear in retaliation throwing a series of combination moves such as stab, thrust, poke, hack, swing, slash, snatch, and restrain with a single hand with ease.

These spear movements were usually performed with both hands, but Arthur was executing these moves perfectly with a single hand without any problems.

But that did not mean that his other hand, which was holding the shield, was idle either. It was instead as busy as his other hand as he was not only blocking with that shield he was also performing some offensive maneuvers with it like shield bash, shield strike, shield uppercut, heavy push, seismic slam, and such.

It was as if he was combining two battle styles as one – particularly the styles of a shield warrior and a spearman during a battle.

It was also not the end as he even combined the foot technique of his family's martial arts with his movements, adding more combination attacks which also produced an endless permutation in the process.

This was Arthur's true style which he had created after undergoing the special training overseen by his great-grandfather along with Nathan.

'Springfield Secret Arts: Imperial Tactics – Endless Dragon Dance'

He had turned the movement technique into a complete battle stance.

His movements were elegant, majestic, and domineering at the same, making the people who were watching him perform to be amazed and mesmerized by every move he took.

His weapons seemed to have transformed into a pair of dragons that were dancing in the air while revolving around him.

But he was not the only one performing well as the opposition was also showcasing the same level of technique.

'Yin-Yang Cultivation Arts: Sword Transmigration'

It was a familiar sword technique as it was something Shin had always used, where he could both attack and defend at the same time while also absorbing the force behind the attack of his opponent to reinforce his own.

But this 'Sword Transmigration' was somewhat different from what Shin was using since Uno had modified it to perfectly fit his style.

Unlike Shin, who could only showcase the full potential of this technique when he was stationary, Uno had adjusted some of the sword movements and their trajectory by applying the principle of 'Focal Points'.

Then he added the movement technique version of this sword technique, where someone could accumulate more movement the more, he moved before disgorging everything with the final step – the 'Mystic Movement' technique.

After a few more adjustments and a little bit of modifications, Uno had created a version of 'Sword Transmigration' that he could use while moving around.

Even if it was somewhat inferior to the older version in comparison to overall might, this new form could be used freely while moving and could accumulate more momentum by exchanging more blows with his opponent or by just moving continuously.

Unlike the older version, where the accumulated momentum and force could be endless, this version had its limits as the accumulated powers would die down after a certain amount of time.

But with the immense ceiling of Uno's abilities, particularly in terms of control, such an issue was negligible as he could maintain the peak of the accumulated powers for as long as he could once, he reached it.

Overall, this version of 'Sword Transmigration' was still better than the older one in Uno's hands.

After he had erased some useless visual effects that the sword trails had left whenever he swung them around, no one would be able to tell that it was Shin's signature move.

Bang! Bang!

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The exchanges between the two continued to intensify the more time passed, making the blood of the people boil as they continued to watch.

These exchanges were so amazing that everyone wanted to go outside and fight someone.

Boom!

After a powerful collision, the two were finally separated from each other, sending each other skidding in opposite directions.

They did not immediately jump back into action and just stood in their respective positions.

Arthur seemed to have entered enlightenment as he finally found the 'Natural State' that he was looking for his 'Martial Arts Prodigy' Combat Talent.

Uno was aware of this, so he did not immediately launch an attack and patiently waited. Instead, he took a deep breath as he mumbled. "I don't want to use this here since it will be no different from bullying other people."

Right after he said those words, his eyes suddenly released a purple glow while his pupils also turned into vertical slits, resembling Arthur's yet also somewhat different.

Then, he continued. "But since those eyes of yours are quite interesting, let me show you what a real 'Foresight' can do."

...…