1155 Achieving the Natural State (Part 3)
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Bang!
Clang! Clang!
Clank!
A series of exchanges continued as Shin and Ezikiel clashed against each other over and over again, destroying the surroundings with the impact of each collision.
Shin, who just attained the Natural State for Battle Genius, was slowly becoming more familiar with it and gradually being skilled at using the state.
Each of his attacks was composed of a series of techniques that made it hard for Ezikiel to find an opportunity to counter. If not for his insane regenerative abilities that were provided by the serum enhancer that the took earlier.
In terms of technique, Shin had the upper hand. Even though he was on the weaker side when it came to other aspects, his utilization of sword and mentalism techniques were high-leveled.
He was able to bridge all the gaps with just technique alone.
Bang!
Ezikiel was sent flying after blocking a swing from Shin, making him collide with multiple trees behind him.
Bang!
He quickly stood up and charged once again with a much higher aggressiveness. His eyes were completely bloodshot right now. It was clear that he was already losing his senses and sanity after enduring the repeated beating from Shin.
The side effects of the serum enhancers were already starting to show. And Ezikiel was clearly not in his right mind right now.
Ironically, his relentless attacks were quite effective against Shin. But unfortunately, the latter was still able to hold his ground pretty well. He did not even lose the advantage that he had up until now and even found more opportunities where he could beat Ezikiel even more.
Swoosh!
Skid!
Shin skidded back as he dodged one of the crazy attacks of Ezikiel. He skillfully twirled his katana as he moved back before sheathing it with a single smooth motion.
"It is time to end this," he muttered to himself as he assumed a sword-drawing stance.
He had squeezed everything that he could have in this battle already, so there was no need to keep fighting right now.
Moreover, he could also sense the minuscule changes in his opponent. He could tell that the latter was slowly improving in battle despite Ezikiel gradually losing his mind. It might not be at an alarming rate, but it was still at the stage where he had to worry about it.
"AH!"
Ezikiel opened his mouth and released a monstrous roar, signifying that he had already lost his mind. He charged at Shin with an insane speed, reaching the latter within an instant.
He then swung his sword at Shin as it carried a thick Natural Force. His sword drew an arc in the air the trail of blazing qi was traced through its trajectory.
Swoosh!
Unfortunately, despite his fast attack, he still hit nothing but an afterimage of his opponent.
Shin already retreated and arrived a few distances away from him while focusing his mind on an ultimate skill.
Ezikiel quickly recovered and reacted. He immediately chased after Shin with an even faster speed.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
But Shin escaped once again as he gathered more Mental Energy on his sheathed katana.
Bang! Bang!
Whoosh!
The two continued to move in different parts of the mountain forest with one retreating and accumulating a large amount of Mental Energy while the other continued to chase while attacking with relentless assault.
Shin maneuvered through the terrain while using different movement techniques. He mixed the Holy Azure Dragon Method with the other movement techniques from his arsenal, which he could use with either mental energy or internal qi.
Ezikiel was able to catch up to Shin time and time again but the latter was always able to dodge all the attacks that were thrown at him with a very small margin.
It was as if he was waiting for the very last moment before he moved, purposely leaving only a hair's breadth whenever he was dodging.
And when his opponent saw that, Ezikiel started losing his mind more, falling deeper into the dark abyss of power. He was being consumed by the power of the serum enhancer.
"This should be enough," mumbled Shin before stopping in his tracks all of a sudden.
Ezikiel quickly jumped at him while expecting to hit an afterimage once again. He halfheartedly swung his sword while spreading his senses in every direction, getting ready to chase after Shin the moment he tried to run away.
But to his surprise, Shin just kicked the ground and sent himself skidding back.
And when Ezikiel noticed that something was wrong, it was already too late. When he turned back to Shin and was about give chase, he suddenly noticed that the presence of Shin suddenly disappeared.
Ezikiel tried to find Shin with his spread-out senses, but he was immediately thrown into confusion as he could feel the presence of the latter in every direction.
When he looked around, he discovered that he was currently surrounded by Shin in every direction. There were a lot of images of his opponent scattered around. He knew that most of them were nothing but illusionary images, but he could not find which of them was the real one.
And before he could even decide what to do, those images of Shin simultaneously gripped the hilt of their katana before charging forward.
During their flight, all 'Shin' unsheathed their katana all at the same time before swinging it forward.
Click!
There was a blinding that flashed for a brief moment when Shin unsheathed the white katana before multiple shining lines crisscrossing against each other filled the area around Ezikiel.
Those lines assaulted Ezikiel from every direction.
Swoosh!
'Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw – World Splitter'
Shing!
This was a sword technique that Shin had made when he just realized the sword-drawing techniques of the Jade Kirin Scripture inside the game.
He still hadn't mastered it in the real world, but since he had a solid theory about the technique, he was able to execute it properly even though he needed quite a long time to prepare for the technique.
This technique managed to seriously injure Ezikiel. It might even be a fatal one at that.
But Shin was still not satisfied with it yet.
He knew how powerful the regenerative ability that Ezikiel current had, so he had to continue attacking until the latter could no longer heal himself – or at least until he was able to break the core of Ezikiel.
Turning around, Shin quickly charged at Ezikiel once again as he gathered a large amount of Mental Energy on the katana.
Bang!
Stomping on the ground, he stopped right behind Ezikiel before thrusting the katana forward.
'Jade Kirin Scripture: Fifth Movement – Hurricane Force'
Swoosh!
The mental energy surrounding the katana spun rapidly and created a spiraling movement while moving forward.
The spiraling energy charged ahead while enlarging during the process, shredding everything on its path.
Ezikiel, who was standing on its path, was directly hit by it. He was unable to dodge, nor able to protect himself due to the damage that he had suffered from the previous technique of Shin.
The spiraling mental energy drilled into his back and shredded his flesh, revealing his spine and innards.
His body was split open, which gave Shin a clear view of the purple core that was forced by Ezikiel's Qi Center and the serum enhancer.
Shin twirled the katana and held it in front of him while coating it with his remaining mental energy. And when the katana shone with a golden glow, he swung it multiple times in front of him, releasing a series of thin sword waves during the process.
'Jade Kirin Scripture: Sixth Movement – Sword Gale'
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The sword waves flew forward and slashed through the air, cutting Ezikiel's already messed up body into much smaller pieces alongside the purple core that just revealed itself.
Swoosh!
Bang!
As the final strike, Shin swung the katana down with a force much stronger than the previous ones. And with that final strike, the air in front of him was split apart alongside the already shredded body of his opponent.
With his striking pose, everything was cleared up, which also signified the end of the battle.
"Hu~." "Ha~."
Shin tried to regulate his breathing, calming himself down. He wanted to take a proper rest now. He had already exhausted himself beyond what he was capable of. And when exited his Natural State, the piled-up fatigue quickly kicked in, making him collapse on the ground and almost fainted.
On the ground, he forced his body to flip over so that he could at least breathe properly while facing the sky.
He stared blankly at the dark sky for a couple of moments before a shadow of someone was suddenly cast over him.
Shin looked over and saw that it was actually David.
"You look like you in a mess," said David while looking down at Shin.
Shin chuckled and rebutted. "You are not in a better state either."
David shrugged his shoulder and sat down on the fallen trunk of a tree nearby. "Well, you can't blame me when my teammates prioritize their faces rather than mine."
He then paused and looked deeply at Shin before continuing. "It looks like you have gained something fruitful this time."
Shin did not immediately respond as he recalled his previous state. It took him quite some time before he was able to answer. "It is not bad. I also discovered something about my bloodline earlier."
He paused as he remembered something and asked. "What about the other three? How are they?"
The corner of David's mouth when he heard that. "They are perfectly fine. They are in good condition, so I leave some tasks for them. With their strength, they will be able to take care of it without problem."
"How's your friend? Did he receive the inheritance?" he asked quite after.
Shin nodded his head. "Yeah. He is already in the middle of digesting it and consolidating his foundation. I think he will be done in the morning at the very least."
David nodded his head before also raising his head to look at the sky, which was already clearing up and showing the starry sight behind it.
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This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢