Child of Destiny

It did not take long before everyone received the notification from the system, informing them about the format of the match.

Skimming through it, the people waiting for the match to start could not help but have different reactions. Some found it an interesting development, while others were quite confused by the decision regarding God’s Paradise.

Given the information and the results from the previous match between the two sides, it was clear to everyone that the Empyrean Talons had a slight advantage over God’s Paradise when it came to the individual prowess of their key combatants.

The core members of the Empyrean Talons were noticeably more skilled and experienced compared to those of God’s Paradise. Others even directly countered most of their members.

However, the advantages of God’s Paradise were also obvious to everyone. The overall quality of their members was much better than Empyrean Talons. After all, the latter had more rookie members while their side had members who were either Godlike Players or Maverick Gods.

Taking advantage of this situation, it was more ideal for God’s Paradise to use it to their advantage, which was why the 2-vs-2 format for round one was quite understandable.

However, their choice for the second round, the Group Battle, was a bit confusing.

This made people think that God’s Paradise was quite scared of the arrangements of Empyrean Talons for Group Battle. After all, the result of the previous match was still fresh to their minds.

What Alucard had done during that match was still quite shocking for many, particularly how he ‘toyed’ with Sheryl and her partner during that match.

The people could not help but think that they were afraid of Alucard slaughtering their members again in the Group Competition.

People think that the members of God’s Paradise were not confident in dealing with Alucard in the Group Battle, which was why they had chosen the current format, since they could at least exhaust him, particularly his Health Bar and Mana Pool. After all, using potions in this format was forbidden.

At the same time, there was also the matter concerning the concentration of the players, so having consecutive battles would put quite a heavy toll on their minds, particularly at the peak of the competitive scene.

Even someone from the peak of the Godly Ranking Lists would find it quite staining when facing people of the same level or equally skilled.

Everyone could not help but feel a little curious about the lineups that the two teams would be sending on the field, particularly God’s Paradise, since the formats of each round were their choice.

The top experts of the game were particularly curious about the arrangement that they prepared for the Group Battle, particularly when everyone was fully aware that this would most likely decide the outcome of this match.

…-or the tides of the match at the very least.

Then there was also the format for the Team Competition, which was very intriguing in the eyes of everyone.

A seven-versus-seven format for the Team Competition was truly quite tricky to deal with. After all, the previous two rounds would already have exhausted most of the combatants of the Empyrean Talons, so throwing such a format for the final round would gain the members of God’s Paradise some advantages.

Putting the earlier data into consideration, the Empyrean Talons would most likely pinch their forces, spreading their main forces a bit wide.

Given that the overall quality of God’s Paradise was a bit better than Empyrean Talons, the current situation gave these top experts and analysts the impression that the latter was a bit in a disadvantage.

They were starting to understand the thoughts of God’s Paradise when choosing these formats.

But it was also quite easy to counter. The Empyrean Talons could just drop the first two rounds and put their strongest member for the third round, gambling everything on the outcome of the Team Competition.

Since their side had such a huge advantage in terms of score, they could afford to take such a risk, especially so when the home advantage for the third round would shift toward their favor after God’s Paradise had chosen such an all-out format.

…

Not long after, the system finally announced the start of the first round.

*Ding*

System: Grand Finals of United Cup, Second Match!

System: God’s Paradise (Home) versus Empyrean Talons (Away)

‘Spirit Shaman’ Amor (Maverick God) and ‘Dark Exorcist’ Odium (Maverick God)

Versus

‘Calamity Witch’ Daulla (Titled Ranker) and ‘Bird of Hermes’ Archimedes (Titled Ranker)!

…

“They really appeared!” said Arthur with a slight frown after seeing the names of the representatives of God’s Paradise.

“The famed Twin Stars of God’s Paradise,” said Cloe solemnly, fully understanding that this was not going to be an easy battle for Daulla and Archimedes.

“The strength of those two is no joke,” mumbled Leonard while recalling the time he clashed with those two.

If it were just individual strength, then he could crush either of them quite easily. But together, even he would not dare to face the two.

If he could compare them to any famous duo within the game, then he would choose the couple from Dark Hero Adventurer Team, or more specifically, Slayers Adventurer Team of this era – the ‘Flame Witch’ Ember and ‘Winter Demon’ Ravier.

The understanding of these two was on top of the pyramid, rivaling even the level that the Monster Trio had reached to a certain extent.

“These two are indeed a bit difficult to deal with,” seconded Diablo, recalling the time he was still the Head Commander of the Sweepers and assigned to hunt down the top experts of the game.

There were very few that gave him enough trouble during his operations during that time, such as Zero and others who were at his level. As for the others who were not in the top rankings, he rarely encountered anyone who could threaten him, especially when he was with his units.

He could clearly remember the targets who had survived his hands, which proved their strength.

These two, before them, were among those who managed to achieve such a feat.

Alucard did not say anything since he had never met these two. But if it was the Mad Alchemist, then it was a whole other story since he did exchange some blows against that person before.

Owen neither agreed nor disagreed since he felt that his coordination with Ithilien would not be lost that much against these two. At least, they could also match against the famous couple of the Slayers Adventurer Team. After all, their most recent spar against those two gained them positive results.

The rookies of the team, on the other hand, could not say anything since they were not as experienced as the others.

In the meantime, Shin focused on a slightly different matter. He smiled a little as he pointed. “Well, those two are at least a bit lucky when it comes to the map.”

Pointing his chin forward, he added. “It seems like the so-called twin stars are not expecting to face Archimedes and Daulla for this match.”

Hearing his words, the rest of the team could not help but turn their attention to the battlefield, realizing that the opposing side had chosen a very interesting map for this round.

“Whistle~! I guess our surprise still has some effect,” commented Cloe after seeing the map.

The map was not that special or anything else. It could be counted as a standard map within the Divine Colosseum.

Floating Island.

As the name suggested, it was a map set on an island floating in the sky. In a sense, it was similar to the Sky Island that was situated in the Primal Kingdom, where Archimedes and Daulla had met Shin and the others.

However, it was a way smaller compared to the Sky Island. It could also be counted as a smaller version of it.

This floating island had three major sections such as the forest, the ruined temple, and an open field.

Putting all these into consideration, it could be considered as a home advantage for Archimedes, who stayed in the Sky Island for quite a while when he was accepting the remaining inheritance of Garuda.

As for Daulla, she would also not have a hard time adjusting to such an environment since she was always with Archimedes most of the time.

With this map, the rest of the Empyrean Talons felt that they somehow gained a bit of advantage over the opposing side.

But since this was the chosen map of the said Twin Star, they also could not ignore the fact that those two would most likely be plotting something.

“Let’s just hope that the ‘Father-Daughter Duo, ‘” chuckled Arthur.

Cloe and Leonard also nodded their heads, feeling that this was going to be an important match for Archimedes and Daulla. The experience they would gain from this match would likely contribute significantly to their growth.

After all, the pressure that such a stage gave to everyone could also be an oil that could help the fire within them to grow stronger.

……