Child of Destiny

...…

When they saw the Zombie Elves and the Drows on the trees, Owen and Ithilien immediately realized that they were already nearing the setting of her current quest.

They were about to make their move when a sudden notification rang in Ithilien's ears.

*Ding*

System: Main Quest Scenario has been triggered!

System: Ongoing quest is being updated!

System: Second Chain Quests had been triggered!

*Ding*

System: Quest Progression will now be converted to Main Quest Scenario!

…

Quest Name: The Withering

Quest Type: Main Quest Scenario

Updated Difficulty: SSS+

Quest Update: While following the lead that the Eleven King 'Jol' had given you when looking for Elf Baldir, the Druid, and the Watcher of the Forest, you stumble upon a strange phenomenon where elves were being corrupted by dark energy.

You saw a dark miasma shrouding and spreading in the inner parts of the Maze Forest, corrupting the plants, and affecting all the lifeforms that came in contact with it.

Updated Conditions: Kill all the corrupted beings and find the source of the withering.

Secondary Goal:

Look for Elf Baldir to learn more about the situation.

Quest Rewards: This will be calculated based on your performance.

Quest Penalty upon failure: Wide Spreading of the Withering.

Note: This is a solo quest, you can ask for some assistance, but the quest itself could not be shared.

…

Reading through the series of notifications and the updated quest window, Ithilien immediately understood their current situation.

She then shared the information about the quest with Owen, giving him a rough idea of what was going on.

After hearing her out, Owen nodded his head before raising his gaze toward the group of Drows staring at them from the trees. "Those guys may have some connection with the cause of the corruption, so we can assume that the Corrupted Cult is mostly related to this."

"We have to be careful," he added before getting ready to fight.

He then gestured toward the corrupted elves on the trees before pointing at the Zombie Elves on the ground. "Take care of those Drows and leave your safety to me. I'll protect you while dealing with these ugly creatures."

Hearing that, Ithilien slightly nodded her head before nocking an arrow to her bow. She then aimed up, targeting one of the Drows on the trees.

Twang!

When she released the arrow, it flew straight to her target, flying at an insane speed.

Swoosh!

But before it reached the targeted Drow, the latter suddenly jumped off from the tree, trying to avoid it.

But right after it made its move, the lone arrow suddenly showed a green light before multiplying. They suddenly separated from each other and flew in different directions, flying toward the surrounding Drows.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Some of the magic arrows missed their targets and hit the trees instead while the rest managed to hit the arms and legs of the other Drows, rendering them completely immobile. The others were barely able to graze the remaining, allowing them to fire back.

They started nocking arrows on their bows before firing at the two from above, especially Ithilien, who could pose more threat to them.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The hail of arrows fell from above, forcing Ithilien to continuously dodge them. But despite her high mobility and skillful dodging, some of the arrows were still able to find her.

But before they could even reach her, Owen suddenly appeared in front of her and raised his shield, blocking all the arrows.

He did not even wait for a moment as he quickly stomped on the ground and sent a shockwave outward, that blew away the Zombie Elves that were already charging at them.

He then used a skillful foot technique to turn around, circling Ithilien, while slashing with his sword.

Slash!

His swing accurately struck a Drow that suddenly appeared behind Ithilien who was trying to sneak attack and eliminate her.

Ithilien was not idle either as she had already nocked a few more arrows on her bow and aimed it above them. She infused her mana on those arrows before releasing them without any hesitation.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The arrows flew high up in the air before drawing an arc as they spread in every direction. Then, with an inverted parabola, they started raining down from above while multiplying their numbers.

'Master Archer Skill (Tier 2): Arrow Rain'

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The rain of arrows poured down from above striking all the surrounding Zombie Elves that swarmed at them and the Drows that were about to fire with their bows.

Ithilien did not even wait for the result of her attack as she quickly turned around rolling her back on Owen as he also did the same.

Ithilien raised her bow and started firing at the Drows above the trees, who were also about to strike them from behind.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Each arrow was fired with extreme accuracy and insane speed, finding their targets one after another. She had targeted the heads, necks, or hearts of their opponents to make sure that they would die with a single strike.

In the meantime, Owen, who just returned facing the front, deeply inhaled a lot of air before suddenly shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Hah!"

The shout was like a lion's roar that swept through in every direction, attracting the attention of all the Zombie Elves and some of the Drows hiding under the shade of the trees.

'Knight Skill: Provoke'

He then slammed his shield and sword with each other, activating a series of buffs to enhance all his stats, particularly his defenses.

His body glowed with a golden light, which slowly flowed upwards.

'Ancient Protector Skill: Blessing of the Ancients'

Boom!

A strong pressure was suddenly released from his body as he faced the incoming swarm of Zombie Elves. He raised his sword in front of him and hid the sword behind while glaring at them fiercely.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The teamwork of the two was seamlessly perfect, making all their actions so natural. They did not even need to talk with each other as they exchanged places during the instances where they were covering the blind spot of the other party.

Ithilien fired her arrows without restraint and did not think about her safety as she fully trusted Owen with it. The latter also did not disappoint her as he completely warded off every threat that could reach her. Whether it was arrows, the assassin Drows, or the swarming Zombie Elves – all of them were blocked and struck down by him all the time.

The battle continued as the two fought with ease while covering each other's backs.

********

In the meantime, somewhere in Whitestone City, a group of players were currently gathered and having a serious discussion.

These people were the leaders of the branches of the three Powerhouses here in the Sacred Light Kingdom.

As a tacit agreement, none of them set up a headquarters in the Whitestone City and let the smaller guilds and famous adventurer teams settle here. It was to set a balance and avoid getting in a serious conflict with one another and provoking the public further.

They might be strong and possess a lot of influence, but it would only affect them negatively in the long run if they senselessly provoked all the first-rate guilds within the Sacred Light Kingdom along with the famous adventurer guilds.

Once these smaller and weaker guilds bonded together, it would still cause them serious damage despite the absolute strength that they had.

Fenix, the Guild Leader of the branch of the Golden Dawn opened up the meeting by saying. "We should be able to find that core this time, right?"

Behind him was a pair of players, who stood like guards. They were glaring at everyone else, fully on guard.

They might look like allies right now, but the truth was that they were still competitors.

Sitting on the right of Fenix was a Dark Elf, who seemed to have a Twilight Class given the set of equipment that he had. This guy was the most lowkey among the Branch Leaders within the Sacred Light Kingdom, but also known as the slyest one of them all.

This guy was named Kellin, the Untraceable Shadow. He was a well-known Maverick God, who won fight against some Godlike Players. Even though he had not joined any official competitions to gain his official title, he was still a well-respected expert.

Unlike Fenix, who could not be labeled as a real expert and was only good at guild management and politics, Kellin did not even have a guard to protect him. This clearly showed how confident he was in his strength.

He played with his dagger and let it spin on his finger. There was a smirk on his face as he said. "You don't have to doubt me too much. I found an expert pathfinder that can lead us to the center of the Maze Forest."

"Tsk! If only we can get our hands on Ithilien early on, then we don't have to go through all this trouble," said another branch leader sitting on the other side of the round table.

The guy was the branch leader of the Mythical Guild; the Nightmare Swordsman 'Heckles'. He was another Maverick God without much fame in the competitive side of the game but was still known in the circle as one of the best experts in the path of the sword.

He was known for his unbelievable swordsmanship that always rendered his opponents completely powers. His swordsmanship was not as fancy as the other well-known swordsmen, but it could kill the rhythm of his opponents mysteriously, hence his nickname suggested.

Behind him stood his sole guard, who was also an unofficial expert. Even the people inside the room did know who this guy was, but his strength was not weaker than Heckles or Kellin.

Hearing those words, Fenix suddenly turned at Heckles with a fierce glare. "And who do you think is to blame for that? If you guys don't get involved in our business, then we have already gotten our hands on that item!"

Heckles laughed at those words and refuted them. "Nah-ah! That is not my fault. It is you, people, who mess everything up."

"If you did not expose us back then, then that girl may have already been on our side and cleared the main scenario with us."

Fenix gave him a sarcastic look while saying. "Hah! Join you, your *ss! If you don't provoke Owen at that time, then do you think things will escalate like this?"

Seeing that the two arguing with each other, Kellin shook his head before quickly mediating between the two. "Alright! Alright! It is already in the past. There is no need to cry over a spilled milk."

"What's more, those two are no longer above-average independent experts. They are now part of such a powerful adventurer team. With that kind of lineup, you can't casually touch these two any longer," he added, reminding the two that Ithilien and Owen were now part of the Empyrean Talons.

Hearing that, the two could only shake their heads, clicked their tongues, and accepted the reality unwillingly.

Seeing that the two finally calmed down, Kellin immediately went back to the main topic of their meeting. "Let's talk about the business instead."

"Is the information that we got from that group accurate?" asked Fenix with some suspicion.

Despite him not having a good relationship with Fenix, Heckles nodded his head in agreement. "That is right. I don't think we can fully trust those people. They still belong to the opposing faction after all."

"Isn't that why we are gathered here and discussing this through?" refuted Kellin.

He even added to further convince the two. "We are not like those in the Saint Heaven Kingdom, who divided themselves just for their respective goals. As long as we gather and work together, then there is no need to fear."

Regardless of how logical Kellin sounded, Fenix still felt that something was off. He felt that something lurking around them and seemingly trying to be the fisherman that would win in the end.

"I heard that they have a mission going on. They may also have another huge operation that concerns our kingdom. We can't let our guard down," warned Heckles, clearly showing his doubt.

It was at this moment when the three of them received a report from their respective subordinates overseeing the matters in the Maze Forest.

Seeing that all of them received the report at the same time, the three immediately realized that there were some problems around.

And when they were done reading through the report, the three turned at each other, exchanging glances and showing their thoughts.

At this point, Kellin suddenly started laughing. "It looks like the heavens are on our side. I think you know what I am talking about, right?"

The other two fell in deep thought for a moment as they also had the same idea as Kellin. Then they nodded their heads, agreeing with the latter.

"If it is really those two, and they come back to finish clearing that main scenario quest, then can we use this to our advantage," said Heckles.

"But we have to confirm the information first and see if they come here by themselves. If they come with the other members of the Empyrean Talons, then this can be more troublesome," warned Fenix, telling them to be careful.

After that, they started giving out orders and making the necessary preparations and adjustments.

...