Child of Destiny

The Special Format that the Empyrean Talons had chosen was the seven-versus-seven team battle, which had the standard rule of last-man-standing and winner-takes-it-all.

Unlike the most common format, where a team could at least earn a point so long as they had successfully taken down a single member from the opposing group, the format that the Empyrean Talons used was even more ruthless.

In this battle, the Empyrean Talons were crazy enough to bet everything they had on this battle, as it was demanding that both sides bet everything they had on the line.

Due to this format, the winner of the match would take all the points that the losing team had earned in the previous match, which was clearly favorable for the Hien Workshop.

The Hien Workshop had only earned half a point in the previous match, which they had only earned due to the draw that Julius had against Diablo.

Meanwhile, the Empyrean Talons had most of the points, only lacking half a point for a perfect score.

No matter where the audience looked, the Empyrean Talons had the absolute advantage in every area. Taking such a risk was definitely a sign of being crazy.

“Have they gone mad due to their pursuit of earning the perfect score?”

This was the thought that was running inside the head of everyone as it was the only reasonable conclusion that they could come up with at the moment.

After all, the Empyrean Talons was the only team that earned two perfect 10 scores in the entire tournament, placing them at the peak of the leaderboards.

Whether it was intentional or a coincidence, the people felt that the Empyrean Talons had become addicted, or at least obsessed, of earning a perfect score in their matches.

It was not only they who were thinking this way since the Hien Workshop themselves were quite confused at the absurd decision that the Empyrean Talons made.

Aside from this, the only reason that they could think of was that they were being underestimated by their opponents. If that was not the case, then they did not know what it was.

However, Sky King Cielo refused to believe that this was the case. He might not be familiar with the strategist of the opposing side, but he was sure that the opposing side was planning to achieve something after exchanging blows and strategies with Shin in the previous match.

He felt that the Empyrean Talons had, once again, prepared something devious for this re-match. He was not sure what it was, but he was having an ominous feeling about this.

“No wonder those guys from Seven Seas Alliance have chosen to ‘run’ away from these guys in the previous round,” mumbled Cielo after considering everything. “These guys sure are troublesome.”

Julius, who was having the same thoughts, could not help but wear a bitter smile. “Not only is their individual and combined battle prowess terrifying, but the psychological pressure that they are imprinting in the minds and hearts of their opponents is equally horrifying.”

“Fortunately, such tricks are not effective against us,” commented Griff as he was checking on his shield.

He might not be able to do anything much against Simba in the previous match, but this one was going to be different as Cielo and himself were no longer the ones who were solely carrying the pressure.

Heavenly Shield, who was also feeling quite conflicted due to the ‘disaster’ of the previous match, could not help but clench his fist while speaking. “I will regain my dignity this time.”

Due to the seven-versus-seven format that the Empyrean Talons had chosen, these four veteran gods would be fighting together, making their strength reach a whole other level, especially when their team composition and play style perfectly complemented one another.

Adding the combined forces of the ‘Twin Heavens’ – Faith and Grace – alongside the rising stars of their workshop, ‘Young God’ Thirteenth Massacre and Sung Jae, who was as strong as a top-notch Maveric God.

Of course, they could only send seven players on the field for this match. But since Thirteenth Massacre and Sung Jae were almost on par with each other, either of them was good enough to represent the team.

But given that the roles of Sky King Cielo and the super rookie Sung Jae were overlapping with one another, the choice would obviously favor the former as this old veteran was more skilled and experienced.

As for the roles of being the auxiliary and support member, the team would surely choose the Twin Heavens since the combined forces of the twin sisters were much better than the individual strength of the ‘Sacred Priestess’ Pia.

Moreover, their combined forces were more effective for this battle, especially when they were facing the Gentle Goddess once again.

This time, they believed that they could put up a good fight, expecting that they would not be facing that much threat and interruption from the opposition due to the combined protection of the ‘Grinding King’ Heavenly Shield and ‘Strong Lord’ Griff, who were legends in the Knight’s Profession.

But despite this solid lineup that they had, they still could not afford to underestimate their opponents as those guys would surely have an even stronger lineup.

Even though they had been informed by the organizers ahead of time about the special format that the Empyrean Talons had applied as the direct opponent, the Hien Workshop still could not feel confident with their plans due to how intimidating the possible lineups the Empyrean Talons would be sending for the match.

They obviously could not disclose the format of the match to others as per the rules of tournament had stated.

This was also one of the reasons why they could not properly form a stable plan to counter the Empyrean Talons.

The other reason was that they could not figure out what kind of absurd idea would the Devil Strategist would use this time. Given how crazy and devious the guy, trying to guess his thoughts was impossible.

Adding the series of unusual plans that Shin had ‘presented’ to everyone in the previous rounds, trying to figure out his plan would be even harder.

While everyone where trying to figure out the lineup of both sides, the system had already announced the start of the battle.

*Ding*

– “United Cup, Knockout Rounds (Upper Bracket): Special Format Match (7-vs-7 Team Battle) – Empyrean Talons (Home) versus Hien Workshop (Away)!” –

Seeing the announcement from the system, the almost a billion players that were watching from the live stand and online broadcast could not help but feel excited!

They started getting crazy as they intently stared at the screen displaying the members of each side.

Empyrean Talons Lineup:

‘Gentle Goddess’ Arielle (Godlike Player)

‘Battle God’ Sickarius (Godlike Player)

‘War God’ Simba (Godlike Player)

‘Elemental Goddess’ Charlotte (Godlike Player)

‘Dancer of the Shadows’ Diablo (Maverick God)

‘Sanguine King’ Alucard (Maverick God)

‘Dark Knight’ Owen (Peak Titled Ranker)

…

Hien Workshop Lineup:

‘Sky King’ Cielo (Maverick God)

‘Wizard King’ Julius (Maverick God)

‘Strong Lord’ Griff (Maverick God)

‘Grinding King’ Heavenly Shield (Maverick God)

‘Young God’ Thirteenth Massacre (Godlike Player)

‘Twin Heavens’ Faith and Graces (Peak Titled Rankers, rivaling top gods together)

….

The people could not help but stare blankly at the respective lineups, experiencing mixed emotions.

The lineup of the Hien Workshop was already scary enough to make most of the teams from different forces of the game to run in fear.

Having four highly experienced veterans, rivaling the top-notch gods of the game, alongside a rising and highly talented Godlike Player, was already powerful enough. Then adding the twin sister, who had a perfect understanding and seamless coordination with the other, was like giving a pair of wings to a tiger.

But compared to the intimidating lineup of the opposing side, which had four top-ranked Godlike Players, two apex Maverick Rankers, and a Peak Titled Ranker that could match the gods of the virtual world, the lineup of the Hien Workshop was somewhat less appealing.

A lineup filled with superstars had a different impact compared to the other.

But what ‘confused’ everyone even more was the fact that the Empyrean Talons seemed to be planning to use a ‘standard’ composition for this battle.

This made the people, who were used to their shenanigans, feel a little ‘disappointed’. They were expecting to see another unusual and mind-boggling strategy from them.

Regardless, watching this almost ‘full’ power of the Empyrean Talons was still a treat to their eyes.

At the same time, the other top forces within the game that were paying attention to this match could not help but buckle up and focus more as they knew that this was a good chance to get a glimpse of Empyrean Talons’ true strength.

“Tsk! Tsk! This is going to be a bloody one. I hope the Hien Workshop can force the Empyrean Talons to show their hands a little more.”

“It is a pity that we can’t see ‘Dragon God’ Siegfried in action as well. If he was in the lineup, I wonder how broken it is.”

As the higher-ups of different forces were discussing with one another, the players of each team were finally sent into the battlefield, signifying the start of the match!

……