Child of Destiny

...…

David logged in to the game as Shiella sent him a message that there was an urgent matter that they needed to discuss.

Right after entering Shiella's office within the Hand of Midas Trading Firm, David immediately said. "It hasn't been long since we last met yet you already missed me? It is a little embarrassing but I am glad that you already realized my charm."

Shiella rolled her eyes when she heard those words and quickly opened a virtual map and spoke. "Enough of your nonsense already and take a look at this."

She was already used to his nonsense after knowing him for quite some time. She would only tire herself if she argued with him, so it was better to ignore his teasing. After all, he would eventually get tired of it if she was not giving him the response that he wanted.

"Tsk! Such a letdown!" muttered David before taking a seat on the sofa in front of Shiella. From the manner that he was showing, it seemed like he was treating this office as his home.

He then ignored the glare that Shiella was giving him and stared at the virtual map that was projected in front of him.

Seeing that, Shiella hmphed at him before playing the stimulation of the war that just took place in the Saint Heaven Kingdom.

It only took David a single look at it to notice the suspicious movements of the Corrupted Cult. He even frowned very deeply when he saw the final state of the map.

He turned to Shiella and asked. "What kind of quest are those guys doing in that forbidden area?"

Shiella instantly knew that David also realized what was going on. "It is an Empire Quest and it seems like it will affect the state o the Saint Heaven Kingdom if it is not handled properly."

"Tsk! What a crafty bastard!" David clicked his tongue as he could already see the whole plan that their opponent was plotting.

"Given the amount of time and effort that they invested to that place, they must also have some information about the Empire Quest that Shin and the others are doing. Or they can also have a quest of their own, which somehow coincided that Empire Quest."

"They even have such amazing contingency plans if they are discovered and get interrupted during their quest. These guys sure are a piece of word."

He turned at the map and started laying out the hidden moves that the Corrupted Cult had done. "They are originally planning to use the secret of that forbidden place to conquer the Saint Heaven Kingdom.

"But since they fail to do that, they decided to redirect their forces and sweep through the entire kingdom to weaken its power."

"And when they achieve that goal, they chose the isolated cities of the kingdom since it was the farthest location from the Sky Deceiving Valley."

"Right now, the Saint Heaven Kingdom is currently in the middle of two forces that can devour it when the right time comes."

Shiella nodded her head and emphasize. "The Kingdom is current under the recovery period so it will not be able to send any reinforcements to subdue the Corrupted Cult and take back the land."

"It is possible for the Righteous Faction to gather enough force for the crusade, but they will only be exposing their back at sudden accidents that may arise at any moment."

"The Kingdom is under the state of calamity so it will be the perfect time for Dark Players to make their move. The criminal groups of NPCs such as Bandits and lawless cities will surely take advantage of this situation. They may even release a special event for Dark Players."

David leaned his back on the sofa and commented. "The Blood Carnival must be jumping with joy right now."

He paused for a moment and immediately went back to the main topic. "Anyway, we still can't leave the Corrupted Cult just like that. The more time we spend doing nothing to subdue them, the greater their force can be."

"We can't ask any assistance from the Churches under the Righteous Faction, so we can only rely on ourselves to get the job done. You better start using your influence and contact your business partners for this matter."

Shiella glared at David but didn't say anything. After all, everything that he said was right. But she was not sure if she could gather enough force for this particular crusade of subduing the Corrupted Cult.

"Anyway, do you happen to have the means to contact the king of the Holy City or at least some Archbishops of the Churches here?" asked David all of a sudden.

Shiella immediately understood what he wanted to say and replied. "Don't worry. We may not be able to get assistance from them but I can at least present all of these to them to get a large-scale quest that can give us corresponding rewards."

"Then we are done with this issue. The only thing left is the Empire Quest that Shin and the others are doing," said David before quickly adding. "They can't clear or fail the quest too fast but they also can't do it too slow."

"If they clear it too fast, it will trigger a large expansion for the Saint Heaven Kingdom. And when it happens, the economy of this kingdom will surely drop drastically."

"Since it is an Empire Quest, there is a high chance that it will open another Kingdom. When successful, most of the players here will migrate to that area, especially with the current state of the Kingdom."

"There is no need to discuss the failure of the quest since the outcome is pretty obvious. It will definitely lead to the doom of the Saint Heaven Kingdom, which is the thing that the Corrupted Cult is hoping for."

He paused for a moment before continuing. "And if they take too much time at clearing that Empire Quest, then the Corrupted Cult will also have enough time to draw a plan for sabotaging them."

"You must know how crafty the opposing side is. The strategist, who is behind everything, is not only able to draw a pretty elaborate plan, but they are also able to read a few steps ahead of us."

Hearing those words, Shiella couldn't help but sneer at him before saying with a provocative tone. "What? Getting scared already? So much for being the best player of the «War Tactics» online."

"I thought you are the King of Strategic Games?"  she added, trying to agitate David.

Unfortunately, David only laughed at her words and spoke. "King of Strategic Games, you said? I no longer have that title since my consecutive defeat against that mysterious rookie."

"I also improved quite a lot after suffering such a number of defeats. It is just a pity that I never have a chance to play against him again since he suddenly disappears after that event."

(You can look at Chapter 474 if anyone forgot about it.)

He then turned to Shiella and added. "I know your concerns but there is really nothing to worry about. No matter how good that guy is, he is still far from that person who crushed me."

"He just has a head start and a clear look on the board before I arrive, which is why I fail to see his real intention. But now that I have the whole picture, it is impossible for him to get everything that he wants."

David looked at the virtual map once again and added. "What's more, he also has a clear weakness. He is quite greedy for thinking that he can swallow the entirety of Saint Heaven Kingdom."

He squinted his eyes while looking at the virtual map. And from his perspective, the whole map seemed to transform into a chess board before adding. "He may have a shot if he only focuses on a single goal. But since he wanted to plunder everything, I'm afraid that he has enough moves to achieve his goal on such a large board."

**********

Border of the Saint Heaven Kingdom, in the place where the Corrupted Cult chose to settle.

Immortal was currently sitting across from a hooded person while an ongoing game of chess was currently underway in front of them.

Tak!

He placed a piece on the board, indicating that he just finished his move.

His opponent didn't even take some time to think as he immediately changed the position of one of his pieces.

Tak!

"Your strategic skills are still as good as the last time we meet, but how come you suffered such a crushing defeat in the last war," said the hooded player as he finished his move.

"In your own turf nonetheless," he added as he placed his hands on top of his knees.

Immortal frowned deeply as he found those words unpleasant. But he knew that the other side was just trying to provoke him, so he only gave a calm reply. "It is because I encountered a very troublesome opponent during that time."

He then finished his move and gestured to the other person that it was his turn to make his move.

The hooded player was not in a rush this time and just started at Immortal before nodding his head. "I reviewed your battle and also found that your opponent was indeed very hard to deal with."

"But I still can't believe that you lose to such a series of stupid moves. The opposing side doesn't even have a proper formation during that time," he added before countering the move that Immortal just did.

"And such stupid moves also managed to defeat the king of strategic games," reputed Immortal with a calm tone.

The hooded player couldn't help but laugh when he heard those words. And after recovering himself, he immediately said. "That event is no different from a myth, we don't even know if it is just a show that Khing has prepared in advance."

(Still Referring to chapter 474)

"But it is still Khing who we are talking about here. I will usually punish the others because of their failure, but since their opponent is the previously crowned as the King of All Games, I guess it is still acceptable."

"That is why I only send them back to prepare a few things for me," he added as he captured one of the pieces from the opposing side of the board.

He then looked at Immortal and said with a cold tone. "I just hope that you are able to see the whole picture this time."

"There is no room for mistake since we are going face Khing himself starting from here," he added as he stood up from his seat and started to leave.

Immortal stared at the board for a few more minutes and concluded that there was really no point in continuing it.

After that, he looked at the back of the leaving figure and muttered with a voice that he could only hear. "You may be one of the most successful projects that the organization has produced, but I still doubt that you are as good as the rumored Aces."

...