Child of Destiny

Chapter 2346: Battlefield In Progress

...

Under Shin and Emperor Dream’s coordinated assault, they managed to gradually grind away at the Heavenly Dominator’s Health, even as the monster continued growing stronger with every passing moment.

Despite their lack of familiarity with each other’s fighting styles, the two worked surprisingly well together.

Most of their coordination revolved around exploiting the openings created whenever either of them unleashed a powerful technique. Yet, they were able to follow up on each other’s attacks with remarkable precision, linking their respective moves into a seamless offense.

As peak god-level experts, neither of them had much difficulty recognizing and exploiting an opening. Consequently, coordinating their attacks had proven far less troublesome than one might have expected.

However, this didn’t mean they could overwhelm the Heavenly Dominator without difficulty.

Instead, the monster had begun demonstrating yet another terrifying characteristic of a Semi-World Boss.

Not only had it learned to wield its weapon with increasing proficiency, but it had also started combining its physical attacks with its formidable magical abilities.

ROAR!

The Heavenly Dominator swung its massive stone cudgel, producing multiple overlapping shadows that swept toward its opponents from every direction.

Each strike carried enough force to flatten a small mountain, forcing both Shin and Emperor Dream to retreat rather than risk confronting the barrage head-on.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Unfortunately, just as they escaped the range of the cudgel strikes, the two suddenly noticed enormous stone spikes erupting from the desert floor.

The towering pillars shot into the sky, blocking their retreat paths and threatening to trap them between the incoming attacks.

The two immediately reacted, swinging their swords and sending out countless sword flashes in every direction.

SHING! SHING!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The stone spikes shattered under their attacks, clearing a path for their retreat.

However, just as they were about to continue moving away, their surroundings suddenly darkened.

It was a familiar warning.

The Heavenly Dominator was preparing to strike them from above with its massive stone cudgel!

Shin swiftly executed a series of aerial maneuvers, leaving multiple afterimages behind as he attempted to evade the incoming attack. It was a familiar method he had used countless times when dealing with similar situations.

However, something felt different this time.

The shadow looming over him and the surrounding area was considerably larger than usual.

Knitting his brows, Shin raised his head. And what he saw made his expression change.

An enormous boulder was descending from the sky like a meteor, its massive silhouette almost completely blocking the sky.

"Shit!"

Shin couldn’t help but curse when he saw the sheer size of the incoming boulder.

His initial instinct was to confront the falling mass head-on, but he quickly abandoned that idea after taking a closer look.

The boulder was enormous—larger than the Heavenly Dominator itself and almost rivaling the colossal palm the Monster Boss had possessed in its original and titanic form.

Faced with such an overwhelming attack, Shin had little choice but to resort to one of his life-saving Skills.

His entire body turned translucent before transforming into a streak of light that shot straight toward the descending boulder.

’Slayer Skill: Moonlight Steps!’

Swoosh!

Shin exhausted all three charges of Moonlight Steps, phasing through the enormous boulder just as it descended upon the desert.

BOOOOOOM!

The desert floor erupted as the massive boulder slammed into the ground, sending countless waves of sand surging outward before burying itself deep beneath the surface.

Watching the aftermath from the air, Shin couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat.

Had he attempted to confront that enormous boulder head-on, he would have found himself in serious trouble.

...

Turning his gaze toward the other battlefield, Shin spotted Emperor Dream struggling to evade the Heavenly Dominator’s relentless pursuit. The monster was swinging its stone cudgel with an increasingly unpredictable rhythm and attacking from awkward angles that made it difficult for Emperor Dream to anticipate its next move.

Shin could already tell that the Heavenly Dominator was becoming increasingly proficient at wielding its weapon, to the point that its movements were beginning to resemble those of a trained martial artist.

He was about to lend Emperor Dream a hand when he suddenly sensed an immense threat coming from below.

WHOOSH!

Without hesitation, Shin forcefully flapped his wings, propelling himself higher into the air.

BOOOOM!

Just as he ascended, the enormous boulder that had been buried beneath the desert floor suddenly exploded, sending countless rock fragments flying in every direction.

A considerable number of them shot straight into the sky, seemingly pursuing Shin.

Each fragment carried terrifying momentum, seemingly capable of crushing anything unfortunate enough to obstruct its path.

Even more frighteningly, the fragments began ricocheting against one another, colliding and redirecting their trajectories while further intensifying the chaos of the explosion.

Fortunately, Shin had reacted quickly enough to escape the blast radius. Otherwise, he would have been caught in the explosion and swallowed by the storm of rock fragments shooting toward the sky.

"This big guy is slowly becoming cunning as well," Shin commented after realizing that the Heavenly Dominator had turned its previous attack into a delayed trap.

Shaking his head slightly, he quickly regained his focus and resumed his charge toward the Heavenly Dominator.

With the two experts working together, the Heavenly Dominator’s remaining Health Points gradually dwindled. Their coordinated attacks became particularly effective whenever one of them exploited an opening created by the other’s assault.

43%... 42%... 41%... 40%...

The Heavenly Dominator’s Health Bar continued to fall at a steady pace, showing just how efficiently the two peak god-level experts were working together.

However, their progress was still considerably slower than that of the other battlefields, where the Trinity Apes were being gradually overwhelmed by the assembled experts.

Aside from the Ironhead Chimpanzee, which remained the most troublesome opponent due to its army of Battle Monkeys, both the Stoneback Gorilla and the Steelfist Ape were being steadily worn down by the experts fighting them.

Their respective Health Bars had already fallen below the halfway mark.

Despite their formidable attributes, the Stoneback Gorilla and the Steelfist Ape had become considerably easier to deal with once their opponents grew more familiar with their abilities and attack patterns.

Given the caliber of the experts participating in this raid, adapting to unexpected situations and adjusting their combat strategies accordingly was only natural.

No matter how powerful a monster might be, Players would eventually find ways to deal with it once they became sufficiently familiar with its abilities and weaknesses.

That was especially true for the Apex-level experts and above gathered for this raid.

Among the three monster bosses, the Ironhead Chimpanzee remained the most difficult to deal with.

Not only did it possess innately high attributes, but it also commanded an entire army of Battle Monkeys, making it an exceptionally troublesome opponent.

Even though Isabella and Divine Soul had managed to restrain the Battle Monkey army, the two of them alone were still unable to completely suppress the Ironhead Chimpanzee and its forces. This was especially true now that the Battle Monkeys themselves were gradually growing stronger as the battle progressed.

Despite having Isabella’s ghost army and Divine Soul’s dark magic, which was capable of disintegrating the Battle Monkeys, holding back the opposing army remained an immense challenge.

During their initial clashes, the two had managed to hold their ground against the Battle Monkeys. However, as the battle dragged on, the effectiveness of their respective abilities began to diminish.

The Battle Monkeys had not only identified the weaknesses of Isabella’s and Divine Soul’s spells, but had also begun finding ways to exploit them, putting the two under increasing pressure.

Worse still, the Battle Monkeys had gradually formulated combat strategies specifically designed to counter their abilities, making it increasingly difficult for the two peak god-level Players to handle the army on their own.

Fortunately, reinforcements arrived just as their situation was becoming increasingly precarious.

The earlier explosion unleashed by the Heavenly Dominator during its metamorphosis had sent both Solfang and Caroline flying toward this side of the battlefield.

Naturally, the two had initially intended to return to the battlefield where Shin and Emperor Dream were fighting the Heavenly Dominator. Unfortunately, they found themselves landing right in the middle of the Battle Monkey army.

The Battle Monkeys immediately pounced on them upon noticing their sudden appearance among their ranks, leaving the two with little room to maneuver.

Left with no choice, Solfang and Caroline were forced to engage the surrounding enemies, unintentionally providing much-needed assistance to Isabella and Divine Soul.

With the additional reinforcements, the chaotic battles across the various fronts continued for some time longer.

Eventually, however, the first of the monster bosses began to fall.

As expected, the first two to be eliminated were the Stoneback Gorilla and the Steelfist Ape.

Seeing the two monster bosses collapse, the surrounding experts couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

Unfortunately, their excitement was quickly tempered when neither boss dropped any equipment or other loot.

It was almost as though the system was telling everyone that neither of the two monster bosses was worth hunting for their rewards.

However, before anyone could voice their complaints, another sudden development on the battlefield caught everyone off guard.

The change was so alarming that the expressions of everyone present immediately turned grim.

...