Child of Destiny

...…

Somewhere at the borders of the Saint Heaven Kingdom, all the members of the Empyrean Talons, aside from Shin, were currently gathered as Arthur had summoned all of them for a mission.

The moment they gathered, Arthur immediately distributed the recommendation letters that he had gotten from Uno while telling them that they could use them to enter the Royal Cities that appeared at the neutral regions between the kingdoms and empires.

Everyone had already cleared their promotion quests and how had Tier 3 Classes. They had also passed the hidden trials and special requirements to be accepted by the God-Slaying Army, which Shin had told them before, so they were aware of what would greet them once they had reached the Awakened Continent.

Now that they had already met all the requirements needed to enter the second continent, they could not travel toward that place and explore new places ahead of the others.

Right now, they were preparing for this expedition and planning to use challenges waiting for them in that place to improve their teamwork and coordination. They could also use the trials of that place to strengthen themselves.

Aside from the regular members of the team, the pair of siblings – Samael and Huahua – were also joining them as 'trial' members. These two were quite persistent in joining the team after meeting Shin, and their desire to follow them only grew stronger after meeting all the members of the team.

The group also liked the pair as well, especially when their classes covered quite a lot of weaknesses that the group had.

The blessings that Samael provided greatly boosted the power of the team and could be overlapped with Cloe's already overpowered buffs, which brought the team's power to newer heights. Moreover, his special class, which was closely related to the Church of the Sun and Moon, was quite powerful on its own.

His individual strength and team coordination was a great help to everyone.

There were also the debuffs that Huahua could provide, which were quite overpowered due to the special class that she had gotten after the missions she cleared in the Sacred Light Kingdom.

Her ghost army, even though it was not as large and powerful as Chaotic Luck's Legion of the Chaotic Sun, was quite helpful as well as the ghost soldiers and monsters could put a series of debuffs to their targets passively with just their regular attacks.

She also became Chaotic Luck's little junior as she was not learning a few battle formations from him. He had learned quite a lot from Shin and had been playing «War Tactics» Online from time to time as per the latter's suggestion.

He had gained quite a lot by playing against his opponents in that game. Even if he was still somewhat clumsy most of the time when moving his troops, he could at least read the flow of the battle from a strategist's point of view and adjust his formations in the middle of the battle.

He was still far from being a real expert when it came to this, but he was at least good enough to protect himself. Adding his unimaginable luck that he did not know he had, he was an expert himself to a certain extent.

With all of that, the group was just waiting for Shin so that they could formally accept this pair of siblings to the team. Unfortunately, Shin had been missing for quite a while now, so they could not proceed to the next procedures.

Aside from the two, there was another persistent fellow, who kept on pestering the group to let her join the team. It was Lorraine, who had been following everyone since the events in the Sacred Light Kingdom.

Or-… she was more specifically glued to Leonard, who was her main 'prospect' for being her husband all the time.

She did not even bother to hide that she was pursuing Leonard, or more like courting him, to the group. This led to the other members teasing the two of them whenever they got the chance.

Regardless, the other members, who were not familiar with her, were quite surprised when they saw her fight in action. She was a top marksman without a doubt, which aroused Alucard's competitiveness after seeing her impeccable marksmanship.

Moreover, she coordinated pretty well with the founders of the team such as Arthur, Leonard, and Cloe. Their teamwork was without a doubt the best that the group had ever seen. This made the group curious about how long they knew each other to have such a deep understanding of each other.

As the group was preparing for the expedition, Arthur had to talk with Cloe and Leonard about another matter.

"What do you two think?" asked Arthur after explaining everything to the two.

Leonard thought for a moment before sighing. "If that is what really Shin Bro thinks, then I don't see any harm in letting that guy help us. He is quite powerful after all. And based on what you have told us, I can see that he is quite reliable – though his attitude is still somewhat troublesome to deal with." Explore more stories with empire

"But-…" he trailed his words as he turned to Cloe, who kept her silence up until now.

Cloe also sighed after thinking about it for a moment before nodding her head. "Alright. We can let him join us in the United Cup."

"Is he joining us with this expedition as well?" she asked immediately after.

Arthur thought for a moment before answering. "I am not sure about that. He just asked me if he can join our team and become one of our main players in the upcoming tournament. He also mentioned that he can help train the others, but he doesn't specifically say that he will also join us in exploring the Awakened Continent."

Cloe and Leonard rolled their eyes before the latter urged him. "Then you can ask him now since we are about set out already."

"What a moment," Arthur quickly pulled out a virtual screen to send a message to Uno.

It did not even take that long before the other party replied, making Arthur wonder if the guy was waiting for his message.

"He says that he can come with us heading to the Royal City and board the airship, but we will go our separate ways once we arrive at the second continent," said Arthur with an odd tone before continuing. "He says he has to run some errands for Shin once he gets in there."

"It sounds like he has already a destination on where he will be going," commented Leonard after reading between the lines.

Cloe did not put much thought into it, especially when Shin was mentioned. "Then call him to meet us here so that we can head out immediately."

Arthur looked at them with a strange face before saying. "He says that he is already here."

Right after he said those words, the atmosphere enveloping the entire place suddenly changed. The temperature seemed to drop drastically while the air became somewhat humid and a little suffocating due to the hidden pressure mixed in it.

Everyone immediately became alert right after sensing the change and went into a battle formation the very next instant.

Their formation was pretty solid and somewhat well-coordinated.

Diablo entered stealth right in that instant while Owen and Akailu positioned themselves at the forefront of the group. Charlotte (Alice), Daulla, Huahua, and Chaotic Luck were at the center of the group under Ithilien, Archimedes, and Alucard's protection, who were forming a triangle formation to cover all the angles.

Samael was positioned in front of them and sharply scanned the surroundings while also casting a series of buffs to enhance the stats of the entire group.

Nala (Lorraine), who was walking towards the three in the distance quickly pulled out her magic rifle as she instantly appeared beside Cloe, ready to protect her.

Aside from Arthur, Leonard, and Cloe – who were aware of what was happening – the rest of the team was on high alert.

Unfortunately for them, the one who was coming was not as simple as they thought.

"Not a bad formation. But still not good enough," Uno's voice could be heard right in the middle of the group, sending shivers down everyone's spine.

Swoosh!

The first to respond was Diablo, who was already striking at Uno right after he revealed himself.

Uno causally glanced at the incoming dagger as he commented. "Barely passable, I guess."

After that, the dagger missed as he suddenly disappeared and arrived where Arthur and the others were located.

Right after he appeared there, the muzzle of a rifle immediately greeted him, pointing right at the center of his eyes. But before Lorraine could even pull the trigger, Uno had already tilted his head to the side, making the shot miss.

Bang!

Lorraine quickly pulled her rifle as it changed its form into a pair of pistols, ready to fight Uno. But she suddenly halted her moments when she saw Leonard put his arm in her way, preventing her from continuing.

Diablo and Alucard also arrived and were ready to take on Uno when they saw Cloe raise her hand, signaling them that it was fine.

Alice had already prepared her spell and was ready to send it anytime, but she also held herself when she saw the signal.

It was at this point that everyone got a clear look at who just arrived.

As everyone was still stunned by his appearance, Uno clapped his hands as he gave an honest evaluation. "Not bad. There are at least four more decent seedings here aside from the three of you. Better than I have expected."

"There is also an interesting chap as well," he added as he fixed his gaze at Chaotic Luck. "This is indeed an interesting group just like he said."

He then turned to Arthur, who was already standing in front of him. "Should I introduce myself?"

...…