Child of Destiny

Boom!

Right after the completion of Cloe and Alice’s chants, a huge magic circle suddenly appeared on the ground and spread in every direction.

The symbols drawn on the magic circle looked mysterious and incomprehensible, signifying that they were not ordinary. These symbols were composed of the ancient runes that the girls had deciphered from the hall of the Forgotten Temple, where Ronan was previously sealed.

The might of these runes was different from the last time Cloe and Alice had used them, which was the sealing and trapping formation that they used against the Seven Seas Alliance.

Based on the mana frequency that Julius had picked up from the magic circle, he could tell that it was a special summoning circle or something with similar features.

Boom!

As the girls stood at two points, which acted as the cores of the magic circles, Owen took a step back and stood on top of another core center.

He formed a triangular formation alongside Cloe and Alice as he activated one of the signature skills of his current class.

‘Ancient Protector Skill (Tier 3): Avatar of the Guardian King’

Boom!

Not long after, a huge apparition of a warrior knight appeared behind him. It was donning a set of golden armor that was filled with glowing runes and releasing a sacred light.

But the phenomenon did not stop there since the warrior knight seemed to have fused with the magic circle that Cloe and Alice had created right after it was summoned.

Boom!

With three acting as the center, the huge magic circle released a storm of mana fluctuations, which transformed into a towering pillar of light that pierced through the sky.

Swoosh!

Immediately after, a colossal spiritual being suddenly walked out from it, releasing an overwhelming pressure that filled the entire area and suppressing the members of the Hien Workshop.

This spiritual being shared a similar appearance to the warrior knight that Owen had summoned earlier. But this time, it had a humanoid upper body while having the body of a sturdy and muscular horse on the lower half.

The set of armor that it was wearing looked more sacred due to the healing light that it was constantly emitting.

It was also holding a shield and a spear that seemed to be made of different elements, which were constantly flickering and swimming through their surface.

Its hooves were also covered with multicolored energy that seemed to carry the warrior knight and let it run into the air.

‘Empyrean Talons Combination Technique: Elemental Guardian of the Sacred Heavens’

This was an original technique that the Empyrean Talons had created, which would most likely become one of their symbols in the future.

Boom!

Right after summoning, the colossal knight suddenly stepped forward before thrusting its elemental spear toward the Hien Workshop.

…

Tsk!

Wizard King Julius could not help but smile bitterly after seeing the might of that single thrust. Fortunately, they had also finished their preparations for their signature combination.

They would not be going down without a fight.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

A huge group of ice ramparts appeared around the group, forming a huge formation. They acted as a special channel that connected the magic circle that appeared underneath the group.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

At the same time, Faith and Grace, who had been praying since earlier to prepare their combination spell, coordinated with the magic formation.

They had infused their opposing powers of darkness and light into the magic circle while maintaining their respective states.

Swoosh!

Not long after, a huge and majestic dome of energy was created, protecting everyone from the incoming attack.

‘Hien Workshop Signature Technique: Dome of Two Zeniths’

Boom!

As the elemental spear struck the dome, its surface shook violently, signifying the might of the attack.

But despite all of that, the dome still maintained its strong form and remained standing. This showed that the members of the Hien Workshop were not that simple either.

“Our side may have a stronger might, but we somewhat lacked the perfect coordination that they have,” commented Shin as he retreated as fast as he could, escaping from the powerful shockwaves caused by the impact.

“But it is not a big deal since this is our first time using this technique,” he added, seemingly telling everyone the boldness that the Empyrean Talons to try something in an actual battle.

Treating the battlefield as a testing ground for their newly created and unpolished technique was indeed something crazy. It was only insane people who would dare to do that.

On the other side, Julius quickly called their frontline members right after seeing another attack from the colossal knight. “Heavenly Shield! Griff!”

The two knights quickly acted after hearing his call. They simultaneously raised their shields before slamming them into the ground, activating their respective versions of Shield Wall at the same time.

‘Class Fighting Style: Great Wall of Heavens’

‘Class Fighting Style: The Great Fortress’

Bang! Bang!

Immediately after, the two versions of Shield Walls melded with the energy dome, making it sturdier and stronger.

Boom!

Yet another shockwave spread in every direction as the elemental struck the barrier protecting the members of the Hien Workshop.

“Fortunately, they have yet to master that technique,” commented Julius as he could sense some disharmony in the movements of the colossal spiritual knight, making it only capable of doing some basic actions.

“Let me try to break their formation,” said Cielo as he started firing powerful skills at the trio of the Empyrean Talons that were forming the special technique.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

But before they could even reach their target, a series of shots suddenly rang from another direction, shooting down all the attacks that he had just sent with crimson bullets.

“Tsk! That guy’s accuracy sure is getting on my nerves,” commented Cielo with a slight frown.

It had been a while since he had encountered another marksman with a similar level of precision, arousing his competitiveness.

Glancing at the Shin, Leonard, and Diablo, who seemed to be planning to do something, Cielo could not help but have a bad feeling.

He gritted his teeth as he made a difficult decision. “Let’s use our all-out combination technique as well.”

Hearing that, the group could not help but turn to him, seemingly asking if he was sure about this.

Julius, on the other hand, fully understood the thoughts of his friend and old-time partner. He knew that it was useless to hide their trump cards and save them for the latter part of the competition if they could not pass through this predicament.

If they lost this match, they would not earn even half a point that Julius had managed to get in the previous match.

They would proceed to the lower bracket without a point earning for this round, putting them in a difficult position in the later stages of the tournament.

It was better to use their cards now and reveal them to everyone rather than not having any chances at all and losing their positions in the tournament later.

Having seen Cielo’s resolute face, the entire group agreed and moved as fast as they could.

They had rearranged their positions as the dome withstood the repeated attacks from the colossal knight.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Not long after, Heavenly Shield and Griff broke free from their respective positions and leaped into the air while raising their shields. They then used another combination technique, summoning a gigantic shield that blocked the incoming strike from the Elemental Guardian.

Boom!

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The pair was sent flying into the ground, which cost them almost half of their respective health bars.

This signified tough they were, especially when they had forced the colossal knight to retreat a couple of steps.

This gave the rest of their team time to prepare for their all-out attack.

The two were in a slightly dangerous position as they were not exposed to any ambush, but before they could even snipe down by Alucard, a series of heals immediately restored their health to full and saved them from being killed.

Thirteenth Massacre had also come in their aid, helping them repel the combined forces of Shin, Leonard, and Diablo, who were supposed to come to finish them off.

As the clashes between these guys became chaotic, the rest of the Hien Workshop were already making their move.

Cielo was standing at the center of the ice rampant formation while holding his bow. He had also nocked a special arrow into the bow as he absorbed all the energy provided by the magic formation.

Julius was casting a series of spells, combining them. It then later formed a huge bow and arrow, which was somewhat connected to Cielo through magical strings.

At the same time, Faith and Grace infused their respective powers into the formation, channeling an even larger amount of mana into the magic formation.

The black and white mana that they were channeling then moved toward the icy bow and arrow, particularly the latter as it formed a special arrow infused with the opposing powers, which somehow worked in harmony.

Seeing this phenomenon, the Shin and the others quickly made their move, trying to stop the other party from whatever they were planning.

But they were immediately obstructed by Heavenly Shield, Griff, and Thirteenth Massacre, who relied on an advanced battle formation to ward off their advances.

The only one who was free to attack was Alucard. Unfortunately, he was unable to do anything either due to Julius’ crafty maneuvers of his rampart formation, either blocking his attacks or hiding the rest of the Hien Workshop behind them.

It did not take that long for Cielo and the others to complete all the preparations for the combination technique.

He swiftly aimed forward as he saw the Elemental Guardian thrusting its elemental spear at them once again.

As he pulled the bowstring along with the special arrow, the huge icy bow behind him mimicked his actions alongside the black-and-white arrow loaded into it.

Twang!

‘Hien Workshop Combination Technique: The Arrow that shoots down the Heaven’

Boom!

A powerful sonic boom was created right after the arrows were released from the bow and headed straight to the incoming attack of their opponent.

Zong~!

Seeing that, the trio from the Empyrean Talons infused more of their powers into the magic formation underneath them, strengthening the Elemental Guardian and letting it release an even stronger attack.

Swoosh!

Boom!

A massive explosion erupted as the elemental spear and magic arrow clashed against one another, creating a colossal storm and a dome of violent energy that spread in every direction.

Seeing that, Shin, Leonard, and Diablo swiftly underwent an Elemental Spirit Possession and used their respective means to escape the range of the explosion.

The energy storm lasted for more than a minute before subsiding.

It then showed everyone a huge crater that signified how powerful the earlier collision of powers was.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

But before everything could sink in everyone’s head, a chaotic fight continued at the center of this crater.

Casting their gazes at the sources of the sounds, they saw that the Empyrean Talons and Hien Workshop resumed fighting.

But this time, the latter group was missing a couple of members.

The audience did not know what exactly happened due to the curtain of light that hid both groups earlier, but they could at least guess that the Empyrean Talons had won an edge, resulting in the current situation.

It did not take long for the Empyrean Talons the wrap up the battle with their members, who remained in a perfect state for battle.

The earlier clash had almost drained the mana and energy of Alice, Cloe, and Owen, which made them incapable of continuing the battle.

But the opposing side did not come out unscratched either as Faith, Grace, and Cielo were in a similar state as well.

This gave Alucard the perfect opportunity to finish them off before Julius could respond. After all, the Wizard King had spent quite a large amount of mana for the previous move as well.

At the same time, Shin, Leonard, and Diablo immediately made their move as soon as they saw this. They started an even stronger assault that forced Heavenly Shield, Griff, and Thirteenth Massacre into repeated retreat.

With their combined forces, the battle finally ended.

The regular audience cheered for the intense and entertaining battle while the apex experts and higher-ups of different forces of the game stared at the Empyrean Talos with solemnness.

This battle indeed showed everyone a glimpse of what this group of crazy monsters was capable of. But it was just the tip of the iceberg as it was clear to them that the Empyrean Talons were just ‘playing around’ and testing things out despite how competitive the competition was.

……