Child of Destiny

……

Shin was sitting cross-legged on a boulder, watching the battle between Vladimir and the first person to arrive at this place.

From what he had seen so far, this player indeed possessed a decent skill. He might not be as strong as a Maverick God or a Godlike Player, but he was at least a skilled Titled Ranker of Maverick Ranker.

Vladimir was somewhat toying with this opponent since he did not know when another would arrive. But the other party was still able to hold its ground very well. Shin could practically see how this person managed to sneak through the places that his other Elemental Spirit Companions were guarding.

He was somewhat impressed with the other party, especially after watching what they could do during the previous exchanges.

But during the battle between Vladimir and the other party, Shin suddenly sensed something. He suddenly stood up and observed the opponent with his ‘True Sight’ Skill before suddenly unsummoning Vladimir forcefully.

The Crimson Noblesse Spirit was somewhat taken aback at the sudden move that his master had made. But as Shin was so forceful about it, the blood spirit was unable to fight back and could only comply.

At the same time, right after Vladimir turned into a speck of crimson light that returned to Shin, his opponent suddenly made a seal with both of his hands.

Swoosh!

Not long after, his body suddenly turned into a back smoke, which also became a demonic hand that tried to grab Vladimir.

Fortunately, the elemental spirit had already been recalled by Shin, barely avoiding the unexpected capture.

At the same time, the black demonic hand that barely missed Vladimir suddenly turned into a portal, where a ‘new’ player walked out.

This person had a similar appearance as the previous one but with a slightly different class. This time, the player seemed to have a magic-related class, especially when Shin saw the bone scepter that this player was holding.

“Tsk! Tsk! That was close. I should have gotten my hands on a pretty decent Elemental if only I’m a bit faster,” said the player chuckling.

Shin instantly realized the background of his player after seeing the aura that they had. Moreover, there was also a familiar emblem on the chest area of the cloak that the player was wearing.

Someone from the Undying Guild.

But what confused Shin was this was his first time seeing this person.

Since he kept on clashing with Immortal and his people, Shin and the rest of his friends had taken note of all the top experts of the Undying Guild, particularly their higher-ups who were claiming to be Immortal’s Apostles.

This person did not belong to the list that they had. But what was surprising about this was the fact that this person seemed to be much stronger than the rest of ‘The Apostles’ on the list.

He then suddenly remembered that this person must be the main body of the ‘player’ that Vladimir was fighting earlier. If that one was a clone and it was as strong and skilled as a Titled or Maverick Ranker, then this main body should be somewhat stronger, at least a Godlike Player or Maverick God.

That was also when he recalled what his Senior Brother had told him before. – “The forgotten experts that used to be on the top of the virtual world are starting to come back one after another.” –

Putting two and two together, Shin knew that the person standing in front of him was one of such experts. The only confusing thing about this was the fact that this highly skilled player seemed to be following Immortal.

As he thought about this, Shin was reminded of the events during their Empire Quest. That time when one of the core members of the Silent Night turned their backs on Justin and the others, resulting in the failure of their group and falling into the schemes of Immortal.

“Is that guy already organizing his forces?” mumbled Shin with a frown before remembering that the United Cup was about to start in a couple of weeks.

Seeing that Shin was mumbling to himself, the member of the Undying Guild that walked out of the portal stared at the opposing side with an interested look on his face.

He smiled as he said. “You are as interesting as what our Leader has said. I somewhat expected this, but you are much more interesting than what I have heard.”

Hearing that, Shin suddenly became more cautious and squinted his eyes. From what the other party had said, they seemed to be aware of his true identity, which was supposedly impossible given that the system did not leak it and his disguise was quite perfect.

The other party seemed to have noticed his confusion and explained. “Others may be unaware of it, but our leader is quite familiar with you.”

“Your side has already been clashing with ours for quite some time already, so it will not be strange for us to be familiar with you, especially when our leader puts a lot of interest and attention to you.”

“We have been watching you and your movements for quite a while already, so it is very normal for us to know what you are up to.”

“It is also not hard to guess that you are behind this recent event given the clues that we already have,” he added, giving Shin a decent understanding of what was going on.

But it also made him put his guard up, especially after learning that the opposing side was keeping an eye on their movements.

After letting Shin digest everything, the apostle suddenly revealed his real purpose of coming here. “Our leader sends me here to offer a business proposal.”

Hearing that, Shin finally understood a couple of things. He also realized how this person was able to sneak away from his Elemental Spirits without being noticed.

Given that Immortal had first plotted something here, particularly the Holy City, Shin understood that this Lich God had spent quite a lot of time studying the area and the nearby regions.

Aside from Shin, who had also studied this map during that incident, Immortal must be the one, who understood and knew more about this this place.

Shin had no intention of working with such a sly fox, especially when he knew that happened to Silent Night before. That incident was more than enough for a lesson, so he would not let himself fall into such an obvious trap.

But hearing the other side would not hurt, so he gestured the latter to continue.

Seeing his actions, the apostle nodded in satisfaction before continuing. “Before everything else, let me introduce myself first. I am Daven, fourth of the true apostles of our leader. I am entrusted to deal with these kinds of negations.”

Shin had already gotten a few clues after hearing those words. The words ‘true apostles’ were more than enough for him to understand that Immortal must be hiding more of his forces aside from the Undying Guild while the so-called ‘apostles’, who had the higher position within the guild, were nothing but frontmen to hide real ones.

But that was barely enough for what Shin was supposed to know. He did know that the name ‘Daven’ was one of the famous experts back in the years. This name was more than enough to strike fear in most of the players in those times as he was one of the most notorious dark players in the past.

‘One-armed Demon Daven’ – was his nickname.

It was not because he only had one arm, nor did he possess a demonic arm like Demon God Justin.

He was named as such because he was known for chopping the arms of his victims after defeating them. It was nothing because it was done in the virtual world, but what was troublesome about it was the pain level at that time was so high that it was fifty percent similar to what a person would experience in the real world.

This had already been adjusted to a much lower level after a few virtual games due to the psychological problems and traumas that players would face.

However, after a few improvements in safety regulations and other safety measures, such levels of pain receptors inside the virtual world were slowly going back to the past.

Even if it could not kill the players in the real world, it could still result in psychological traumas for the players.

However, the World Gaming Organization already had a solution for this after their long research. But to make sure that they would not face any unexpected accidents, they were only slowly increasing these improvements and matching them in the game’s updates.

Regardless, this player standing in front of Shin used to be one of those maniacs, who loved to torture their victims before finishing them off.

One of those psychotic players, who loved to watch others suffer and fall in despair.

Even if Shin was aware of this history, he would not bother himself to think about it. All he had to know was whether the one standing on the opposite side was worthy enough to fight him or not.

It was not being arrogant or anything, but it was because his current strength far surpassed most of the players of the game.

Right now, this person standing in front of him might be strong, but they were not enough to threaten him.

“Let’s forget about this pleasantry and hear out your real purpose. It is not like we are going to be friends or anything anyway,” he said, not wanting to hear any more rubbish from the latter.

Daven did not mind that kind of attitude from Shin even if he used to be one of the most notorious players in the past. He was surrounded by a lot of lunatics back in their base, and he was one himself, so such a thing did not bother him.

After seeing a bit of what Shin was capable of, Daven went back to business. “Our leader wants to help you with this predicament and-…”

He was still in the middle of talking when Shin suddenly interrupted. “B*llsh*t! Do you think I need his help on such a trivial matter? Enough with that and tell me what he wants. Although, I doubt that we will come to terms.”

“Nor convince me with it,” he added with a smirk.

Shin was waiting for what kind of nonsense would Daven pull out, but he did not expect the next words that he would hear. “The descent of the Glutton of the Flies, Demon King Beelzebub-…”

“…-We will help you find the exact location of the portal if you promise us one thing,” added Daven, catching Shin’s interest this time around.

Shin stared at Daven with a poker face, observing the latter closely, before squinting his eyes. “What kind of ploy are you playing this time?”

Even if the Corrupted Cult and Demonic Churches were said to not have a good relationship with each other, that did not mean that they would be sabotaging each other when it came to these things.

It was also possible that Immortal was laying a trap for him, but Shin could not shake off the feeling that Immortal was indeed trying to sell off the Demonic Churches, or at least the Pandemonium Descendants, which was the largest and strongest force within the said faction.

Shin did not know what Immortal was trying to pull, but he could at least tell that they were trying to do something crazy.

While Shin was lost in thought, Daven suddenly added. “We will also tell you why the Corrupted Cult is trying to get the Sea Soul that you have ‘snatched’ from that Sea Spirit and why they have corrupted it.”

This Shin could not help but put his guard even higher.

If earlier, Shin thought that Immortal was trying to screw off the Demonic Churches, then this other information would be no different from betraying the Corrupted Cult.

What was more surprising was the next words that he heard.

“We can also provide you with the information about the real purpose of the Supreme Temple and Martial Alliance in capturing you.”

This time, Shin had to admit that Immortal had made him interested in this so-called proposal.

…