Child of Destiny

Chapter 2248: The Measure of a Monster

......

The four executive lieutenants of the Church of Terror stood frozen the instant Shin appeared before them.

These were battle maniacs who lived for combat. They constantly sought stronger opponents, treating every life-and-death battle as another opportunity to sharpen themselves.

But even they understood their own limits.

Confidence was one thing, but recklessness was another.

None of them were arrogant enough to believe they could stand against the man before them.

After all, this was the Battle God—a monster who stood at the very pinnacle of «Destiny’s Fate» Online.

Even among the Godlike Players and Maverick Gods—those monsters who had long surpassed the limits of ordinary Players—Shin remained an existence countless experts could only look up to.

For most, crossing blades with the Battle God was an honor. For those who truly stood against him... it was almost synonymous with death.

Unfortunately for the four of them, Shin did not even spare them a single glance.

His attention had long since drifted beyond them, toward the depths of the dead forest where another presence quietly concealed itself.

His eyes narrowed beneath the familiar half-smiling, half-crying mask while a faint smirk slowly formed on his lips.

"So..." he muttered. "You’re still unwilling to show yourself?"

His calm voice echoed across the battlefield.

"Or..." he continued while resting the [Yamato] on his shoulder, "...are you planning to let me deal with these four first before making your move?"

The words were neither arrogant nor provocative.

They sounded as though he was merely stating a fact.

As though the four executive lieutenants standing before him had never been worth his attention from the very beginning.

Crunch... Crunch...

As if responding to his words, the sound of dried branches snapping echoed one after another from the depths of the dead forest.

It was neither hurried nor concealed.

Each footstep carried an indescribable weight, as though the owner had absolutely no intention of hiding his presence any longer.

The surrounding black miasma slowly drifted apart.

The atmosphere quietly changed.

The four executive lieutenants instinctively stepped aside, their previous hostility toward Shin disappearing almost instantly.

It was not because they feared the man emerging from the forest, but because they knew exactly who it was.

A moment later, the towering silhouette finally walked out from the darkness.

Nearly three meters tall, his body resembled a living fortress sculpted from black steel rather than flesh. Every step caused the dried earth beneath his feet to fracture under his overwhelming weight, yet his movements remained strangely relaxed, almost leisurely.

Two enormous crimson-black horns curved backward from his forehead like the crown of some ancient demon king.

Countless dark-red runic scars spread beneath his charcoal skin, pulsing rhythmically together with every beat of his heart.

Resting upon one shoulder was a colossal rectangular club nearly as tall as its owner.

Rather than resembling a refined weapon, it looked more like an enormous slab of black steel that had been forged solely for slaughter.

Its broad, rectangular body was several feet thick, with every surface covered in rows of massive conical metal spikes. The spikes varied in length, jutting outward like the fangs of some ancient beast, each one stained with layers of dried crimson that countless battles had failed to wash away.

Dark demonic runes pulsed faintly beneath the weathered steel, causing the entire weapon to emit a suffocating pressure. Every step its wielder took made the countless spikes grind against one another, producing a harsh metallic scrape that sent chills through everyone who heard it.

It was less a weapon and more a portable execution platform.

One swing was enough to crush armor, shatter bones, and reduce flesh to nothing more than a grotesque smear across the battlefield.

Despite its absurd size, the giant carried it as casually as though it weighed nothing.

His crimson eyes slowly swept across the battlefield. They briefly glanced toward Henrick and the others before finally stopping on Shin.

For several long seconds, neither of them spoke. The surrounding battlefield seemed to fall into complete silence.

Even the four Demonic Players standing nearby instinctively held their breaths, unwilling to become the spark that ignited the inevitable clash between the two monsters.

...

...

Meanwhile, Diablo maintained the crimson barrier, which continued to repel the endless rivers of slaughter energy, while quietly observing the enormous figure standing in the distance.

Having once been a high-ranking member of the Demonic Churches, he naturally recognized the influential figures who occupied the highest executive positions within each organization.

The moment that massive rectangular club covered in countless metal spikes entered his sight, he immediately identified the man’s identity.

Malzareth.

One of the executive players of the Demonic Church of Terror and its Dread Executioner.

An existence that stood on the same level as the Arch Heretic Dragulia—the very opponent Diablo had only managed to defeat after exhausting every card at his disposal.

His expression immediately turned solemn.

Without wasting another second, he opened the private communication channel.

Diablo: Be careful, Vice Commander.

Diablo: That man is Malzareth, the Dread Executioner of the Church of Terror.

Diablo: Among all the executive players serving the Church of Terror, he’s infamous for being the most brutal and merciless.

Diablo paused briefly before sending the final warning.

Diablo: If we’re talking about nothing but raw physical strength... he may very well surpass even Dragulia.

...

Shin briefly swept his eyes across the series of private messages before quietly dismissing them.

His gaze remained fixed on the towering figure standing in the distance.

Inwardly, however, he was already comparing Malzareth against every executive-level Demonic Player he had encountered throughout his encounters with Demonic Players.

Among the Demonic Churches alone, he had already crossed paths with almost every one of the infamous Seven Sinful Devils.

With the sole exception of the elusive leader of the Pandemonium Descendants, Shin had fought—or at the very least witnessed—the abilities of every Sinful Devil firsthand.

Even the title of Lust Devil had two possessors.

Aside from them, there were also the other monsters of the Pandemonium Descendants themselves—Mephistopheles and Azazel.

They might not be that well known to most of the players, but each possessed terrifying combat styles that had earned them their fearsome reputations among the experts in the game.

Then there was another infamous existence who had once shaken the entire game with endless massacres.

Hoawin, a Godlike Player who bore the title of ’God of Carnage.’

A notorious villain whose infamy rivaled even Immortal’s, and a monster who had once left countless guilds trembling beneath his blade before ultimately falling to Shin’s sword.

As those familiar figures flashed through his mind one after another, Shin silently measured the pressure radiating from the gigantic man before him.

After only a brief moment of comparison, a conclusion naturally formed.

"This guy..." Shin narrowed his eyes slightly. "...is slightly stronger than the Seven Sinful Devils that I have encountered so far."

He paused before adding another sentence. "At least individually."

His gaze became a little sharper. "In terms of pure combat prowess... he belongs in the same tier as Mephistopheles and Azazel."

"Or even Amon the Wrath Devil..." He paused before quickly adding. "He also has the same scent of danger as Hoawin..."

Shin’s battle instincts quietly acknowledged the man before him as someone worthy of being called a true powerhouse.

While Shin was silently evaluating Malzareth, the latter was doing exactly the same.

His crimson eyes never left the masked figure standing before him, carefully measuring every subtle movement, every fluctuation of mana, and every ounce of pressure emanating from Shin’s body.

The more he observed, the heavier his expression became.

Among every opponent he had faced since the day he first stepped into the game, this was perhaps the first time he had felt such overwhelming pressure from another Player.

Only the absurdly powerful NPCs that stood at the pinnacle of the world had ever made him feel this way before.

He had crossed blades with numerous Godlike Players and also exchanged blows against several Maverick Gods.

He had even witnessed firsthand the overwhelming might of monsters such as the other executives from the other Demonic Churches, but none of them had ever given him this kind of suffocating sensation.

It was not merely strength, but presence.

The man standing before him carried an invisible pressure that seemed capable of crushing one’s fighting spirit before the battle had even begun.

Of course, Malzareth could not accurately compare him against legends such as Sword God Zero, War God Simba, God Slayer Lawless, Death God Faker, or the other ancient monsters who stood at the absolute summit of the game.

Those individuals rarely appeared in public, and he had never personally crossed blades with them.

But one thing he was certain of...

The man before him undoubtedly belonged to that realm.

...

At the same time, Malzareth could not help but compare Shin to another absolute being that he had met within the game.

The enigmatic ruler of the Pandemonium Descendants—Lucifer.

The only known Player who simultaneously held one of the highest executive positions within both the Demonic Churches of the Seven Sins and the Nine Demonic Churches of Chaos.

Even now, Malzareth could still vividly remember the suffocating pressure that man had casually emitted without any intention of doing so.

It was the kind of presence that instinctively forced others to lower their heads.

As he stared at Shin, that same feeling quietly resurfaced.

It was not exactly identical. After all, every powerhouse possessed a different aura.

Lucifer’s pressure was deep and unfathomable, like an endless abyss that silently swallowed everything around it.

Shin’s, on the other hand, was sharper.

It resembled an unsheathed divine blade.

It did not seek to dominate the surroundings, but the mere act of standing before him made one instinctively aware that a single careless move could cost them their life.

Malzareth slowly tightened his grip around the enormous rectangular execution club resting upon his shoulder.

The countless steel spikes covering its surface glimmered beneath the crimson sky.

Instead of fear, his blood began to boil—an uncontrollable desire for battle surged through every vein in his body.

"So..." A slow grin spread across his face. "...this is the Battle God."

...