Child of Destiny

...

Shin listened to Felicia about the situation of their quest, which was already approaching its final pace.

From what he had heard, they seemed to need something more other than the key in their hands to fully open the portal. This was the reason why they had been delaying this part of the quest.

They were looking for a better opportunity to open the portal and planning to prepare for more. Unfortunately, their plans had gone awry the moment the higher-ups of their guild had betrayed their trust and stabbed them in the back by selling this confidential information after figuring out the truth behind the bits of clues that they had collected through their guild's operations.

These people then colluded with the big guilds, which then blew up to what it was today.

"So, what is this other thing that you guys are looking for?" asked Shin.

"We still do not know yet," answered Felix, who had also come to them after finishing off the commander-level sweepers that he was dealing with earlier.

"We are still in the middle of looking for more clues when the bigger names have started getting involved," he added alongside a helpless sigh. "We have no choice but to take a gamble and attempt to forcefully open the portal with the key in our hands alone."

Shin slightly frowned underneath his mask before asking. "So, what are the clues that you have about this mysterious place?"

Felix then turned to Felicia, who then took the initiative to answer. "Based on the records that we have found, there is indeed a high chance that it is an outer realm. Moreover, it is an oceanic realm filled with sea monsters and other creatures."

"Based on the clues given by the quest itself, it seems to be related to the Atlantic Kingdom as well," pointed out Shin.

The twins then nodded before Felix added. "This is also the reason why we are not too keen on heading to the Awakened Continent early."

Shin then nodded before falling into deep thought. "Oceanic Realm, huh?"

He then suddenly thought of one of his Elemental Spirits. "Can Ronan find more clues about it? After all, he is also a reincarnation of that extremely ancient god. No, a Primordial God even!"

Given that the quest was about the records of the multiple wars that took place in the universe within the game, he felt that the little elemental might be able to dig something up.

Thinking about this, he suddenly stood up and walked toward the location of the sealed portal. "Let's go to the portal first. Let me check on it."

The two exchanged glances for a moment before nodding their head and following behind him.

Not long after, they reached their destination. Shin immediately walked beside the portal and observed. He wanted to see if there would be any reaction if he just got near it.

Unfortunately, he was thinking too positively about it. He could only sigh helplessly before suddenly waving his hand, summoning three of his elemental spirits.

Swoosh!

The first to appear was the little Reincarnated Elemental God Spirit, Ronan. He quickly gave Shin a respectful bow while greeting him. "Father."

This word quickly shook the twins, making them turn at Shin almost at the same time and giving him odd gazes.

Shin ignored them completely, remaining composed.

However, Solus, yet another fallen goddess, appeared. Her stunning beauty stunned the two, especially with her gorgeous figure.

"My Liege!"

When she greeted Shin, the eyes of Felix almost fell from their sockets before swiftly turning to Shin, seemingly giving the later intense inquiring gaze.

Shin just sighed and waited for Hanzo to appear, who did not attract the attention of the two when he made his appearance.

Shin then turned to the three and asked. "What do you guys think of this one?"

The three elemental spirits then quickly went to work, walking toward the portal. Shin naturally had a plan when summoning these three.

Ronan and Solus were summoned because they should have been involved in one of the wars that had been mentioned in the quest. He was hoping that their appearances would trigger some reaction from the portal or whatever was beyond it.

He was specifically looking forward to whether this could also trigger some special quest from this Reincarnated Elemental God.

As for Hanzo, this Ancient Void Spirit was extremely experienced and knowledgeable. Adding his attainments in spatial magic, dimension portals, and such, he was the first choice at hand when it came to this situation.

The twin immediately realized what Shin was planning and waited to the side.

Felicia was especially interested in these three elemental spirits. After all, these elementals could only be contracted by someone with Transcendent Race, so her interest was incredibly piqued.

She was also aware of the special realm where the other players could also contract one, so she wanted to understand them a bit more.

***

In the meantime, while Shin and the twin were currently checking on the sealed portal, Alucard had finally regrouped with Diablo and their people.

"So, the Vice Commander is also here?" said Diablo after hearing that Shin had also arrived.

"How's the situation here?" asked Alucard immediately after.

Since they were currently within a sealed place, they were unable to contact anyone from the outside, making him unable to have a clear situation of the Oath City.

Hearing this, Diablo sighed before answering. "Not that good. The Demonic Players had started their counterattack quite aggressively, seemingly wanting to break through the defenses of the city as soon as possible."

"Since we have already found and taken down the four core altars, they were only left with the main altar that is still hidden somewhere."

He paused for a moment, seemingly thinking about something, before continuing. "They seem to be quite desperate to produce more of that slaughter energy and want to fill the entire region with it."

"We somehow manage to calm the players down and gather them all behind the walls of the city, somewhat lessening our losses."

"However, it will not last that long since the Demonic Players and army of Demonic Monsters are already surrounding the city and preparing for their final attack."

Hearing this, Alucard could not help but recall the scene when he was flying over the forest while reaching here. He seemed to remember that there were indeed quite a lot of demon forces gathering in every direction.

"This is going to be quite problematic indeed," he mumbled, recalling the instructions that Shin had given him.

"How about the reinforcements?" he asked.

"The first batch somehow arrived earlier," answered Diablo before clicking his tongue. "But their numbers have been chunked quite hard due to them being too confident. They have challenged the opposing forces, paying a huge price just to escape to the city."

"They are too hard to control even if the executives of the Titan Guild are heralding everything," he added along with a deep frown.

"However, these scattered adventurers are not our main force, anyway. They may have quite a few noticeable ones among them, but they are too scattered."

"The important thing is that some of the people that the Titan Guild has dispatched here have already arrived. Hades and Poseidon are already arranging our battle formation for the upcoming siege battle."

While they were talking, they had finally reached the top of the wall that they had been assigned to. They then walked toward the center of the wall, where its command post was located.

Looking ahead of them, they saw a massive gathering of demonic creatures assembling their forces, clearly preparing for the battle.

"Tsk! This is going to be one hell of a struggle," commented Alucard after seeing how huge the army of the opposing side had grown into.

He sighed after realizing the situation. "We thought that this operation was just some job that only required us to sneak into some portal or something. But who would have thought that is going to be a war against demonic players instead? And a siege battle at that."

Looking at their forces, which were quite lackluster when compared to the other walls surrounding the city, he could not help but shake his head.

"Aren't our friends from the Titan Guild discriminating us a bit too much? Leaving such a scattered group for us to lead?" he asked while frowning quite deeply. "I seem to remember that there are quite a few famed mercenary groups and adventurer teams around."

"There is nothing we can do about that. We are lacking in manpower," said Diablo before explaining. "Those guys are gathered at the south gate. They are at least adjacent to us, being able to lend us a hand once we require it."

Hearing this, Alucard immediately understood the arrangement. "So, the Titan Guild people are holding the North and East Gate."

Diablo nodded. "Hades is the North, holding the front gate along with Loki, while Poseidon has taken the eastern side. Those two sides are where the greatest number of enemies are gathered."

Hong~!

Not long after, a loud sound of a horn being blown rang from the outside of the city and filled the air, signifying that the demon army was about to launch their attack.

...