Child of Destiny

...…

The trio of Shin, Arthur, and Leonard was led by Hano to the deepest parts of the prison dungeon, which was filled with nothing but eeriness.

"Is this a little too desolate to be the highest level of prison within the Divinity City," commented Arthur as he looked around.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The place was filled with prison cells, but they had never found anyone up until now. But what was strange was the number of guards patrolling through the corridor and standing at their designated posts. The guards were too many for such an empty prison.

The eeriness filling the entire place was even affecting the three of them. It was as if the silence in the air was trying to overwhelm them. There was also a strange dark aura mixed with it that was attempting to invade their minds.

"This place seemed to be not as simple as it seems," commented Leonard as he was keener when it came to sensing such hostile auras due to his enhanced Bestial Instincts.

Arthur and Shin were not far behind him, but Leonard was more sensitive when it came to sensing it.

Shin slightly nodded but also added. "It is not just because of the place. The entire prison is being affected by something-… or more like someone."

The other two did not have to guess what Shin was trying to imply as they could already guess what it was.

That mysterious prisoner being held at the deepest part of the prison should be the reason.

"What kind of existence are these guys locked in this place for it to have such a huge effect on the environment," commented Arthur as he looked around the place.

Shin also nodded as he started to sense a somewhat familiar energy from the environment. He was trying to figure out where he sensed such dense dark energy when Leonard suddenly turned to him.

"Shin Bro, don't you think that this energy is somewhat familiar?" asked Leonard as he also found something odd. "But it is also somewhat different at the same time. It feels much denser and more-…. Wicked?"

Shin already knew what Leonard was talking about, but he did not dare to confirm it yet since there were still a lot of possibilities.

"More than that-…" he paused their topic as he swept his eyes at the surroundings, particularly at the dark shadows enveloping the entire place. "Aren't your hidden guards showing us a little much hostility?"

The moment he mentioned this, Leonard also turned his head to the side while adding. "Now that you mentioned it, they have been sending these stinging gazes for quite a while now."

"I thought some mosquitoes were biting me up until now," commented Arthur with a somewhat provoking tone.

What surprised Hano, who was accompanying them, was not the fact that these three were able to notice these Shadow Watchers of the prison. It was because of the fearlessness and competitive spirit that these three were emitting.

These guards who were keeping an eye on them might be way ahead of their league for now, but the three remained unfazed and faced the pressure directed at them with full calmness.

'As expected of the selected individuals of those fearsome factions. These three are worthy of their titles at the very least,' mumbled Hano as he swept his gaze at the three before quickly putting up an awkward smile, trying to appease the three. "Please don't misunderstand, Esteemed Guests. This is just a protocol that we have to follow."

"As you can see, this place is already in such a state, so it will be quite troublesome if something goes wrong. We have to be on our full alert at all times to prevent any accidents," he added as he gave the Shadow Watchers a signal to further hide their presence.

The three also saw those coded signals and somewhat understood what they meant. Given their background in the real world, especially when they regularly went on undercover missions, they were very familiar with such things.

But since they were only here for the quest, the three ignored those signals and continued to follow Hano to the deepest level of the dungeon prison.

The deeper they got into the dungeon, the darker it became. Moreover, the sinister aura that was filling the prison was also becoming denser.

Movements in this place were becoming harder, making the trio somewhat uncomfortable.

Due to this, the three entered the Combat State of Reality Manifestation and started circulating their energies through their respective techniques. Experience tales at empire

They had also enveloped their bodies with their unique energies, protecting themselves from the dark aura that was filling the entire place.

Noticing this, Hano could not help but raise his brows, somewhat impressed. Even if he expected that these three possessed decent talents and somewhat strong for someone of their levels given their respective backgrounds, he still did not expect that their abilities would reach this extent.

'I am originally planning to lend them a hand to withstand the Demonic Air filling the air, but I guess there is no need for it,' he thought to himself before continuing to lead the trio.

"The 'scent' is getting filthier as we go on," commented Arthur with a solemn tone.

"It is indeed similar yet also somewhat different," added Leonard, recalling his experience of meeting an existence with a similar scent.

Shin remained silent, but one of his elemental spirit companions was showing some violent reaction. 'Keep it down. This is not a place for you to go out of control.'

Shin was quite confused at what was happening, but he could only suppress his elemental spirit and prevent it from going berserk.

"We are here," said Hano as he stopped in front of a pair of metal gates. These gates were so tightly shut that even the air seemed to be unable to pass through them. But for some reason, the was a dense dark, and sinister aura leaking out from unknown gaps in the gates.

"These gates are quite thick and very solid. Are you sure that thing can still be opened?" said Arthur as he observed the metal gates with his Dragon Eyes.

Shin had also used his True Sight to observe the gates. He could feel a very powerful magic formation protecting the gates, keeping them intact, and preventing others from opening them through normal means.

"From now on, I ask the esteemed guests to stand behind him at all times and don't leave the ten-meter radius away from me," said Hano with full seriousness before adding. "If you wander around on yourself, no one can save you, so please keep close to me."

Given the tone of his words, the trio immediately realized that whatever was behind these gates was way beyond their powers.

For someone to be locked in a single prison and clear the entire place, not leaving a single prisoner behind, Shin could tell that such an existence could corrupt the minds of anything within the vicinity.

If not for the special formation that was protecting the entire prison and the special technique that the NPC guards were using to defend themselves from the corruption, then this place must have turned into a slaughterhouse filled with mindless monsters.

After seeing that the three readied themselves, Hano suddenly released his aura and formed a Mana Dome around them.

Swoosh!

The trio raised their brows when sensed the visible mana coming out from Hano. Not only the aura of the latter was so strong that it could overwhelm everything in his surroundings, but he also possessed a firm control over it.

Shin and the other two could visibly see how Hano manipulated the mana in his surroundings. It was not only skillful but very domineering as well.

"Now, we can see why he is the right-hand man of the prison warden," commented Shin.

Clank!

Not long after, Hano proceeded to open the metal gate. He first injected his mana into the Magic Formation acting as the lock of the gates, unlocking it.

Not long after, Hano took a deep breath before pushing the gates with one hand.

Bang!

The giant metal gates were sent inside, opening a path for them.

Boom!

But right at the same time, a very powerful pressure suddenly descended on everyone seemingly trying to crush the entire place.

The trio could see that the entire prison seemed to be vibrating due to this pressure. They could also see very dense miasma that was slowly creeping outside the cell, but they were immediately blocked by an invisible wall, which prevented them from going anywhere.

"Follow me closely," repeated Hano as he stepped inside the cell with the trio following closely behind.

*Ding* *Ding* *Ding*

Not long after their foot stepped into the opened cell, Shin and the other two were immediately bombarded by a series of warning notifications from the system, seemingly discouraging them from advancing.

The notifications were buzzing in their ears repeatedly, making the three to be somewhat uncomfortable. Due to this, they had no choice but to mute them for the time being.

But before that, they first glanced at it to see what was causing the system to act this way.

System: Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning!

System: You are in the presence of a high-level existence, please reconsider entering this place.

System: Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning

System: Your mind is being overwhelmed by a powerful mind invasion!

System: Checking for the mentality level!

System: You are being protected by a powerful Psychic Barrier and exempted from the Mentality Level Check!

Seeing the long string of notifications that were repeatedly buzzing in their ears, the trio could not help but turn in front of them, trying to know the cause of all these.

Then their eyes suddenly turned wide and their pupils greatly contracted after adjusting to the darkness.

"What the…!?"

...…