Child of Destiny

The battle on this side was growing more intense as more time passed.

Shin and Kael were exchanging blows against one another, with the latter able to hold his ground despite dealing with both Shin and the Legion of the Chaotic Sun.

Chaotic Luck might not be able to fully follow the movements of the two, but he was still able to rely on the AI of the legion to handle those he could not. He was regularly providing timely support, which was quite suspicious. They either did done on purpose or just landed by luck.

Aside from this side, he was also providing some assistance to Samael and Huahua, who were doing their best to keep themselves alive against Sakura and Yamamoto.

Due to this, he became the ‘busiest’ person on the battlefield.

The other was Kael for obvious reasons. He had to keep Shin busy while also considering the overall state of the battlefield.

The number of elemental wisps that he was summoning was continuously increasing, rapidly approaching his limit. But at the same time, he was also able to cast more spells due to their presence.

He was able to cycle between multiple basic and intermediate spells alongside some of the more advanced spells that were destructive enough to cover the entire battlefield.

If not for Shin, who stuck with him like a gum and prevented him from affecting the overall situation too much, then the situation would have most likely tilted in their direction already.

But despite all of these, Kael kept a calm expression. After all, he knew that the longer they kept this up, the better it was for them.

As the ones who had chosen this map, they were more familiar with it than the opposing side. They knew that this place was the farthest from the central hall, which was the center of the map.

Aside from that, it also indicated that they were farthest compared to the rest of the teams on the map.

Based on the information that they had gotten from the other groups through special means within the map, the other teams were coming from the opposite direction of this place.

The other two teams, led by Flouree and Gernard, were also coming that way. They were about to reach the central hall before heading to this place to meet with them.

Once their forces were gathered in this place, it was already the end of Shin and the others.

No matter how powerful Shin could be, he couldn’t hold several Maverick Gods on their side.

Even if Shin and the others realized this and decided to retreat, there was no way for them to meet with the rest of the Empyrean Talons, as they had to go through the central hall before they could reach the corridors from the opposite side.

With this, Shin would have to face the other two teams from the Earners Mercenary Group before they could reach their allies.

Once it happened, Shin and his team would be trapped in a pincer attack where neither side was easy to deal with.

At that time, the victory was already within their grasp.

…

While Kael was thinking about this, Shin, who kept on chasing him, finally sensed that there was something wrong with the situation.

He could not put his finger on what exactly it was, but he was sure that something was going on under what he could see on the surface.

The situation on the battlefield was still within his expectations, so he could not see where exactly this ominous feeling was coming from.

“Unless it is coming from the other teams,” he mumbled as he seemed to have realized what the opposing team was thinking.

He did not know about the gathering spot of the Earners Mercenary Group, but he could at least get the gist of it. With just a simple deduction method, he could at least guess what the plans that the opposing side was planning.

“He is neither fighting with all his might nor buying time for the other groups from their side,” mumbled Shin as he looked at Kael with a slight frown.

He then started smirking while activating a quadruple possession in an instant. “If you don’t want to go all-out, then I will be claiming the lives of your allies.”

Holding the legendary sword [Durendal] and the inheritance sword [Yamato] in his left and right hands, respectively, along with a set of armor cloaked with the power of the psychic shadows, Shin revealed the form that stunned everyone once again.

Seeing this godly form, the expression on Kael’s face immediately turned serious, fully understanding that he could not afford to continue hiding his strength before the current Shin.

He swiftly summoned the largest number of elemental wisps he could and gathered them around him, preparing for a powerful attack.

But as he was preparing to reinforce his strength and defense, he suddenly noticed that Shin was actually not aiming at him. The latter was charging straight at Sakura and Yamamoto, who were being held by another batch of more advanced skeleton creatures.

“Sh*t!” knowing that he was duped by Shin, Kael swiftly activated all the buffs that he could possibly have while the elemental wisps fused with his body and further strengthening his overall stats.

Elven Runes also started to appear on different parts of his body. These runes were emitting a jade light along with an ancient aura that could suppress even the surrounding mana.

Shin, who was already on his way toward Sakura and Yamamoto, could not help but furrow his brows deeply as he could sense the ancient aura that he had felt when fighting against Flouree during the previous match.

Now that he had seen it from a different source, it had given him a clear view of what they were.

“Ancient Mana Essence,” he was now sure that it was the same mana essence that he had sensed from those creatures from the Trial of the Primordial Waters.

But he did not stop his tracks as he continued to charge toward the pair, who were busy dealing with the blazing skeletal monsters and the duo of Samael and Huahua.

Swoosh!

Sakura and Yamamoto immediately sensed the strong fluctuations coming in their direction.

They did not need to turn their heads to know how dangerous the incoming attack was.

The two quickly moved and decisively decided to use their combination technique despite being surrounded by the chaotic, blazing mana.

They were taking the risk for survival at this point.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Yamamoto first created a powerful tornado that somewhat cleared the surrounding flames, producing a stable area where they could fully unleash their combination technique.

Sakura immediately transformed into a flood of cherry blossoms along with hundreds of flying daggers in the mix.

Yamamoto then became a violent tornado that dragged the pink petals and hundreds of daggers in the air, fiercely spinning and strongly attacking everything around them.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Due to the violent storm, the surrounding skeleton soldiers and blazing skeletal monsters were forcefully pushed away, and Samael was also forced to retreat.

However, the group of rookies from the Empyrean Talons would not let themselves get pushed back this much, so they quickly responded immediately after.

Huahua summoned another group of totems, placing them around the spinning tornado and trapping it in place.

Chaotic Luck then summoned a miniature sun over this tornado, letting it fire an intense barrage of light beams, turning the surrounding mana even more chaotic. He was planning to disrupt the combination technique of their opponent by breaking the mana equilibrium within the air.

Samael was not idle either as he coated his sword with a Sun Blessing before swinging it multiple times in the air and sending a series of sword slashes in the spinning tornado, further turning the mana in the air more chaotic and hotter.

It was also at this moment that Shin arrived at the scene swinging his pair of swords that were covered in Enhanced Eternal Flame and Five Elemental Primordial Lightning.

Swoosh!

Crackle!

Shin landed at the eye of the tornado, where it was the calmest, before executing a sword dance along with the [Durendal] and [Yamato].

‘Myriad Transformation Swordsmanship: Dance of Fire and Lightning’

Sword flashes made of fire and lightning elements flew in every direction, cutting through the storm of cherry blossoms and violent tornadoes.

Boom!

Sakura and Yamamoto were forced to separate from their technique and reveal their true forms.

They then found themselves at the center of the chaotic attacks coming from every direction. There was no path for escape, especially when they were suffering from the drawbacks of being forced out of their combination techniques.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Fortunately, a dome made of ice and stone was formed around them, saving the two from being annihilated by the incoming attacks.

Kael, who was now releasing an almost blinding jade light, was floating above the dome along with a mystic wheel hovering and spinning over his head like a halo.

Seeing the current form of Kael and sensing that familiar ancient aura, Shin was now sure that the Earners Mercenary Group had found the way to gain and utilize that broken power of the ancient beings.

“Interesting.”

…