Child of Destiny

...

Right after retreating, Shin debated whether to continue pursuing Cielo, who was still engaged in an intense battle against Leonard and somewhat isolated away from the rest of the Hien Workshop.

But after considering it for a moment and receiving the report from Leonard that Cielo had lured him into a place with very complicated terrain, Shin decided to abandon that idea and summoned Leonard to regroup with them.

"Dealing with those old uncles sure is tricky," said Shin after the team regrouped right behind the small hill, slightly hiding from the eyes of their opponents.

Leonard chuckled as he just arrived. "This is also my first time facing an old veteran of their caliber in a team battle."

Cloe rolled her eyes as she refused. "That is because you have always been a solo player."

"So, how are we going to proceed?" asked Owen as he checked on his equipment.

Alice remained quiet as she tried to recall the formation of the opposing side and think of a way to break the defenses of their main tank.

Shin thought for a moment before saying. "That old dude Cielo is quite tricky. He can change the flow of the battle once he has gotten involved in their formation. He can also suppress Alice and Cloe from the distance due to his range advantage."

He paused briefly as he considered some scenarios inside his head before continuing. "We will proceed with breaking their formation forcefully. I will find a way to ambush their backline and force Cielo into an isolated battle while you guys deal with the rest."

Trying to fight the opposing side in a straight-up team battle would be a little tricky due to Cielo's presence, who could harass them from such a long distance, especially after Shin had the initial assessment of the latter's strength, which was quite decent.

Then there was also Griff, who had very solid defenses, which would be further strengthened due to the presence of their dual Support/Healer composition.

It would be a little easier if they had a thief or an assassin who could harass their backline to further weaken their formation. With this thought, Shin decided to take on that role given his unique abilities.

"Let's go," he signaled everyone after making sure that they had already adjusted themselves and prepared for another round.

…

The members of the Hien Workshop were also finding it a little trick to deal with the members of the Empyrean Talons, especially after witnessing their top-notch abilities in action.

Their individual strength was already plenty to deal with, so they had to be extra careful during the battle. Adding the craftiness of Shin when doing his arrangements and orchestrating the flow of the battle, dealing with them became extra difficult.

If not for Griff and Cielo's presence to nullify most of the pressure with their calm composure and rich experience to respond to every move of their opponents, then they would have most likely suffered from the constant changes on the battlefield.

"We will be proceeding with Formation D and hold our positions for as long as we can to gather as much data as possible. We must grasp their strengths and abilities for as much as we can so that we can give Little Thirteen and Sung Jae enough time to 'process' everything with their unique talents."

"But this is going to be a battle of time," he added with a solemn tone before adding. "We can't be too complacent with our plan. That Battle God, who is also the Demon Strategist, is much harder to deal with than we have expected."

"It will not take that long before he realizes our plan."

"But the trickiest part is whether we can hold out that long from the combined assault of a group of such monstrous players until our 'team's engines' took off."

As the solemn mood enveloped the trio of younger players, Cielo chuckled as he quickly added. "But don't put too much pressure on yourselves. Losing this match is not much of a big deal. You three are still out of your growth pace, especially Little Thirteen. There is still a long road ahead of you."

"Don't rush things too quickly, or else you will feel burnout. Just enjoy the process and take this battle as a new learning experience."

"This will not be your last time facing them, so learning as much as you can about them will never hurt."

"Moreover, it is not like we will be kicked out of the tournament after losing. There is still the 'away' match after this and the lower bracket if we are unlucky."

"We still have plenty of 'second chances' along the way," he added, instantly erasing the pressure that the three were carrying, particularly Thirteenth Massacre, who was of the same generation as Shin and the other top-notch young gods of the virtual world.

…

Swoosh!

Shin could be seen traversing the space between the Empyrean Talons and Hien Workshop, sprinting straight to them with the Five Elemental Primordial Lightning dancing around his body.

Crackle! Crackle!

He left a trail of electric arcs on his path as he charged straight to the opposing side.

Swoosh!

He then accelerated and leaped into the air before unsheathing and swinging the [Yamato], which was under the 'Chaos Slasher Possession', forward.

Shing!

'Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw – Eclipse Tiger Draw'

Roar!

A huge tiger made of lightning energy flew out of the sword and pounced at the opposing group standing before it with its wide-open jaws.

Seeing the familiar pattern, Griff fixed his stance as he raised his shield and summoned a huge wall of energy that blocked the incoming attack.

'Class Fighting Style: Might of the Defender'

Boom!

The explosion destroyed the wall, but the attack from the opposing side stopped completely, turning it into a scattered energy dissipating in the air.

But despite all of that, Griff quickly took a step back and firmly planted his feet into the ground as he expected either Owen or Leonard to rush out of the receding veil of chaotic wind and energy before him.

It was what had happened earlier, so he was expecting the same thing to happen, which would try to break his stance and attack their backline.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

But what came after that attack was a series of cutting sounds in the air, splitting the veil of chaotic energy before him and flying straight in his direction.

'Slayer Skill: (Reinforced) Crescent Cleave'

Five huge vertical crescents appeared before Griff, advancing in a fan-shaped manner, while carrying an intense coldness in them.

Griff was slightly caught off guard, but still able to respond in time. He was an old veteran with a lot of experience, after all.

'Knight Skill: (Enhanced) Shield Wall'

Another wall of energy was erected before him as the five vertical crescents classed against it, bombarding him with cold waves.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Swoosh!

It was only at that moment that Owen charged out of the chaotic coldness and rammed his shield at the collapsing wall, sending Griff striding backward.

'Knight Basic Skill: Shield Charge'

Bang!

Griff might have been caught off guard by this 'ambush' as well, but it was still not enough to throw off his stance as he was somewhat expecting something like this to happen.

Given how crafty Shin was it was not impossible for him to make a few adjustments with such attack patterns.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

But as he was getting into a stance, five elemental dragons suddenly emerged behind Owen and flew past the knight while charging straight at him.

It was Alice's signature Elemental Dragon Dance!

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

But before the jaws of those dragons could even reach Griff, a series of shots came flying behind him and shot those elemental dragons down with their powerful explosions.

Swoosh!

A thick could of smoke veiled the air, somewhat obstructing the vision of everyone. Seeing this familiar pattern, the members of Hien Workshop prepared themselves for another ambush.

Faith and Grace, these Twin Heavens, suddenly summoned an energy membrane with their combined spell that enveloped everyone after healing Griff back to healthy state.

Thirteenth Massacre took a defensive stance while sharply scanning the surroundings while Cielo activated his shared vision with the Spirit Hawk that was flying in the sky.

It was at that moment that he saw Leonard hovering in the air for a couple of seconds before suddenly came crashing down toward the ground where they were located.

"Brace for some impact!" warned Cielo after seeing Leonard fall from the sky like a descending meteor.

Swoosh!

There was a huge hole in the cloud of smoke Leonard pierced through it and came crushing at the energy membrane that the twin sisters had summoned.

Boom!

The membrane shook violently as Leonard swung his war axes at it, creating a series of cracks that spread in every direction.

Thirteenth Massacre then leaped into the air, planning to clash against Leonard after receiving a series of buffs from the twin sisters.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After a series of collisions in the air, Leonard and Thirteenth Massacre separated from each other while warding off the arrows and magic spells that were respectively trying to shoot them down.

Griff was busy clashing against Owen, who was aggressively trying to bypass him along with the buffs provided by Cloe when he suddenly realized something.

"Sickarius is missing!" he warned the rest of his teammates, alerting them about the hidden threat lurking in the air.

It was at this moment when Cielo suddenly shifted his attention and started firing toward a certain spot near the twin sisters.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

His precise and powerful shots had forced Shin out of stealth, revealing his figure to everyone.

Regardless, he continued charging at Faith and Grace, who were now vulnerable to him. Even if they were being guarded by a pair of Spirit Wolves summoned by Cielo, they were barely able to stop him from advancing at the twin sisters.

Seeing this, Cielo gritted his teeth as he activated a skill that let him swap places with one of the Spirit Wolves, putting himself a few distances before Shin.

He raised his bow alongside the nocked arrow, aiming Shin at almost point-blank range.

He then released the arrow almost at the same time, letting the string push it forward and sending a powerful shot at the incoming opponent.

Twang!

'Extreme Archery: Power Shot'

Swoosh!

Wind gathered at the spinning arrow and formed a spiral gust during its flight. It left a violent trail behind as it continued to approach the target with all its might.

Shin was slightly surprised at the speed and power behind this shot, forcing him to stop while transforming the sheath in his left hand into the 'Judgement Form' and letting Astaroth possess it.

He then placed the greatsword before him, using its surface to block the incoming shot and activating defensive technique at the same time.

'Four Symbol Scripture: Divine Yellow Dragon – Defensive Mountain'

Boom!

Despite blocking the shot perfectly and applying a series of Sword Principles in the process such as Heavy Sword, Defensive Sword, and such to enhance the defensive properties of his technique, he was still pushed back by the spinning arrow due to its powerful might.

He had even left deep trails on the ground with his feet, signifying how powerful that shot was.

Cielo was about to heave a sigh of relief after warding off such a dangerous predicament when an ominous feeling suddenly overwhelmed him.

It was at that moment when he saw the [Yamato] flipping and twirling nearby, making him shout at the twin sisters right before him. "Run!"

Without any hesitation, Faith and Grace raised their staffs and teleported themselves rather strategically. They placed themselves in the spot between Griff and Thirteenth Massacre, who swiftly adjusted their positioning to act as their shield and sword right after they appeared.

Meanwhile, Cielo was forced to retreat further away from the group due to the tricky positioning of the sword suspended in the air near him.

Swoosh!

At that moment, Shin activated the 'Shadow Mark' Elemental Skill, appearing right beside the sword as he stretched his hand and grabbed it.

"Tsk!"

He could not help but click his tongue a little as it was a perfect opportunity to deal a serious blow to the opposing side. He did not expect that Cielo would be able to notice it in an instant while the twin sisters heeded his call without any hint of hesitation.

Regardless, he had already achieved his goal of separating Cielo from the rest, letting him proceed with the plan.

Cielo had also realized this and could not help but smile bitterly. "These guys sure are fond of using the box-and-one method."

But he still welcomed such a challenge from this young talent of the current generation.

...…