Child of Destiny

In this continent, there was a certain belief that lasted since ancient times. It was passed down from generation to generation until it reached the current era.

The Killing Star.

It was said that when a child was born under such a star, they were destined to become the most notorious and terrifying killer. They were born with a special talent that could make them the perfect killer.

They were not necessarily assassins, but they would without a doubt a murderer, slaughterer, or any description of a killer. They had a talent meant for killing, which was second nature for them.

Killing would become an instinct that they were born with.

The moment when they tasted their first murder or killing, the power granted to them by heaven, or rather hell, would be awakened and turn them into a true and natural killer.

Thus, these people were called the Killing Stars.

But due to how powerful they were, the power that they wielded was a terror itself. It also became the reason why a lot of people feared these people. They were either hunted down by powerful organizations or captured to become a perfect killing tool, a weapon.

That was when this talent had become almost extinct and disappeared.

But there were still a few families and old sects that managed to find a method to suppress the killing urges of the Killing Stars and put them under complete control.

That was when these Killing Stars had become a real weapon for killing.

…

In other places, the children that were born under the Killing Star were treated as possessors of special physique. It was a physique that was baptized under the murderous aura of the Killing Star.

It was said that the person with this special physique continued to grow stronger the more they killed and bathed in the blood of their victims. This was why some old sects called these people the Blood Slaughterer.

Once these people had lost their sense of humanity and were completely devoured by their power, they would become true slaughterers who knew nothing but killing.

…

After a long history, the Killing Star had become both a special physique and an innate talent unique to children born under it.

But to some of the oldest organizations just like the Demon Sects of the past. These Killing Stars had become something that they worshiped. People with the Killing Stars were treated as some sort of spiritual leader candidate of their sect.

Some of them even kidnapped people and brainwashed them to make them the perfect leader of their sect. They call these people the \'Blood Demon\'.

Even though most of these sects were no longer active and not committing such acts, they still left their mark on history. One such evidence was written in the records when one of the most powerful sects of the past almost conquered the world during the ancient times.

The records were incomplete, but their existence was said to be real. It was proven by some of the historical records of different Martial Arts and Mentalism Families around the world mentioned them.

And some of the evidence that they had left behind were the temples that were now abandoned.

Most of the people had forgotten about these sects, making them nothing but a forgotten history.

…

At this moment, David, Vincent, and Jerimiah had stepped into one of the abandoned temples of these sects, making the slumbering spirits within it to be awakened.

They had accidentally awakened these said spirits due to the appearance of a possessor of a Killing Star. Moreover, they had sensed that this particular Killing Star was different from their era for it had a purer murderous intent and stronger power.

The evil spirits became greedy and wanted to take over the body of this Killing Star, snatching it and turning the body into a vessel.

This was the cause of Jerimiah\'s current state. His Killing Star was aroused by these evil spirits, making it more active.

Due to him being completely off-guard by the sudden assault by the evil spirits, and because of the special nature of the temple that they were currently in, the mental defenses that Jerimiah had in him suddenly collapsed.

That was when his Killing Star was unleashed, which brought them to their current situation.

…

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Vincent ran around the entire place as Jerimiah was chasing after him closely. Even if his speed far surpassed the latter, his cousin, who was under the influence of murderous possession of the Killing Star, was able to keep up with him without any problem.

Vincent knew more than anyone that it would be foolish to contend against Jerimiah in a contest of strength. Facing this guy head-on would only be asking for a one-sided beating.

Taking advantage of his speed, Vincent harassed Jerimiah with a hit-and-run tactic while waiting for David to complete the suppression array.

Speaking of the guy, David had been missing since the time they had separated from each other in the previous room.

Vincent wondered where the guy went, but he did not have the time to think about it since Jerimiah was crazily chasing after him.

While he was trying to disengage from the battle, Vincent suddenly sensed something and halted his actions before springing toward the opposite direction.

Swoosh!

Bang!

That was when something flew past him and headed toward Jerimiah. When he turned his head and looked over his shoulder, he saw that it was a huge axe that came from the other side of the wall.

"What the…!?" Vincent was suddenly caught off guard by the appearance of that battle axe, especially when could sense an immense and pure murderous aura coming from that weapon. "What\'s with that weapon? A cursed artifact or something?"

He was in the middle of his thoughts when he felt that his body seemed to have been paralyzed by the pressure coming from the battle axe.

"This is bad!" mumbled Vincent as he slightly frowned his brow.

After that, the bracers that he was wearing suddenly shone and turned into a pair of daggers on each of his hands.

The daggers seemed to be made from the bones of a monster. They did not look that sharp, blunt even. But for some unknown reason, they were emitting a dangerous aura that could not be seen by the naked eye or be sensed by other forms of senses.

Instead, the auras that were being produced by these daggers aroused the deepest fear that someone had in their heart—the thing that everyone feared consciously or unconsciously – the Aura of Death.

Swoosh!

The Death Aura that Vincent had was suddenly reinforced by the one that his daggers were emitting, freeing him from being paralyzed by the murderous aura that the battle axe was releasing.

Right after regaining his movements, Vincent quickly disappeared from his current location and reappeared dozens of meters away from it.

Boom!

The moment when his feet touched the floor, he saw Jerimiah slamming the battle axe on his previous location, producing a massive explosion.

But the more surprising part was the floor remained intact despite how powerful the strike was.

That was the moment when he realized that he was currently inside an unusual room that was completely different from the previous ones that he was in.

Sweeping his gaze at the surroundings, he noticed something strange within the room. Despite the extreme darkness that was enfolding the entire room, his eyes which were trained to be able to see clearly through the dark were able to see everything.

He found himself in the middle of a room that had stone pillars in each corner of the room. There were also statues standing against the walls of the room, lined up a couple of meters away from each other.

He could not see the appearance of the statues due to the blurry haze that was filling the room, but he could at least get the outline that they had.

From what he could see, each statue had a height of ten to twelve meters and all of them had humanoid outlines.

They were carrying a variety of weapons while there was a blazing halo on their back.

If he were describing their appearance, then he would say that they were quite similar to the \'Asura\' or \'Demon\' that used to be worshipped by ancient demonic religions or sects.

Each statue emitted a unique aura, but also contained an odd similarity with one another.

What attracted his attention the most was the tallest statue standing at the center of a wall. Among all these statues, this one had the densest and strongest sense of danger in it.

It was holding an axe that was similar to the one that Jerimiah was currently holding, giving Vincent an idea of what was going on.

The other one that attracted his attention was the cross star right above the head of this statue. This scene gave Vincent an impression of this \'star\' releasing a light directed to this statue, seemingly baptizing it.

What he found even odder was Jerimiah stopping his actions.

Jerimiah stood still while holding the battle axe in his hands.

And before Vincent could take advantage of it, Jerimiah suddenly disappeared before reappearing right in front of that statue.

Jerimiah copied how the statue stood while facing Vincent. Then the power of the Killing Star suddenly blazed more violently before forming a blazing ring right behind him, similar to the one that the statue had.

Vincent was having a bad feeling about what was happening, but David suddenly appeared beside him, preventing him from taking action.

"What are you doing?" asked Vincent while squinting his eyes.

David ignored the tone that Vincent held and said. "Change of plans. We beat him after he is done with that."

"What are you talking about? Can\'t you see that he is currently being corrupted by that artifact?" shouted Vincent, snapping.

But despite seeing Vincent act that way, David remained calm and explained. "Relax. It is not something that we can\'t take care of."

"I will be honest with you, and I am not sure what exactly is happening, but I can tell that this can be an opportunity for Jerimiah."

"It has been long since the inheritances of the Killing Stars are erased by the World Government. It is rare to find one, so we can\'t waste this opportunity."

"If we handle it right, then that artifact will recognize him as his new owner. This is a great opportunity to gain an ancient artifact and accept a long-lost inheritance," he added in a serious tone.

"But it can also turn him into a mindless demon, a Blood Slaughterer," refuted Vincent.

"Don\'t worry. I will not let it happen," said David while drawing circles in the air. "I have already set up the array around within the entire temple. I can suppress him even if he went berserk once I activated it."

"How confident are you?" asked Vincent.

David was silent for a moment before replying. "About sixty percent?"

The corner of Vincent\'s mouth suddenly twitched when he heard that. "That is not a good odd, don\'t you think?"

David smirked before pointing at the daggers in Vincent\'s hand. "But we have our artifact here."

"I don\'t think that one of the treasures of the House of Valentine will be passed down to you. Are the rumors true? Are you chosen as the next head of the house?" he added, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.

"Bullsh*t! Jennifer is doing fine! Do you think they will choose someone from the vassal house rather than the direct line?" snarled Vincent back.

David shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever."

He then paused and looked at the statue behind Jerimiah before saying. "I will not say anything about the artifact and the inheritance, but I need something from that statue."

"It will be helpful to Jerimiah, but I have a better use for it," he added, fixing his head at the crown of the statue, particularly the crimson gem embedded in it.

"I don\'t care anything about that. Just make sure that Jerimiah will come back to his senses after this," said Vincent as he fixed his grip on his daggers.

"Then do a better job later," smirked David as took out a bunch of talismans and wrapped them into the cylindrical staff that he had created with his Divinity Grade Mental Energy.

...