Child of Destiny

The current problem at hand was temporarily set aside by the Empyrean Talons as they wanted to focus more on the next match.

The next match was between the Pandemonium Descendants and Slayers Adventurer Team, which would decide their next opponent if they were successful at defeating the Earners Mercenary Group.

They were quite familiar with these two teams as they had some relationship with them. There was no need to talk about the Slayers Adventurer Team as Shin and the others were friends with their core moments.

Lawless and Faker even lived with Shin, Leonard, Arthur, and David in the real world, so their familiarity with one another was not that simple.

The three were also quite familiar with Morgan, who was the main marksman of the team, as he was an elite cadet from the forces under the Springfield Family. He was also the one who helped Shin look for Leonard’s whereabouts when he was abducted to one of the secret laboratories of the Shadow Alliance in the Central Region.

The Empyrean Talons had also collaborated with them quite a few times before, especially during their initial exploration of the Frozen Kingdom.

As for the Pandemonium Descendants, the Empyrean Talons had already clashed with them quite a lot. It was not even strange to say that these two were mortal enemies at this point, especially when Shin had already ‘sabotaged’ their plans on multiple occasions.

Shin and the rest of the Empyrean Talons had quite an impression of the Pandemonium Descendants, especially when one of their members, Diablo, had quite a history with them.

There might be no one else within the game who was more familiar with the overwhelming power of the Pandemonium Descendants than their group. This included those who were from the Corrupted Cult and the Demonic Churches.

But what happened next not only surprised everyone but also confused them.

Not only did the Pandemonium Descendants lose the match, but they also lost it pretty badly. It was a one-sided battle from start to finish.

However, this was still not enough to shock everyone. But it was the current roster that the Pandemonium Descendants had. They seemed to have changed their entire roster in this match, not sending their overpowered members, which were supposedly from their most elite group – the Pandemonium Troupe.

…

“What is happening? Why are they not sending anyone from the Pandemonium Troupe?” Leonard frowned deeply as he continued to stare at the screen projected before them.

“What are those guys planning this time?” mumbled Diablo as he was also quite confused at the current situation.

“From the looks of it, they seem to be planning to give up on the tournament,” commented Alucard after falling silent for a moment.

It was quite obvious already! Anyone could see it as well, especially after seeing that none of the Troupe Members made an appearance, not even one of them.

“They must be planning to do something somewhere else,” said Diablo as he started recalling the operations that the Pandemonium Descendants had done recently.

Shin did not have to make a guess as he could already see what they were planning. “The invasion of the Bug Tribe!”

Hearing that, the expression on everyone’s face could not help but turn stiff. This news was indeed huge, especially with the current state of the war that was taking place on the Soaring Continent.

The war between the two major factions of the game was already reaching an unimaginable height, indicating that the most crucial moments were already near.

Diablo also could not think of anything else that could force the Pandemonium Descendants to drop the United Cup aside from this issue.

“Isn’t it still early? From what I remember, there is still quite a lot of time before it happens,” said Shin with a frown as he opened the quest panel related to this matter.

But the expression on his face immediately turned grim when he saw that there was only an entire month (in-game time) left before the vanguard forces of the Bug Tribe arrive.

Fortunately, it no longer mentioned that he would suffer any penalties if they failed to spot the descent of the Demon Army.

“Does this mean that the Glutton Demon King of the Flies has already finished descending on Beelzebub’s body?” asked Cloe with a slight frown.

“It may not be the case, but he must have already received quite a large portion of it to stabilize the bridge between the Atlas World and Hell,” said Diablo as he shook his head.

When it came to familiarity with the matters related to the Pandemonium Descendants, Diablo was the clearest about them.

He then turned to the others and asked. “So, what’s your plan about this?”

Shin fell silent for a moment before shaking his head. “We can’t do anything about it for a moment. We are still too busy exploring the Awaken Continent and the Forgotten Sea. We don’t have much time on our hands.”

“Additionally, we are also currently in the middle of an intense tournament. The time is conflicting a little too much.”

“If the United Cup happens to end before the scheduled descent, then it will be perfect. We can just go back to the Aurora Continent and participate in the war later.”

He paused for a moment as he turned to the rest of the team. “Just keep an eye on the news from the Churches for now, especially when it comes to the missions that they release.”

He then added immediately. “But for now, let’s focus on preparing for our match. I’ve got a bad feeling about the current format that our opponents are planning.”

Everyone then nodded before logging out of the game and entering their team’s virtual space. For now, they were planning to review the details of the battle along with the analyses that Miss Bunny and David had made during the previous match.

***

Real World, Soaring Continent

Central Region, Capital City

At the same time, an advanced military armored vehicle arrived at the Springfield Household.

“We’ve arrived, General,” said the driver to the person sitting in the back seat.

That person sitting at the back seemed to be taking a comfortable nap, given how relaxed he was. He looked like a very old person given the deep wrinkles that he had and the while strands of hair over his head.

His white facial hair seemed to be properly trimmed as it made him look quite clean and manly despite his old age.

There was also a noticeable monocle on the side of his right eye. It looked like a thin transparent glass which seemed to be made of very advanced technology, especially when it was attached to a mechanical device stuck on his right ear.

He was wearing a military uniform, which was slightly different from what the soldiers of the Springfield Family had, indicating that he belonged to a different faction.

But the eye-catching batches attached to the left side of his chest could not be ignored, particularly the five-star epaulettes on his shoulders that indicated his military rank.

This person slowly opened his eyes, which immediately released a cold glint. The aura surrounding him also changed, seemingly releasing some invisible electricity that affected his surroundings.

He controlled this special energy and suppressed it within him before turning the driver. “You can wait for him in her. I’ll be going alone.”

That driver nodded his head silently as he watched the old man open the door and get off the military vehicle.

At the entrance of the Springfield Household, Samuel was already waiting for this person, emitting an equally strong pressure.

He wanted the other party to reach him before greeting the latter. “So, you really arrived.”

The old man sneered at Samuel before saying. “We may be rivals and competitors, but we are still on the same side.”

“If someone is threatening the ‘peace’ within our continent, then I will naturally be willing to set aside our conflicts and join forces with you to protect our homeland,” he added as he approached strongly.

The Soaring Continent’s military forces were said to be the strongest in the world, but there were many internal conflicts within them due to differences in beliefs.

The Military Circle was in constant conflicts, schemes, and plots against one another, but when it came to true problems, they would unite with one another to ward off the external forces together.

“The World Government is growing ambitious recently and setting its sights on our lands and resources. My Green Family can’t just sit idly and let them devour us, especially when those from the Underworld Organizations are also hungrily waiting in the dark,” said the old man solemnly before adding. “I would rather join forces with my archrival rather than jump into the pit of fire.”

Samuel grinned widely when he heard those words as he nodded. “As expected, you are still the same after all this time, Desmond Green.”

He then turned slightly while giving the other party an inviting gesture. “Let’s go inside. The others are already waiting.”

……