Child of Destiny

...

Michael didn't acknowledge nor deny what Lycan had stated about the god that he was serving. But that silence already gave Shin an answer, it was no different from the seraph telling them that everything that the wolf had said was true.

It was pretty rare for a seraph to stay unmoved after hearing a repeated insult about the god that he was serving. Shin found it strange which made him a little suspicious of this particular servant of a god.

Then he heard Michael say. "The contract has now ended, so there is no need for me to keep you alive, isn't it?"

Then the air in their surrounding suddenly became heavy, making Shin and Zero have a hard time breathing. And at the same time, the sword of light that Michael was holding suddenly released a blinding light alongside heavy pressure that forced the two to kneel on the ground.

'How strong is this guy?' said Shin inside his head. He already knew that this particular NPC was powerful, but he still didn't expect that it was to this degree.

But not long after, an equally strong power was released from both Shin and Zero's bodies. One of them had brilliant light similar to the sun while the other was emitting a golden light carrying a sacred aura.

Then two silhouettes appeared behind the two, further catching the attention of Michael and Lycan. And when those silhouettes turned into a clear image, the two higher beings couldn't help but become shocked.

Solus, who was a fallen god, floated in the air as she was looking the Michael with an arrogant gaze. She was carrying an elegant and majestic aura, that excluded a strong pressure that warded off the one that seraph had.

With her presence, the surrounding Fire Elemental Mana gathered around, melting the snow within the vicinity.

Her blazing hair danced along the wind as she was staring haughtily at Michael as if she was treating him as someone who was standing in a lower ranking than her.

In the meantime, a man donning majestic armor fitted for a king was also hovering in the air behind Zero. He had his hands resting on a holy sword that was pointing toward the ground.

He had a gaze that seemed to be looking down at everything as the aura that he was emitting was not weaker than Solus.

He also blocked the pressure that was crushing Zero earlier. He felt that the seraph was trying to challenge his authority, so he slightly gripped the bottom of the hilt of his sword while continuing to look at Michael with a scornful gaze.

Lycan and Michael couldn't hide their surprise after seeing the two figures floating behind Shin and Zero.

The Seraph had his gaze locked on Solus since he was getting pressured by her aura that was unique to Divine Beings.

As a messenger of a god, he was very familiar with all of the Divine Beings living in the Divine Realm. And from what he could see, this particular entity in front of him had a power that was equal to those gods that he had encountered.

He could also feel the restrictions that she currently had, which limit the power that she could emit. But the pressure that her aura had was more than enough to make him wary of her.

On other hand, Lycan was staring at the man hovering behind Zero. His gaze was mixed with shock and disbelief. It seemed like he recognized that person.

"King Arthur Pendragon!" muttered Lycan with a surprised yet quiet voice.

Hearing that, Shin couldn't help but turned to Zero and looked at the man hovering behind the swordsman.

He was aware that the latter also had a powerful Elemental Spirit since his Reaper's Retainers that he had already told him about them earlier, but he was not expecting Zero to have a previous king and the former leader of the knights of the round table as his Sword Servant.

Then he suddenly remembered the historical note that he read from the piece of Excalibur that he handed over to Zero previously. 'They must be connected to his Hidden Class.'

It was also at that time that Michael finally realized that these two young men were not simple. He was purposely ignoring them earlier since he knew that they were much weaker than him. In his eyes, no one could threaten him right now aside from Lycan.

But now that he took a clear look at them, he could now see that they were actually Transcendent Beings. They might be a little weaker right now, but it would not be the same in the future.

'If they are Transcendent Beings, then these two powerful entities are their Elemental Spirit Companions,' thought Michael as he observed the two a little more.

After that, he turned back to Lycan and laugh. "This is really interesting! I am not expecting to encounter something like this."

Strangely enough, he suddenly spread his wings and floated in the air while looking at them. From the looked of it, he seemed to lost his interest to fight and was planning to leave.

"It looks like there are going to be some changes in the plan. I will retreat for now and personally report this to our god," he said as he looked at Shin and Zero while also closely paying attention to the Elemental Spirit Companions of the two.

He didn't even wait for Lycan to reply as his body suddenly turned into a streak of light that pierced through the sky. And now long after, a few more lights suddenly appeared and chased after him.

Seeing that the seraph finally left, both Solus and King Arthur turned back into specks of light that circled around their respective owners.

Lycan stared at them for a few more moments before silently shaking his head. And after that, he said to them. "Call your friends over. Now that those guys are finally gone, we no longer need to hide from them."

Shin slightly nodded his head before sending a new message to the rest of the group, informing them of their current situation.

***********

On the other side of the forest, Faker surveyed the area that Zero had indicated earlier. The swordsman was suspecting that someone managed to sneak into this place, which could potentially affect their mission.

He found a few trails on the snowy ground and the trees in the vicinity after he arrived at that place. But he couldn't help but knit his brow when he discovered them.

The trails that he had found were very vague and seemingly cleared by the person who left them. If not for Faker being a trained assassin, then he would most likely miss them.

"This guy is pretty skilled," he couldn't help but give a positive remark after observing the vicinity. But it didn't mean that he was not going to pursue that person.

Faker tried to track that mysterious player down. But he immediately discovered that he was underestimating the other party.

He completely lost track of the opposing side. Not only that, but he also noticed that he was being led by that person to shake him off.

"It has been a while since I've been played like this," muttered Faker with a tone that seemingly mocked himself.

Well, he couldn't blame himself since he was really tired right now. The battle earlier really exhausted him, almost emptying all of the energy that he had.

He might have the strength to fight properly right now, but tracking someone in such a state was going to be hard even for him.

Given that, he decided to stop his pursuit and regroup with the others. As a trained assassin as himself, he knew that the opposing side had a clear advantage in this kind of situation.

He might be skilled, but he would only exhaust himself even further if he continued pursuing this mysterious player.

He would need to constantly monitor his surroundings to avoid getting ambushed. This would also burn his concentration even more.

A single slip on his concertation would lead to his demise since he was going to leave himself vulnerable during that time. And such a small window was more than enough for the opposing party to strike.

After calculating all of the risks, Faker concluded that it was not favorable for him to continue.

While Faker was retreating deeper into the woods, the mysterious player that he was trying to track slightly revealed himself from the curtain of darkness.

He watched Faker leave with cold eyes before pursing his lips. "The Death God sure is hard to deal with. I am thinking that I can use this opportunity to take him down. After all, he already exhausted himself to such a degree."

"Tsk! But I don't expect that it is going to be that hard. I can't find a single opening to launch an ambush," he clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"I guess I have no choice but to continue bidding my time," he muttered as he step back at the darkness created by the dense trees.

...