Child of Destiny

...…

The entire place was filled with silence as no one dared to make any sound. It felt like everyone forgot how to breathe due to the scene that they were currently seeing.

It lasted for a couple of moments before their brains were finally able to progress what just happened.

"Whoa!"

"What was that!"

"Unbelievable!"

"What can he respond with that speed?"

"How can it be possible to have that kind of strength with casual movements?"

An uproar quickly erupted as the onlookers went strange at the sight. They started shouting and yelling as they still could not believe what they just witnessed. Some were even hitting the players beside them, trying to see if they were in a dream.

Even Anderson, who was already about to attack, did not know how to react. He was immediately put in an awkward position, where he was still holding the string of his bow loaded with arrows.

It was at that moment when the members of the Mythical Guild finally responded.

"Bastard!"

"Catch him!"

"Kill those guys!"

But before they could even make their moves, a series of flashing lights suddenly cut through the air and flew straight to them.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Each light accurately hit the members of the Mythical Guild and quickly immobilized them.

Raising their heads, they saw the other person, who was standing behind the guy who took down their squad leader, holding a beautiful and luxurious-looking black bow in hand.

That person was currently lowering their bow, signifying that they just finished firing a couple of arrows.

That accuracy and firing rate once again stunned everyone, particularly the Mythical Guild members.

It was at this moment that everyone realized that they had encountered a pair of real experts in the flesh. And these people were not someone that they could trifle with.

It was also at this point when Moren and the rest of the Golden Dawn people managed to regain their senses. One of them was about to make their move and wanted to help the members of the Mythical Guild but they were stopped by their team captain.

"Wait. Let's observe a little more. I want to see how strong those two are," said Moren as he stared at the figures of the two mysterious experts in the distance.

As someone who was able to survive in this game despite his average skills, Moren was pretty crafty. He was someone who would rather retreat when facing a powerful enemy rather than risk their life for the thing called 'pride' and 'honor'.

He could not recklessly jump into action when they were facing a pair of experts beyond their level, especially now that the game was currently at the stage where the penalty upon death was much harsher compared to what it used to be.

Since these two were obviously much stronger than them, it would be better to stay on foot and not get involved with the fight yet.

He would let Kendi and his people suffer first and test the waters for them.

Unfortunately, due to the monstrous strength that Owen had displayed and the insane accuracy and firing rate that Ithilien had displayed, everyone from the side of the Mythical Guild was too scared to make a move. Especially when their squad leader was currently lying on the ground and seemingly unconscious despite being in the game.

Not waiting for the opposing side to regain themselves, Owen quickly raised his foot and stomped on the already buried Kendi.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He repeatedly stomped on the head of the poor squad leader, sending shivers to all onlookers and members of the opposing side.

His stomps might not be able to cause any serious damage physically, but the mental and emotional damage that it caused was much bigger than what a real attack could deal.

Even Kendi, who was still lying on the ground and being stomped by the opposing party, could not immediately recover himself as he was too stunned at what was happening. His brain was still processing how he was slammed on the ground, making it fail to process what was happening to him right now.

And when Kendi was able to finally snap out of his daze, it was already too late. Before he could even pick himself up, Owen suddenly unsheathed his sword and stabbed it down, accurately slamming it on the buried head of Kendi.

Bang!

With the current update of the game, being head-shotted like this could cause fatal damage, killing the target instantly. They would be dead without a doubt if they did not have any lifesaving skill that could save them from such a predicament.

Owen fixed his grip on the hilt of his sword as he pulled it out from the ground. After twirling it a little, he sheathed the sword back to its scabbard before turning in the direction of Mythical Guild people.

Due to how casually he did everything, it gave the impression that he just did something trivial.

And when he turned at the people of the Mythical Guild, everyone in the scene felt that he was purposely provoking them. Even though no one could see the expression that he was making due to the hood of the cloak hanging over his head, the surrounding players could clearly feel the meaning of his actions.

There was a shiver that was sent down to the spines of the people of the Mythical Guild when they saw him looking in their direction. They unconsciously took a couple of steps back when they saw the fierce eyes staring at them under the shades of the hood.

Some of them, who were the so-called old friends of Ithilien, felt something strange. It felt that the mysterious expert was looking at them, seemingly making them the main target.

Seeing that those people were acting so cowardly, Owen smirked before turning around and walking toward the Maze Forest.

Ithilien also stared at her old friends for a couple of moments, feeling a little strange, before turning around and following behind Owen.

It was only when their silhouettes disappeared in the forest that the spectators erupted with yet another uproar. They were shouting as they talked with each other despite being too close to one another.

Aderson finally lowered his bow, but his eyes kept on staring in the direction where Owen and Ithilien had disappeared. It was only when his members called him out that he managed to snap out of his thoughts.

He then turned toward the people of the Golden Dawn and Mythical Guild before signaling to his members to leave, not forgetting to pick up the earlier elf with them.

Moren was currently in deep thought as he felt something from the earlier 'exchange'. He then turned to his people and instructed them to enter the Maze Forest. But he was not planning to chase after Owen and Ithilien but just wanted to put up an act that they were going to do so.

He had to take advantage of the fact that the people from the Mythical Guild still had not organized themselves, avoiding the issue of them not joining the battle.

As they entered the map, Moren also reported the event directly to his superiors while also voicing out his suspicions. He felt that something big was going to happen, centering this pair of mysterious experts.

…

Inside the Maze Forest, Ithilien caught up to Owen and immediately started to scold him. "What are you thinking? Huh? Huh? Don't we agree to avoid creating big scenes? Now, those big guilds will start hunting us down once they realize our identities."

Strangely enough, Owen felt rather good hearing the nagging from Ithilien for some unknown reason. He then turned to her and apologized. "Alright, I am sorry about it. I just lose my reason when I see those bastards again."

"As for those big guilds realizing our identities, it will take them quite some time before it happens. When that time comes, they will have to comb through the entire Maze Forest before finding us."

"We should have enough time to find that troublesome elf hiding this forest, right?" he added while giving Ithilien a bright smile.

Seeing Owen's laidback attitude, Ithilien could not help but roll her eyes on him while shaking her head.

She then took out a necklace from her inventory and equipped it on. This accessory item did not give any kind of extra stats or skills, but it could grant her a special ability. It would let her see invisible traces in the air that could not be seen by normal means.

Upon equipping the necklace, Ithilien's eyes suddenly shone brightly for an instant before returning to its normal color. There was a pale glow left behind when the bright subdued. It surrounded her eyes as her vision suddenly changed.

She could now see a silent and subtle flow of mana moving toward a certain direction.

"I can see it. This can now lead us to the location where that mysterious elf is!" she said excitedly before taking the lead and following the mana flow.

She had spent months before just for this moment, so it was natural for her to be this excited. She was really curious one what was going to happen when she completed this chain of quests, which also concerned the main quest scenario of the Sacred Light Kingdom.

She and Owen first thought that this might be similar to the Empire Quest that they did along with the rest of the Empyrean Talons, but after thinking long and hard about it, they concluded that it might not be the case.

After all, that Empire Quest was so big that it involved a number of forces, that were in conflict with each other. There were also quite a lot of quests interconnecting with one another, concerning that Empire Quest.

They even heard from Shin that he had received a World Quest during the process.

Owen watched Ithilien's back for a moment before shaking his head as he saw how excited she was. He then followed behind her while keeping a sharp eye on the surroundings.

He knew that this map barely had monsters that they could hunt or hunt, but it would never hurt to be careful, especially when he felt a strange atmosphere upon stepping there.

He was not sure if it was because it had been a while since he had visited this place or if it was due to the changes brought by time, but he kept having an uneasy feeling the longer they stayed here.

As the pair continued to venture deeper within the Maze Forest, they saw quite a number of rare and unique herbs along the way. Feeling that it would be a huge waste to leave them behind, they decided to harvest them while moving forward.

Not long after, the two suddenly felt a strange pressure coming from the Maze Forest itself. It was as if they were being preyed upon by something unknown.

It was also at this moment when they realized that they arrived in the part of the forest that was not recorded in the map that they had brought from the skilled explorers in the kingdom.

The two became even more vigilant as they advanced. They felt a little tense as they continued moving forward. It wasn't until they reached a certain region within the Maze Forest that they could feel a lot of presence ahead of them.

Wearing a serious look, Owen stepped forward and took the lead, protecting Ithilien behind him. He also raised his shield in front of him while holding the sword on the other, preparing for an intense battle.

It was rare for this map to have monsters that could be hunted, much less the ones that could pose a serious threat to the duo. They had to be in their extreme vigilance when advancing.

When they reached the place where they sensed the huge number of presence, they were immediately greeted by a strange sight.

They saw a bunch of undead creatures feasting on the body of a huge monster. From the look of it, that corpse was from a beast-type monster from Elephant Species.

What surprised the two was the undead creatures. Given the appearance that these creatures had, the two could already tell that they were zombified humanoid monsters.

Seeing the pointed ears and lean bodies of the undead creatures, Owen could not help but click his tongue. "Zombie Elves? That's unique."

In the meantime, Ithilien was looking above, staring at the tree branches. "There are also those guys."

Casting his gaze up, Owen frowned slightly before mumbling. "Drows? And a large number of them? Now, this is troublesome."

...…