Child of Destiny

…

After scouting the map for quite a while, Shin and the rest of the Empyrean Talons could not help but frown deeply while trying to figure out the purpose of their opponents in choosing this map.

This map was too huge for a Team Competition format. It was quite strange for them to make such a choice, especially when there were a lot of map choices they could choose from, which were equally complex and more favorable for their team composition.

They were not sure what it was with this map that made the side of God’s Paradise choose this map.

Aside from being overly huge and having multiple strange terrains, this place was nothing but an empty map for them.

Everyone was quite confused about this matter, but they could not do much about it since they had no choice but to survey the map, since they would be put at a massive disadvantage if they blindly scaled through it without a plan.

Just like what the Art of War from a wise man had said – ’Know enemy, know yourself, know your environment, and in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.’

If they carelessly advanced and did not care about their surroundings while moving forward, then they would greatly suffer at their hands of their enemies when they meet later.

The best guess that they could make right now would be the issue with the gigantic size of the Golden Immortal, which was formed with the Unity Skill of their opponents.

There could be a special feature in this map that could enhance the abilities and powers of the Golden Immortal, or it might be solely because of the issue with the size alone.

After reaching the midpoint between their spawn point and the heart of the map, the Cardinal City, Shin signaled everyone to temporarily halt their advance.

Raising his brows, Owen could not help but ask. “Why are we stopping here? If it is to rest and recuperate in their current state, then I don’t think this is the best place to do so.”

He usually does not question any decision or arrangement from Shin since this guy always knew what he was doing.

However, Owen could not help but doubt it a little this time since the spot that Shin had chosen to pause their advance was a bit too much. It was a terrible choice when it came to strategic standards.

The place was a bit too dense with bushes and had quite a lot of trees surrounding it. It might look good as a hiding place or an ambush point, but it also puts them in quite a pricky situation due to the surroundings themselves – or more specifically, the creatures surrounding them.

There were quite a lot of fireflies flying around them, which seemed to be attracted to other living creatures and converged at their spot.

This would expose their current location. This would indirectly signal their opponents about their location.

Moreover, the fireflies were also gathering from every direction, seemingly calling their kins that they had found some people.

To make it even worse, the converging fireflies were also slowly flying upwards, creating a vague pillar of light that seemed to be calling the opposing side about them.

They seemed to be acting as scouts for God’s Paradise, selling out their location.

From his perspective, this was not a good choice, especially when there were other locations that with better conditions and were without strange creatures. There were even some places where they could fully see their surroundings from high ground, preventing the opposing side from launching an ambush.

With a variety of choices, Owen could not understand why Shin chose such a disadvantageous spot for them.

Even if the opposing side should also be still in the middle of traversing the difficult terrains from their spawn point, they could reach the city before the Empyrean Talons.

They were most likely more familiar with the map than everyone else, especially since they had purposely chosen this map for the final round.

They should be much faster than the Empyrean Talons, given such familiarity.

The rest of the team understood Owen’s concerns since his thoughts were basically right in a standard sense. However, Shin was someone who did not like following such simple methods.

Understanding the purpose of these strange fireflies, Shin planned to take advantage of them and purposely expose their location to their opponents.

He was just purposely summoning the opposing side to avoid any complicated details of the match and start the fight already.

Since both sides were pretty much familiar with the respective strengths and weaknesses of each other, there was no point in going through a lot of trouble, avoiding any appetizers, and going straight to the main course instead.

Even though he did not mind playing with tricks just like the opposing side would most likely like, Shin was too lazy to bother with the complicated stuff this time and wanted to clash with the opposing side straight away.

Aside from this, Shin could also feel something ominous about this map. He felt that it would be more disadvantageous for them if they delayed this match for much longer. A prolonged battle would be quite risky for them, so it was better to invite the opposing side to attack them as soon as possible rather than playing a strategic game with them.

On top of this, Shin also knew that they would only be stepping into the traps that their opponents had set up on the other side if they continued with the current pace that they had, so it would be better to lure their opponents toward their direction, avoiding the unnecessary troubles along the way.

Arthur, Leonard, and Cloe, who were very familiar with Shin, could also somewhat tell what he was thinking. They did not ask anything because they knew that it was better to fully restore their mental state to their peak and ready themselves for the battle.

As for Diablo and Alice, they did not say anything else since the other three remained calm and followed their lead.

Seeing that the others were not saying anything, Owen could only sigh and copy them. He went to a corner and sat to recuperate his mental state.

After a while, Shin opened his eyes and started giving orders once again. “Diablo, come with me and scout ahead. It should be about time for them to notice us.”

“The rest, you maintain your position and wait for my signal. But keep your guard up while waiting. Who knows if those guys will suddenly appear behind us out of nowhere?”

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Following his instructions, the group immediately responded and moved accordingly swiftly.

Shin and Diablo disappeared into the woods, entering stealth while dashing across the forest. Meanwhile, the rest of the team swiftly picked up their respective weapons and prepared themselves.

…

Within the Cardinal City, the members of God’s Paradise had already set up their preparations and were currently waiting for the opposing side.

Unfortunately, there were no signs of their opponents despite waiting for quite a while now.

Confused, Ashura ran toward the highest building within the city and looked in the distance, seemingly trying to find their opponents.

To his surprise, the opposing side did not seem to be planning to hide their locations. “What are these guys plotting this time?”

Seeing the huge cluster of lights in the distance, Ashura could already tell that the Empyrean Talons were purposely exposing themselves and taking the initiative to invite them in a frontal confrontation.

“That guy is most likely scheming something troublesome,” he mumbled, feeling that Shin was trying to play a card on them once again.

Recalling the details of the Team Competition from the previous match, Ashura could not help but feel a bit pressured.

Shin’s tactics and arrangements were ruthless, particularly with those attacks that utilized the void gates from the previous match. Even Ashura and the others were quite helpless to deal with it.

If not for Keir sacrificing himself at that time and letting Dio take over the stage, then they would most likely have had to endure Charlotte’s (Alice) endless barrage of spells at that time, which could have further exhausted their energy and concentration much faster.

Thinking about those troublesome arrangements, Ashura hesitated for a moment, whether to accept the invitation or stay in the city.

However, the answer is already obvious. Since they had already arranged everything, there was no need to take more risks and hurt their plans.

However, he would also not stand by and let Shin make more arrangements while they were waiting inside the city.

He turned to the others, who were waiting under the tower, before issuing his commands. “Vulture and Dio, you two scout the surroundings of the city. Susanoo and Kallavan, stay in the city and make sure that there are no accidents.”

“Sir Valerius and I will be escorting Lia underground,” he added before jumping off the roof of the tower.

……