Child of Destiny

……

Amid all the battles and chaos happening on the map, there was a group that had never encountered any trouble up until now.

It was the group that Cloe was leading.

They were traversing the corridors without encountering any problems, making their advances somewhat dull and uneventful.

But at the same time, it also made them somewhat confused, especially when they were unable to find even a sign of their opponents.

“This is strange,” Owen frowned as he led the group as the sole melee fighter and the tank of the group.

“Even if this map is quite complicated and a little huge, it is impossible not to find any signs of our opponents up until now,” he added as he maintained his confusion.

They had been walking around for quite a while now, yet even a sign of battle was not found, which was very confusing for them. Their advance was so smooth that they seemed to be having a stroll rather than having a match.

The group had always maintained their formation and absolute vigilance up until now, making it somewhat exhausting and affecting their overall concentration.

But they did not dare to drop their tempo nor their guards either, especially when the opposing side had chosen this map with purpose.

“Why do we have yet to find anyone up until now?” mumbled Ithilien.

The group continued to maintain their vigilance while advancing through the corridors. It did not take that long before they reached a certain part of the map, which looked like a huge hall.

It was a very spacious ‘room’, which seemed to be the center of the entire map, especially when there were multiple channels connected to it.

For every channel connecting the corridors to this place, a tall stone statue stood on each side, acting as if they were guards.

These stone statues were very similar to those that were standing in the corridors leading to this place.

The hall was empty. Aside from the torches that the stone statues were holding to illuminate the entire place, nothing else could be found.

“An empty hall?” mumbled Owen as they entered.

The group was curiously and cautiously looking around when Cloe suddenly warned. “Wait!”

Everyone halted their tracks after hearing her urgent voice, turning to her.

Cloe had gotten an ominous feeling right after entering the hall, which was further intensified right after entering.

“This must be the central hall of the map. As the name implies, it is the center of the map, which is also the place where the Earners Mercenary Group will be gathering their forces!” she said.

She only needed a simple deduction to realize what this place indicated. Even the most rookie places could tell that this hall was the perfect place to regroup with the entire team and gather their forces.

“We have to retreat from this place as soon as possible! Given the time that we have spent on the map, there is a high chance that the forces of the Earners Mercenary Group to appear now!” she said, urging the others to retreat.

Fortunately, they were not that far from the corridor that they came from, so retreating would be much easier.

Unfortunately, before they could even go back, a group of people suddenly emerged from one of the corridor channels and immediately noticed them.

There was a brief pause since the two sides were not expecting to see each other. Then silence filled the air as the opposing parties stared, stunned at one another before finally responding.

“Attack!”

“In Formation!”

Flouree and Cloe immediately issued a command as soon as they realized what was happening and started making their moves.

“Oh, God of Light, grant this loyal servant of yours the power to fight the darkness and adversary before me!”

Cloe quickly chanted out a prayer, giving a series of buffs to everyone on their side, which boosted their stats by a large margin.

The rest of the team, on the other hand, swiftly went to their respective positions to adjust their formation while facing the opposing side.

Owen did not step forward as he maintained just enough distance away from the rest of the team, where he could actively protect them whenever it was needed.

It was quite a meticulous positioning as well, especially when he was covering such a huge area that also blocked any incoming opponents perfectly.

Of course, he would not be able to handle a lot of them by himself. To make sure that no one would be able to bypass him that easily, he simultaneously used three of his strongest trump cards.

He first activated his unique combat state, the Virtual Simulation, to further enhance his battle capabilities before proceeding to the other two.

Boom!

‘Ancient Protector Skill (Tier 3): Guardian’s Apparition’

Crackle! Crackle!

‘Sacred Neanderthal Racial Trait: Divine Tattoo – Blessings of the Thunderbird’

A huge apparition of an armored golden immortal appeared behind him. Its size was so huge that it was almost reaching the ceiling of the hall despite only having the upper half of its body. With such a huge area that it was covering, it would not be hard to protect the others behind him.

The opposing side would have no choice but to detour from quite a huge distance before they could reach those behind them. But if they did that, they would be immediately greeted by a barrage of attacks waiting for them.

Ithilien and Archimedes took a side each, nocking their arrows at their bows and getting ready for the battle. As the ones with the longest range within the group, they were standing the farthest within the formation.

A little before them stood Cloe, who was the center of this formation, while she was being flanked by Alice and Daulla, respectively.

Alice immediately activated her specialized combat state, the Elemental Ignition, along with quadruple possessions with her elemental spirit companions.

Each Elemental Spirit fused with her magic, further enhancing her control over them and greatly strengthening their respective powers.

Four elemental dragons also circled her as she activated her signature technique, the Elemental Dragon Dance, not daring to underestimate the opposing side.

Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!

On the opposite side, Daulla was surrounded by an intense storm of lightning, activating her strongest state.

Crackle! Crackle!

The intense lightning currents danced around her while the air started to get filled with dense and violent elemental mana.

A single look at this formation was more than enough to tell everyone how tough and sturdy it was, despite only having a single melee player in the group.

This was a standard Fortress Type Formation that became famous in previous team competitive games.

It was supposed to have a powerful tank that could stand at the frontline while protecting those behind them, who possessed very destructive firepower, such as classes like mages, cannon masters, and such.

But this strategy was uselessly used in huge competitive competitions that involved large groups like guilds and such. The frontline was composed of sturdy tanks that lined up like a wall, while the rest of the classes were made only for firepower, with only a few healers to maintain the healthy state of the frontline members.

The Empyrean Talons, on the other hand, were bold enough to only use a single person to stand at the forefront of the team, intending to hold the opposing side by himself.

It was an absurd idea, but seeing that the Empyrean Talons were serious about it and recalling their strange strategies in the previous matches, everyone was interested in seeing how they would deal with their current situation.

Meanwhile, the Earners Mercenary Group took a more aggressive and offensive stance in response.

Flouree and Crimson possessed a class that focused on firepower, so they swiftly sent a barrage of attacks to the golden immortal, intending to crush him by their destructive spells and skills alone.

Matida and Maris then gave everyone a bunch of buffs to raise everyone’s battle capabilities while focusing their healing spells at Sylas and Wang Zhou, who were already charging at their opponent.

The two immediately classed with Owen, trying to overwhelm with their numbers, but they were barely able to move his health bar despite having the assistance of a Magister and Cannon Master from a distance.

Cloe was able to handle all the pressure by herself, especially when she only had to focus on supporting a single person, which was quite an easy task for her.

On the other, Sylas and Wang Zhou were immediately thrown amid the skills and spells coming from the two archers and two mages from the opposition.

Each of them had dedicated support from the dual healers of their team, which put the situation in a deadlock.

Unfortunately, the situation immediately turned when Lucid joined the battle, who relied on his strange class to disrupt the tempo of the opposing party.

With his Illusionist Class, he could send some strange attacks that could not be sensed through normal means. He even created some illusions, which almost broke the formation of the Empyrean Talons.

However, Alice suddenly stepped up at this point, using the knowledge that she had gotten about ancient runes to counter the opposing side.

An intense battle immediately broke out, igniting the passion of all spectators once again.

…