Child of Destiny

...…

The Empyrean Talons proceeded toward their targeted location after their initial encounter with Uno. They still had a lot of questions inside their heads, but since their leaders skipped everything aside from introducing Uno as their 'freelance' member and tried to avoid the topic, they decided to keep silent for the time being and patiently waited.

Currently, they were heading toward one of the known Royal Cities near the borders of the Saint Heaven Kingdom.

After the initial discoveries of these cities, people with capabilities started venturing out of the neutral lands to seek opportunities and tried to enter such cities.

But since no one had yet to successfully enter a Royal City up until now, the requirements for the entry remained a mystery to everyone.

Regardless, the top guilds and organizations within the game still stationed their people near these cities to make sure that they were the first people to learn if someone had successfully entered.

Among the Royal Cities known to the public, Frost City within the Frozen Kingdom was said to be the one that would most likely open the way toward the second continent to the players. But since reaching that place was much easier to say than done due to the obstacles blocking everyone's path, entering the city remained as challenging as ever.

There was also a rumor about the top guilds, organizations, and adventurer teams being able to reach the city after spending quite a lot of time and resources on the expedition, but all of them remained unable to enter the city due to some unknown reasons.

There was also a rumor that some top players managed to enter, but they were disappointed that the city was somewhat different from what they had expected. This particular rumor was a more detailed one, which made the people accept it more compared to the others.

It was said that despite Frost City being on the same level as the other Royal Cities, it was considered an Ancient City with no connection to the Awakened Continent, which meant that using this city to head to the second continent was somewhat impossible.

But all hope was not lost since someone said that someone had to build a connection between the city and a certain major city within the Awakened Continent before the citizens of the two places could build a Grand Teleportation Formation and link the two places.

Although it was just a rumor, the players still hoped that it was true so that they could enter the Awakened Continent as soon as possible.

With all of these considered, the Empyrean Talons were the only ones, who were closest to reach the Awakened Continent. They had met all the requirements needed for it and even possessed the qualifications to enter the second continent given their overall battle prowess.

With the recommendation letters that they had gotten from their respective mysterious instructors along with the recommendation letter distributed by Arthur earlier – on top of them being official members of the God-Slaying Army – the group was fully qualified to set foot on the second continent.

That was if their information was accurate enough.

But since Arthur and the others were confident enough about it, the team did not worry about anything and trusted them.

…

During their time traversing the region toward the Royal City where they headed, Uno had never lifted a finger since the team had done everything. From clearing the path and killing all the monsters that they encountered up to engaging against boss monsters they encountered along the way, the team was handling everything perfectly well.

They were also showcasing their newly improved coordination. Even if there were still quite a few things that needed to be fixed, everything was much better than what it used to be.

Diablo was still to be left alone, but he was linking quite well with the team as his reflexes and reactions to all unexpected situations were quite on point.

Akailu was also using his summoned monsters to guard the perimeter around the group as they advanced while working together with Chaotic Luck, who also spread his skeleton soldiers into a special formation meant for scouting and protecting the group.

As the main scout, Diablo was also working quite well with Alucard. They two were the fastest and most mobile among the group aside from Ithilien, who was also the main pathfinder of the group.

These three worked together to scout the dangers ahead of the group while maintaining a decent distance away from each other as they covered three directions while advancing.

The rest of the group were also maintaining a decent formation where Cloe and Huahua acted as the center.

Owen and Arthur were in front of the group as the main frontlines while Samael stood just behind them and in front of their backline, which was composed of their mages and supports.

Akailu stood at the rear, protecting everyone along with Leonard. With their respective races, their bestial instincts helped a lot when sensing dangers that were coming from behind.

There were also Archimedes and Lorraine standing in front of the two as they were the main marksmen of the group while Alucard and Ithilien scouted the path ahead of them.

Uno stood at the far back of the group, walking quite a few meters away from Leonard and Akailu. No one was talking to him as even the leaders of the team seemed to be avoiding him for some reason.

But that did not bother him as it was better if they left him alone. The other members of the group were also quite wary of him due to the murderous air that he was passively emitting, particularly Huahua, who was the youngest of the group.

This was one of the main reasons why no one initiated a conversation with him.

But despite that being the case, it did not mean Uno was not doing anything either. He was observing the group from a spectator's point of view.

Aside from the ones that he wanted to fight among the group, two peculiar individuals also piqued his interest. One of them was Diablo, who possessed an interesting pair of eyes, while the other was Chaotic Luck, who seemed to carry an unexplainable aura surrounding him.

Thinking about this, Uno suddenly disappeared and headed somewhere.

Akailu and Leonard were the ones first to notice his disappearance as they were standing the nearest to him.

"Where did that guy go?" asked Akailu as he was somewhat paying attention to Uno as he was curious about his real identity.

"Ignore him. He will not get that far," said Leonard nonchalantly.

Akailu thought for a moment before asking. "I know that he is quite powerful, but do we have to keep him? He seems like a very dangerous individual. Are you sure we can trust that guy?"

Leonard tilted his head to the side before shrugging his shoulders. "I am not sure either. But it is what Shin Bro said, so he should be quite reliable."

"Vice Commander Sickarius says he is trustworthy?" mumbled Akailu before asking. "Speaking of him, where the heck is he? The United Cup is right around the corner."

Leonard was silent for a moment before patting Akailu's shoulder. "Don't worry about that guy. He will perform well when the time comes. Moreover, you have us – we work quite well as a team."

…

A few distance ahead of the group, Diablo was currently surveying the area when he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

He quickly pulled out his stiletto and dagger and prepared for battle.

He waited for a couple of seconds before stabbing his stiletto to the side, targeting someone who seemed to appear there without making a sound.

But despite how fast his actions and accurate his timing were, he still hit nothing but air. Then he felt a cold sensation pressing on his neck immediately after.

"You are quite sharp, but you rely too much on your instincts, which can fool you and your senses."

That was when Diablo heard Uno's familiar voice.

Uno removed his shortswords from Diablo's neck before quickly creating a distance between the two of them, dodging a sudden strike from the latter.

"What do you want?" asked Diablo sharply as he stared at the other party warily.

Arthur, Leonard, and Cloe had reassured the group that this guy was quite trustworthy, but he still could not shake off the unease that he was feeling whenever he was around this person. The dangerous air surrounding Uno was one thing, but there was also another thing that bothered Diablo about this person.

Uno did not immediately answer as he fixed his gaze on the eyes of the latter. He then asked after a minute of observation. "Your eyes-… where have you gotten it?"

"Or should I say-… who have thought you to create an artificial 'Foresight' and make you a fake Thinking Reed?" he added.

Diablo frowned when he heard those words and asked. "What are you talking about? My eyes don't have the ability of such a peerless talent. And I know what you do by being a fake Thinking Reed."

Uno nodded as he agreed. "Of course, your eyes will never be a real 'Foresight' as it is nothing but a cheap copy. But it still copied quite a few features of a 'Foresight' which give you the partial ability to becoming a fake Thinking Reed."

'Is this guy talking about my Demon Eyes that I have learned from my father?' thought Diablo as he looked at Uno suspiciously.

Uno did not wait for the answer as he quickly followed. "Creating an artificial talent in the real world requires quite a lot of things and most of them are conducted through immoral means."

"But whoever has taught you to create those eyes has taken a unique approach to achieve similar results."

"It is quite hard to achieve it through normal means. But since you have been able to use the Hyperactive Immersion, you can gain an artificial talent in the real world if you continuously use those eyes under that combat state."

"The combination of those eyes of yours and the Hyperactive Immersion created quite peculiar effects and led you to such an interesting result You gained a special power that is no worse than a peerless talent."

"It can cause you some unhealthy effects or even put you in danger if handled incorrectly since you are overloading your brain and forcing it to evolve. But you seem to be doing pretty well."

There was a sudden pause when Uno reached this point. The air also turned cold and heavy as he squinted his eyes under the mask while staring at Diablo.

"You-… just who are you to have that research material?"

Diablo was taken aback by the sudden turn of events. He also could not understand why Uno's attitude took a massive turn. He could feel the immense killing intent locked at him that prevented him from moving his body.

He knew that he would be filled one he answered wrongly. But he also did not know what to say as the pressure pressing on him was growing stronger.

Then he suddenly heard Uno's next words, which confused him even further.

"What is your connection with those people?"

...