Child of Destiny

Forbidden City, Main Residence of the HeadHunter Guild.

And of the executives who were managing the branch of the guild in the Saint Heaven Kingdom were all currently gathered in the conference hall to discuss the future of their in this kingdom.

Earlier, they decided to go with the plan that Cruelty had suggested to explore the eastern borderlands of the kingdom. But at the very last moment, he suddenly ’changed’ his mind and proposed a different plan instead.

Naturally, Cruelty and the others were not going to tell these cunning wolves that they failed their original plan. After all, these opportunists were going to stab them in the back the moment they learned about their failure.

Cruelty also made sure that the expert players that were accompanying them earlier were not going to spill the beans by making them sign a nondisclosure contract.

Due to that, none of the executives of the guild knew what really happened in the Sky Deceiving Valley. On top of that, they obviously had no idea why Cruelty had summoned them.

But the moment they learned why they were summoned, they immediately started to cause a ruckus.

”What are you talking about, Cruelty!? Are you out of your mind!?” said one of the executives while slamming his hand on the table.

”Yeah, exploring the border maps is more reasonable. And that is the only reason why we supported you in your proposal,” seconded by another.

Hearing that, the others also nodded their heads in agreement. And seeing that everyone seemed to be agreeing with him, the first executive who was first to talk earlier immediately struck while the iron was still hot.

”Waging war to other guilds is not a problem, but challenging a fellow Powerhouse Guild will only hurt our reputation more than profiting from it,” he said with a little smirk at the end.

Cruelty suddenly smirked back when he heard those words before refuting grinningly. ”What’s the problem with that? We are supposedly going to pull all of the forces from this place if our main plan doesn’t work.”

”Our reputation in this kingdom is already hitting rock bottom, so we are not going to lose anything even if we happen to become defeated in this battle. Instead, we are gaining more profit from it if we manage to win against them.”

When the other executives heard those words, all of them couldn’t help but shut their mouths as they found his words very reasonable. They were already at the end of their ropes anyway, so it was better for them to bet everything they had in such a do-or-die gamble instead of doing a job with uncertain results.

Seeing that Cruelty was able to turn the opinions of the other executives by simply saying those words. And since he didn’t know how to refute those words, that particular executive could only shut his mouth while glaring at Cruelty and other Godlike Players who were keeping an eye on him.

In the meantime, Cruelty slightly nodded his head when he saw that the guild executives were pretty convinced with the sudden change of his decision.

The only problem right now was how they were going to convince these people about challenging the Powerhouse Guild that they chose.

Fortunately, that ’person’ already prepared a material for them to follow.

Now that everyone was still occupied with the topic that he just said earlier, Cruelty immediately started their proposition. ”First of all, the Guild that we choose to wage war with is the Wing’s Alliance.”

Hearing the name of the guild, the expression on the faces of the executives of the HeadHunter Guild suddenly changed. Especially for the particular elder that seemed to be from the other faction within their guild.

”Hey! Out of all the Powerhouse Guilds within the Saint Heaven Kingdom, you choose one of the guilds who are currently in control over the Holy City, the current center of the kingdom,” said that person.

”They are currently the kings of this place, so isn’t choosing them a foolish move? After all, there are still a lot of choices that we can make. Just like the Miracle Guild, Golden and the powerhouses that suffered similar damages as us,” he added with a smirking tone.

The other executives seemed to switch sides once again. They couldn’t help but nod their heads at those words since they all knew that it was much wiser to choose a winnable battle instead of an unwinnable one.

It was natural for them to have that kind of reaction since the Wing’s Alliance really became one of the most successful guilds within this kingdom alongside the Titan Guild, Dragon Pavilion, and Hydra Guild. So, their forces here were much stronger compared to their rivals.

But Cruelty pretty much expects those reactions before quickly explaining their side. ”But choose the weaker powerhouses, the impact that we are going to get will not be the same if we win against a stronger foe.”

”Heh! Don’t be delusional. Do you honestly believe that we can take them down with the current forces of our guilds? They clearly have the advantage in terms of resources, so we are practically committing suicide by challenging them,” said the executive that was opposing Cruelty and his party.

Seeing that his person was still not giving up, Helena couldn’t help but shake her head before responding with a bored look on her face. ”If it is just a normal occasion, then we are indeed no match against them.”

”But I heard that the internal conflict that they had within their guild is starting to get fierce. Which means, everyone was currently on edge against the members of the opposing faction,” she added with a smirking tone.

”To put it in simpler terms, our odds of winning against this particular guild is much higher than what all of us are expecting,” said Cruelty with a calm tone.

Hearing that, the moods of the other guild executives immediately brightened and made them excited. And due to that, all of them started giving their own suggestions while formulating a plan to take the Wing’s Alliance.

...…

In the meantime, outside the main residence of the HeadHunter Guild, large groups of elite players were currently attracting the attention of every passerby who was walking past their fancy building.

Naturally, such a large movement would never escape the eyes of the other Powerful Guilds that were keeping an eye on their rivals.

”So, they are finally making their move, huh?”

”Keep an eye on them until we get a clear idea of their plan.”

”Are they finally giving up in this kingdom and pulling back their main forcers from here or are they planning to pull a Hail Mary at the last moment? Let’s see what they are hiding under their sleeves.”

”Are they putting up a final struggle? Let’s see how this one is going to work out.”

”Don’t let your guard down, we may be the target of this one.”

...

At the same time, the news about the movements of the HeadHunter Guild also reached the ears of Arthur and Leonard the moment they arrived at Maple Cloud City.

”Heh! Looks like they don’t want to drag this any longer, huh?” commented Arthur after reading the message that he got.

”Well, it is understandable. After all, this deal is going to be more disadvantageous to them the longer they try to drag it,” said Leonard from the side.

In the meantime, the other three who were currently behind them were pretty clueless about what they were talking about. And even if they were quite curious about the topic, they had no other choice but to remain calm since they were pretty much intimidated by the two gods.

Not long after, Arthur turned his head to the three before giving his instructions. ”Alright, we are separating here for now. ”

”You guys look for the clues about that particular NPC. The two of us need to take care of the loot first, so we will catch up to you when we are done with our side,” he added before turning around and walking back at the teleportation circle.

Leonard also did the same right after nodding his head at the three. ”Message us immediately if you manage to find him.”

Then their silhouettes disappeared after they re-entered the teleportation device.

Meanwhile, an awkward silence descended between the three right after they were left behind. They stared at the teleportation hall for a couple of moments before turning their heads at each other.

”Then I will go this way. I will restock first before looking for that NPC,” said Alucard while pointing at the huge building not far away from the Teleportation Hall. From the looks of it, it was a trading shop, given how busy its entrance was.

”We are also going. Let’s meet again later,” replied Daulla while bowing to Alucard before quickly turning around and leaving with Archimedes.

The latter also gave them a nod before heading to the shop a few meters away while also muttering to himself. ”I felt that a storm is slowly brewing.”

....…