Child of Destiny

...

Shin and the others were back at the edge of the wolves' territory. They looked at the army of wolves in front of them with their calm gazes.

Even Black Hand, Ara, and S.Tigris, who were a little worried when they logged back in the game, were also the same. The latter two heard from Black Hand how the four gods of their team demolished these wolves in the previous exchange.

Shin was currently standing in the forefront of the group while gauging the distance between them and the center of the wolves' den where the Alpha Wolf was located. The distance was pretty far, so it was definitely not going to be easy.

The time was not on their side in this since the longer they fought in this area and the more wolves they had slain, the more dangerous it was for them.

They needed to move as fast as they could and reached the Alpha Wolf in the shortest time possible. Their speed was the main essence of this operation since the slower they were the longer they needed to fight those wolves. And with their berserk skill, these wolves would only grow stronger.

This was also the reason why they needed to kill as less wolves as possible. They needed to prevent the Alpha Wolf to absorbed the energies of the dead wolves and making itself stronger.

Given that, Shin assigned the roles of each member of the group. He even created small teams among them and focus solely on the jobs assigned to them.

The assault group was composed of Shin, Leonard, Arthur, Zero, and Lawless. Their main job was the break through the formation of the wolves and create a path for the remaining members.

The support group was still the same. Black Hand was responsible for buffing and healing alongside Cloe. Though, the latter also needed to throw a couple of spells since her holy power was very effective against the undead.

Beside them were Charlotte, Ravier, and Embers, the three mages of the group. They were practically glass cannons. But their jobs changed a little since they were now responsible for protecting the two healers instead of supporting the frontline with their firepower.

Seven, Alucard, Ara, and S.Tigris were also there to support them. Seven was responsible for protecting the rear while S.Tigris would be guarding the front of the group. On the other hand, Alucard and Ara were positioned on the left and right respectively.

Ara was an Archer, so would definitely be in danger if some of the wolves managed to reach her. Due to that reason, the three mages were instructed to prioritize covering her side than Alucard. After all, that vampire was an expert in both ranged and close-combat fighting, so he would not have a problem protecting himself.

In the meantime, Faker was left on his own. He was free to do whatever he wanted. He could either assist the assault group or support the others at the rear.

With his speed, it was more beneficial for the team if he worked based on their progress. He was free to make decisions according to how the situation was calling for it.

But based on the lineup of the assault team, his main job would most likely be protecting the support group who were following them.

Shin turned his head to the side, looking at the others over his shoulder, before saying. "Let's get this started already. We still need to explore a lot of places on this frozen land."

After that, he started sprinting forward to lead the charge while the members of the assault team were closely following him.

The support team waited for a few moments before chasing after them. The two priests on their side simultaneously gave the group a series of buffs as they charge forward.

Awoo~!

The wolves immediately noticed the approaching group and started howling. Then they started running towards them while having angry growls

Shin looked at them with a calm expression. He then unsheathed the [Dusk Blade] and [Dawn Blade] during his sprint. He was not planning to use the Reality Manifestation immediately this time since it would consume a lot of concentration.

No matter how much they need to move fast in this operation, they still needed to be prepared for the most unexpected situations. He burned all of his concentration and became tired before they even reach the inner circle of the formation, then it was going to be more dangerous for them.

It might even risk them failing the entirety of the Empire Quest. Forget about the negative impact that it would cause on the Saint Heaven Kingdom, the penalty attached to the quest alone was more than enough for them to be cautious.

Character deletion, this reason was more than enough to make them move cautiously on this mission and prevent that from happening.

Swoosh!

But it didn't mean that Shin needed to be reserved for his actions. He immediately gave his all on the first collision alone.

'Slayer Skill: Eclipse Slash!'

'Self-Created Skill (Combined): Eclipse Cross'

A pair of skills with very strong destructive powers were released by him consecutively. It immediately greeted the incoming wolves that were charging at him ahead. And since they were sprinting at full speed, it was impossible for them to dodge in time.

The first energy wave flew in a straight line, devouring every wolf on its path. Given the health bars of those wolves, it was natural for them to survive it despite the power that it was carrying. But the cross-shaped energy following closely behind it slayed all of them.

Immediately after that, Shin turned into a streak of light and flew through the path that his previous skills had created, arriving in the middle of the pack.

'Slayer Skill: Moonlight Movement'

He then activated the special skill attached to his equipment set to suppress the wolves surrounding him before starting to slaughter them one after another.

The opening that he created was pretty big, so it was pretty easy for the rest of the group to follow him.

Arthur and Leonard also threw a large-scale skill parallel to the previous skills that Shin threw to further widen the path that had been created.

Then they charged forward, the prevent those wolves from re-organizing their formation. These wolves might not be intelligent, but the Alpha Wolf situated at the center of the pack possessed very high intelligence.

They already confirmed it earlier. This wolf boss could command its minions and it was also capable of using a couple of battle formations that could give them some trouble.

Lawless didn't join those two in intercepting the wolves. Instead, he slowed down his pace and vigilantly looked around. His current job was to take down the wolves that would miraculously survive the onslaught of the three.

If ever they needed his help, then he would immediately lend them a hand. Though, the chances for it to happen were very slim. Moreover, Zero was also running right beside him further limiting his job.

Zero was supposed to join the leading group too. But since he was aware of the strengths of those three, he chose to also slow down his pace and let them lead the charge. And whenever he saw an opening, he would always swing his swords and send a wind blade forward to take down a couple of wolves.

His main job was to limit the number of wolves to a certain degree and create more gaps in the formation of the wolves. And due to this, the Alpha Wolf would have a hard time reorganizing its defense.

Everything went according to plan and the team advanced steadily without encountering any problems.

They broke through the outer circle with ease, but their speed dropped drastically when they reached the inner circle of the formation.

The wolves in this area were much more powerful than the previous ones. And adding the fact that their battle prowess was further strengthened by the fallen wolves, these Lord Rank Wolves gave Shin and the others some trouble.

Since they couldn't afford to be stacked in that place, Shin commanded the group to start using their strongest combat techniques. All of them were also thinking the same, so they didn't hesitate to follow his orders.

Their weapons and bodies were suddenly enfolded by different kinds of auras. And immediately after that, the whole battlefield was covered by different flashes of colors. It made the place look like a firework show currently happening in this place.

Shin, who was originally leading the charge earlier, switched places with Arthur since it was the real job for knights. He just took the lead earlier because they needed to save Arthur's skills for these kinds of situations.

Given that this guy was a showoff, he was bound to use all of his skills from the get-go, or worse, he might exhaust most of them and give them more trouble.

It was still fine if they were only fighting a single yet powerful boss. But the problem was they were fighting an army of wolves instead of a lone boss.

With his destructive skills, Arthur paved a path for the rest of the group to follow.

They were now deep in the wolves' formation, so they needed to control their pace a little while moving forward. After all, they couldn't let the people at the rear be left behind since they would be surrounded by a large number of wolves in no time.

At the very center of the wolves' den, the Alpha Wolf remained calm despite seeing the group getting near it by second. Its eyes were even beaming with confidence and seemingly mocking Shin and the others at their foolish actions.

Grr!

With a soft growl, the Alpha Wolf seemed to give out an order, making four wolves around it stand up. The size of these wolves was much larger than the others. And alongside their movements, the wolves below them started to stand up one after another.

In the distance, Shin noticed the strange movements of those wolves. He couldn't help but squint his eyes because his instincts were telling him that the next course of events was not going to be easy.

...…