Child of Destiny

Vulture looked at the two, who were looking at him from the roof of the tree house, before asking. “So, you two have purposely revealed your location to lure me away from Sheryl and Berit.”

Owen paused for a moment to have an internal debate about whether to answer that question or not before sighing. “Well, this is not our original plan if we are being honest. But after seeing your lineup, we have no choice but to do this given your fierce reputation.”

He looked at Vulture with full seriousness before answering. “Among all the members of God’s Paradise, you are one of the most annoying ones when it comes to Group Battles or Team Competitions.”

“The more chaotic the situation is, the more your skills shine, so we can only choose to lure you away and fight you in isolation rather than picking an unfavorable battle for us,” he added, not caring whether the other party understood their side or not.

After all, they had already achieved their initial goals.

They had already experienced how annoying this guy was during their scrimmages, giving them enough information about him aside from the reputation that was already known to the public.

He was quite a menace to his opponents when it became chaotic on the field. He was a natural opportunist, which made him shine the more chaotic the battlefield was.

Siezing and creating such opportunities in battle was his expertise, so group battles and team competitions were like a home advantage for him, regardless of the map they were on.

Given their decent familiarity with this person, the trio from the Empyrean Talons decided to avoid fighting him on his turf. After all, once the battle became more chaotic, his playground would be fully set up.

If not for Cloe constantly marking this guy with her spells during that time, then they would have most likely lost more rounds during those scrims.

Hearing the honest answer, Vulture could not help but chuckle a little. He knew that their commanders were quite in a ‘friendly’ relationship with one another and even built up an alliance, albeit it being an ‘unofficial’ one.

The forces of God’s Paradise had garrisoned themselves on the Gold Mountain, particularly at the Gold City, so the relationship between the two adventurer teams was quite close, even if it was just from a business perspective at the moment.

Regardless, competition was competition. They were currently on this stage, so he could just sympathize with them. “Heh! Are you not worried that your Vampire friend will turn into a Swiss cheese fighting alone on that side?”

“Those comrades of mine are not easy pickings, you know? They have been partners for quite a long time, so they are not to be underestimated,” he added, trying to see where the confidence of the opposing party was coming from.

Hearing that, Owen chuckled as he answered. “Don’t worry about that guy. He is the one who has suggested this anyway, so I believe that he can handle that side himself.”

“For now, you should worry about yourself,” he added before jumping off the roof of the tree house.

Bang!

Right after he landed, some mechanism seemed to have been activated, making the ground tremble due to the appearance of a tall wall surrounding and sealing the area, spanning up to a hundred-meter radius.

“Is this all the modifications that you have done to this map? Just a simple method of sealing the place?” commented Vulture, seemingly understanding the intention of his opponents.

“I guess, I have to showcase a bit of my skills and prove that my expertise is not just limited to assassination,” he added before getting ready for the battle.

Owen and Ithilien, on the other hand, readied themselves in response before swiftly launching a coordinated attack.

…

Meanwhile, on the other side of the map, Sheryl and Berit were still busy dealing with the swarm of shadow bats that were attacking them from every direction.

“It seems like there is no end to this. This is getting a little annoying!” complained Sheryl, a little before taking out a bunch of spherical objects from her inventory.

Seeing her action from the corner of his eyes, Berit could not help but wear a panicked expression before scolding her. “Are you crazy? Using such powerful bombs in this place!?”

“Shut up a just set up the barrier already!” Sheryl snarled back, not caring about the reaction of her partner.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Immediately after, she threw the spherical bombs in different directions, centering on the part where the greatest number of bats were gathered.

“This lunatic woman!” Regardless of his complaints, Berit still raised his shield and summoned a thick and sturdy barrier that was obviously much tougher than what he had just summoned earlier.

‘Shield Master Skill (Tier 2): Protection of the Land King’

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Right after the barrier appeared, the bombs immediately exploded almost at the same time, producing a destructive aftermath.

Rumble!

The barrier shook violently due to the chained bombardment of the explosions, but it remained tough and sturdy despite how powerful the successive explosions hitting it.

When everyone settled, Berit still maintained the barrier, not daring to lower his guard even for a second.

They knew that the earlier swarm of bats was nothing but a mere distraction, creating an opening for Alucard to strike.

Now that their vision was currently being obstructed by a thick cloud of smoke produced by the earlier explosion, ambushing them would be much easier than before.

At the same time, Sheryl was already spreading her senses everywhere, attempting to find any signs of their opponents. Not even a single movement of the wind or a small fluctuation of mana could escape her perception.

Bang!

It was at this moment that a resounding gunshot rang from a distance, fully alerting the two.

Berit was quite confused at first, but he just resumed infusing more mana into the barrier, making sure to block the incoming attack.

But while he was doing that, Sheryl, who was behind him, suddenly grabbed his shoulders and swiftly pulled him to the side.

Bang!

It was also at that moment that a crimson streak of light suddenly pierced through the barrier without any sort of obstruction and passed through the place where Berit previously stood.

Given his sharp eyes, he could tell that his head would have most likely exploded if Sheryl had not pulled him away and let that shot hit him.

He was still in the middle of processing everything inside his head when Sheryl swiftly pulled out her pair of submachine guns and started firing in another direction.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The magic bullets flew out and put holes in the thick cloud of smoke, somewhat clearing it.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

When Berit turned his head toward the direction from which she had just fired, he suddenly saw a barrage of crimson daggers hovering in the air got annihilated by the storm of bullets, and crushed like pieces of fragile glass.

Swoosh!

He just recovered his composure when a dashing silhouette brushed past him and headed straight to Sheryl.

“Shit!” he could only curse himself when he saw Alucard appearing before Sheryl and throwing a forward stab toward her.

Shing!

Sheryl swiftly retreated when she sensed the sudden ambush, distancing herself from the incoming opponent.

Swoosh!

Her swift response saved her from having a hole in her chest.

Berit had also responded in time and charged at Alucard with all his might, resembling an unstoppable truck while he raised his pair of shields before him.

Swoosh!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

At the same time, Sheryl started firing a series of shots in his direction, blocking all the possible retreat paths that he could take.

Poof!

However, Alucard just let his body explode his body into black smoke and transformed into a swarm of bats that flew in every direction.

Shriek! Shriek! Shriek!

At the same time, the bats had also released a simultaneous cry to produce a series of sonic attacks that disturbed the two.

The two ignored the fact that they failed to catch the slippery opponent and just took advantage of their respective actions to regroup with each other instead.

Shing!

However, before they could even reach one another, Alucard’s figure materialized right beside Sheryl, along with the same stabbing posture from earlier.

Sheryl swiftly reacted, spinning her pair of submachine guns with her fingers before fixing her grips over them. Then she used their respective barrels to redirect the incoming rapier.

Clank!

Blazing sparks flew in the air as she let the blade of the rapier grind through the metal barrels of her guns before swiftly throwing a powerful knee kick toward her charging opponent.

Bang!

Unfortunately, Alucard just calmly placed his palm on the incoming knee, leisurely blocking the attack.

Taking advantage of the rebound force, Sheryl swiftly rode the momentum to slide backwards while firing a series of shots toward her opponent.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Alucard swiftly pulled out his magic pistol in response, firing in return.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

However, instead of exchanging fire with his opponent, he purposely hit the incoming storm of bullets, deflecting them with each of his shots.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Unfortunately, the firing rate and the number of bullets of his opponent’s submachine gun were far superior to his single pistol.

However, the earlier shots were just to buy himself enough time to fix his stance, where he could freely swing his rapier and deflect the incoming storm of bullets.

“Just stay where you are!”

Berit then appeared behind Alucard, raising both his shields in the air before slamming them down with all his might.

Unfortunately, this supposedly perfect ambush turned into a dangerous situation when Alucard suddenly turned toward him, staring straight into his eyes.

“Shit!”

He knew that he had fallen into the trap once again, especially after seeing the eerie and bloody aura surrounding the opposing party.

‘Sanguine Swordsmanship: Blood in the Moonlight’

Shing!

Berit swiftly adjusted his posture in the air, forcefully canceling his previous actions to place his shields before him and quickly reinforcing them with all his mana.

Swoosh!

Boom!

In the next instant, Alucard’s rapier, whose blade had turned completely crimson, suddenly stabbed forward and strongly hit the center of his shield before sending him flying in the opposite direction.

Whoosh!

……