Child of Destiny

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Easternmost Border of the Saint Heaven Kingdom.

Sky Deceiving Valley.

This place was one of the restricted maps of the game since the monsters here were way stronger than most of the players could handle.

All of the regular monsters roaming around this area were either a Level-150 Chieftain Rank Monster at the weakest or a Level-175 Commander Rank Monster at the strongest. In the meantime, the bosses that governed this area were at least a Level-200 King Class Monster Boss.

Aside from the powerful monsters residing in his place, the other reason why this map was still unexplored up until now was because of the map itself.

There was a thick fog surrounding the whole area which was fooling the senses of the players who were trying to enter this map. Navigating in this place was pretty troublesome even for the best pathfinders of the game. And due to that, no one wanted to waste their time exploring this place.

"Tsk! Tsk! The Fog here is really no joke," said Leonard when he saw the entrance of the Sky Deceiving Valley.

"Looks like this is going to be a little troublesome," commented Shin while slightly raising his eyebrows.

On the other hand, Arthur just shrugged his shoulders and just said. "Well, this is not going to be an Empire Quest if it is just going to send us to an ordinary place."

Empire Quest – unlike the normal quests that were commonly available to most of the players of the game, quests in this rank were able to affect the state of the game itself.

It was also different from the special quests that were meant for unlocking the hidden races of the game since the settings of those quests were accessible to most of the players of the game. Moreover, aside from unlocking the hidden races, those kinds of quests didn't have any purpose.

On the other hand, the Empire Quest could affect not only the power struggle between the major powers of the game like Righteous Church, but it could also change the terrain, climate, and environment of particular maps. It also included the nature of the monsters residing in those places.

Additionally, those changes would immediately take effect regardless of the results of those quests. And it could also be a positive effect or negative one depending on the results.

Once successful, the effects could expand the territory of a certain Kingdom, which would obviously unlock a couple of new maps that the players could explore. But if it was a failure, then the result would obviously be the opposite.

It could scale down the territory of those Kingdoms. Or worse, the Kingdom itself was going to be invaded by a huge horde of monsters which was much larger than the horde that tried to attack the Holy City before.

Given that, Empire Quests were pretty important in the game since it could be a blessing that would make the players benefit from or a plague that would curse the whole Kingdom or Empire.

Naturally, the conditions for these quests were quite harsh. And the requirements that the players need before receiving such an important quest were going to be very high.

Arthur managed to get his quest after spending a lot of time and effort in his previous Kingdom. And after investigating it for so long, the quest led him to this place.

"Let's go! This quest is going to be a long one so it is better if we start sooner," said Arthur before turning his head towards Cloe and Shin. "Take command. You two are our team commander and strategist, so you better do your jobs properly?"

'This lazy b*st*rd!' cursed Shin inside his head as he looked at Arthur while suppressing his twitching mouth.

After that, he turned to the others and began arranging their formation. "Ithilien and Archimedes are taking the lead as our pathfinders. Don't travel too far to avoid getting lost in the fog."

"Akailu will support them from behind with his monster pets. Based on our investigations, the senses of the players are going to become dull when they enter the fog but it is not the case for the pets and other summoned monsters."

"We are going to take advantage of that and let Akailu be the bridge between our pathfinders and the main group," he said before turning to the Beastmaster while saying. "We are counting on you."

"Heh! Do you even need to say that?" said Akailu with a smirking smile. And without further ado, he quickly summoned his Glacial Wolve and Scorching Lion to let them familiarize themselves in the environment of the map.

In the meantime, Shin turned to Arthur before saying. "You will be following closely behind them. Your 'Dragon Eyes' can at least see farther within the fog, right? So, you can just act accordingly if some accidents happen."

He didn't wait for his brother to reply as he quickly turned to Owen, who was now emitting a completely different vibe compared to what he usually had due to the new set that he received from Shin.

Shin nodded his head when he saw that before saying. "You will be in the forefront of the main group. Your job is pretty simple and that is to protect everyone behind you."

"You are our main tank, after all," he commented laughingly to what he just said as he found himself funny for pointing out such an obvious thing.

"Anyway, I will be next to you," he immediately added.

After that, Shin looked at Alucard and Leonard before saying to them simply. "You guys will take the rear."

Alucard could be a ranged attacker and a melee fighter, so it was pretty obvious to him why he was placed in that position. He could both provide range assistance from the back while also protecting the others in front of him with his melee skills if something managed to slip past their formation.

On the other hand, Leonard was second to Shin when it came to reflexes and instincts. So, he could respond to any kind of unexpected situation that they might encounter in the middle of their formation while also checking what was happening from behind with his beast-like senses.

Seeing that they two immediately understood what he was thinking, Shin quickly turned to the remaining members of the group before saying. "Cloe will be positioned in the middle of the group while Daulla and Chaotic Luck are going to plank her from each side."

The three immediately nodded their heads when they heard his arrangements.

"If you guys don't have any questions anymore, then let's quickly proceed," he asked to make sure that everyone was ready.

He nodded his head when he saw that everyone had nothing to say. He then gave a signal to the others to start moving and advance forward.

But they only took a couple of steps when Shin suddenly remembered something before turning to Chaotic Luck. "Ah! I almost forgot. Chaos, can you also summon a couple of your blazing undeads and spread them in different directions."

"That shouldn't be a problem, Big Brother," answered Chaotic Luck instantly.

"In that case, can you also position them in a particular formation while also remotely controlling them to match our pace in moving forward?" asked Shin immediately.

Chaotic Luck paused for a couple of moments before asking in return. "What kind of formation? If it is not too complicated, then I can at least give it a try."

Hearing that, Shin quickly set a particular formation to Chaotic Luck. And when the latter saw it, he couldn't help but frown his eyebrows a little due to how complex it was.

If Chaotic Luck tried to connect each position to another, then he could form a spider web pattern with it.

Seeing the expression on Solaris Lich's face, Shin immediately pointed to a couple of spots in the formation before saying. "If it is too complicated, then you can ignore the other position and just focus on these points."

"This formation is going to help us prevent any kind of ambush from each of our planks. While we are traveling. We have a strong front and rear, so they are not going to be a problem."

"What I am concerned about is the potential attacks that may come from each of our sides. After all, we are traveling in the middle of a valley with a dense three and vegetation alongside a thick fog. So, it is better to be ready for any kind of potential risk," he explained while waiting for Chaotic Luck to reply.

Chaotic Luck focused on the spots that Shin had pointed out before nodding his head. "If it is this simple version, then I can maintain it while moving forward."

"Good!" said Shin, patting Chaotic Luck's shoulder.

They just entered the valley when the Lich suddenly tugged Shin's arm before asking. "Ahm… Do you know a lot of formations like that, Big Brother?"

Shin was knitting his eyebrows at first when he heard those words before quickly smiling from ear to ear as he could read what was currently running inside Chaotic Luck's head. "You want to learn some battle tactics?"

"Don't worry, I will give you some good materials about it once we are done with here," he said while wrapping his arm around the latter's shoulder.

Ugh!

In the meantime, Arthur and Leonard couldn't help but groan painfully when they overheard the conversation of the two before saying inside their heads.

– "We will pray for your poor soul." –

– "Our deepest condolence." –

....…