Child of Destiny

...…

"What the f-…!?"

Arthur couldn't help but cursed out loud when he saw the huge number pop out above the head of Caelum as well as a significant amount of the Health Bar being chunked alongside it.

It was not he couldn't deal that kind of damage, but he needed to use his Secret Fusion Skill, the combination of his Elemental Dragon Fusion and Class Fighting Style, on top of being in the state of Reality Manifestation, to achieve a similar result.

But from what he could see, Shin was not in that state. He might be in a special state under the Reality Manifestation but the skill that he just used was definitely only one of his Class Fighting Style without having influence from the Elemental Spirit Possession.

"Looks like there is more mystery in the Reality Manifestation than what he learned," muttered after seeing what just happened.

He was not angry or jealous of what Shin had done. Instead, he felt more excited from what he just witnessed. This could only mean that they could still grow much stronger than they were right now.

On second thought, it was pretty natural. After all, they only learned about the Reality Manifestation just recently, so it was not strange for them not to know everything about it.

Thinking about that, Arthur couldn't help but want to try a few more things in battle. Unfortunately, he was not in a position to do as he pleased.

"Eh!? Yeah, there is also that!" Arthur paused his thoughts for a moment as he suddenly remembered something. He then looked at the certain panel from the corner of his eyes, looking at a particular quest that he received earlier.

"Tsk! Well, I still have to wait until all of this was over," he muttered before focusing his gaze on Shin and Caelum once again.

In the meantime, Ara and Alucard were able to over his soft words when he was murmuring to himself.

"Reality what?" said Ara with a confused look on her face.

"It sounds interesting~!" muttered Alucard with a mysterious grin. He might not have heard it clearly but he was sure that it was somewhat related to what Shin just did.

He was also curious about what it was, but he was not in a hurry. He was now part of the Empyrean Talons, so he would learn more about it soon or later. All he needed to do was be patient and wait for Shin and the others to disclose it to them.

After that, they resumed supporting Shin from the distance with their respective skills.

**********

In the meantime, somewhere within the Frozen Kingdom, Immortal was currently wearing a heavy expression on his face.

It was because he discovered that he lost his link with the Teleportation Formation that was set up earlier. He was not sure what caused it to happen but he somewhat had an idea of who was responsible for it.

He wanted to personally head over there and see for himself what exactly happened. But given their current situation, he obviously couldn't leave Justin and the rest of the Silent Night.

This greatly frustrated him. If something happened to the teleportation formation, then he no longer had a contingency plan that would please the elders of the Corrupted Cult. He didn't have a choice but to complete their real purpose of coming here and made sure that the Empyrean Talons would fail their Empire Quest.

But after he swept his gaze at the members of the Silent Night and saw their current state, he knew that their chances of succeeding were very slim.

Having that thought in mind, he quickly sent one of his elite undead monsters over to the place where he set up the Teleportation Formation. He first needed to confirm what happened before making some adjustments to his plans.

Not long after, he was immediately informed that the place was currently being protected by multiple formations.

Hearing that, Immortal could only close raise his head, and close his eyes as it pretty much confirmed his suspicions.

"I've been read like an open book," he muttered to himself as he now understood what exactly happened.

"It is indeed the real reason why those guys forced me to be isolated away from the rest during the fight earlier. It is also why that person was not present in that battle."

"He was aiming for the Teleportation Formation from the very start!" Immortal took another look at the events that took place earlier and learned the reason why the Empyrean Talons didn't give everything them have in the earlier battles.

If the Empyrean Talons wanted it, they could directly kill Immortal when he was separated from the rest of the group but that didn't happen.

They could also weaken Silent Night even further by eliminating as many members as possible but they also didn't do it.

"They didn't kill me because they are using my aura to locate the exact location of the Teleportation Formation. Zero might have played a role in it since he is familiar with the Dark Faction Players of the game after pursuing us persistently."

"As for the rest, they make sure to keep the members of the Silent Night busy, so that they would be able to gain control over that Teleportation Formation."

Now that Immortal thought about it, it seemed like they acted exactly like what the other side had expected.

"Hah! We have been dancing in their palms from the very start," Immortal could only shake his head and smile bitterly when he realized what happened.

"If only those guys from the Earners Mercenary Group work with us, then this is not going to happen," he added with full annoyance.

But when he thought about it, he couldn't help but overthink once again. "Or did that guy already put in in consideration?"

After his first encounter with Shin, Immortal couldn't help but feel that just met his archnemesis. His recent setbacks were all caused by that person.

Then his thoughts suddenly paused for a moment as he recalled his first meeting with Shin. Compared to all of his encounters with that person, that first meeting was the one that gave him the most impression.

…- especially at their final exchange. Or to be more exact, the magic that 'Shin' had showcased during that time.

"How should I put it? It seems like I met two people at the same time," he muttered with a solemn voice.

The more he thought about it, the odder it was. But after their next encounters, he could no longer feel that strange feeling. "Is it just my imagination?"

*Ding!*

While Immortal was currently lost in his thoughts, he was suddenly interrupted by a repeated sound from the system, indicating that someone was currently contacting him.

Knitting his brows, he looked at the person who was calling him. He started at it for a couple of moments before answering.

"What is it? Have you finished your job?" he greeted with a hint of sarcasm.

- "I don't have time to argue, so I will get straight to the point. Let's work together," said the person from the other side of the time which was clearly Flouree.

"Hoh~! Why? Did you just realize that you bite more than what you can chew?" replied Immortal not removing his sarcastic tone.

There was a slight pause before Flouree replied. "We have been hit by both the Pandemonium Descendants and Zero."

This time, Immortal was the one who took a pause as he was trying to process what he just heard. And after confirming that he didn't hear wrong, he finally asked. "Are they working together?"

"We don't know about that since they were separate attacks. But we can't still rule out the possibility since we can't always be sure," replied Flouree with a heavy tone.

"So, how much did you suffer? Do you lose too many members?" asked Immortal as he couldn't help but turn his gaze at the members of the Silent Night.

If the Earners Mercenary Group lost too many members, then there was not a single chance for them to fight the Empyrean Talons who also had Zero, Faker, and Lawless on their side.

Fortunately, Flouree's reply was much better than the worst-case scenario. "Four, we've lost four of our members in total."

But at the same time, she also excluded the fact that she was currently in an extremely weakened state. They might be working together, but she still couldn't trust Immoral, who was infamous for creating powerful undead monsters by killing powerful players.

After all, Immortal was still a member of the Corrupted Cult, so she would never give him her full trust, especially when they were only working with each other due to a contract.

Having no idea what Flouree was thinking, Immortal slightly nodded his head and agree. "That shouldn't be bad. I'll give you the coordinates, meet us in there before we make an adjustment to our plans."

"But you also have to hurry since those guys seemed to have continued their quest while we are currently recuperating from our losses," he added with a heavy tone.

Then he ended the call right after sending the coordinates. And after a brief pause, he turned to Justin and the others before muttering to himself. "Looks like I also have to adjust my original plans."

"I will no longer have any power within the cult after all of this was over. I guess I have to look for a new place where I can develop my research."

...…