Child of Destiny

……

Chaotic Luck entered through the broken gates with extreme caution. Since his blazing skeletons were unable to enter, he had to do the scouting himself.

It was not like he was unable to protect himself without them, but fighting by himself was still quite uncomfortable for him since he was not used to fighting alone.

He always had his Legion of Chaotic Sun or the members of Empyrean Talons with him during all the battles that he went through, so this would be his first time truly fighting on his own.

His Solaris Lich was quite a cheat anyway, so he still had quite a lot of battle spells under his arsenal, which covered both offensive, defensive, and auxiliary areas.

Afraid that he would be ambushed through the corridor, Chaotic Luck summoned a blazing bone armor that covered him alongside an illuminating light that floated in the air over his head.

He was threading his way through the narrow corridor with extreme caution, prepared for any kind of ambush that might be waiting for him.

Due to his intense concentration, he failed to notice the patterns and engravings drawn on both walls of the corridor, which seemed to be telling a forgotten history.

Not long after, he finally reached the end of the corridor without fighting anyone, which greatly confused him.

“Still no enemies?” he mumbled with great confusion.

Walking ahead, he found himself standing on a circular platform, which seemed to fit only 7 to 10 people.

Before this platform was an endless abyss, leading to the unknown.

“I wonder how deep this is,” he mumbled while slightly looking over the edge of the circular platform that he was on.

He then directed his gaze upfront and saw that there were five other platforms of similar size to the one he was standing on. He also seemed to see that there were dark corridors at the back ends of each platform, similar to the one behind him.

“Don’t tell me that there are other people in the dungeon beside me,” he mumbled before realizing what kind of dungeon he was in. “A Competition Dungeon? Does it mean that there are other people ’trapped’ in this dungeon? There are other entrances as well?”

“…-or maybe I am the only one who has discovered this dungeon, and I am trapped here until other players discover it?”

He was getting paranoid when the system finally sent him a notification.

*DING*

System: Welcome to the stage of opportunities!

System: This is the legacy platform where the Dark King Tang Hyeon of the Great Tang Clan has left his inheritance.

*DING*

System: The other participants are still undergoing their respective trials. Please wait until they occupy their respective platforms.

Hearing this, Chaotic Luck could not help but get excited, realizing that he was not alone. “There are other people as well! This is good! This means that I will not be trapped here forever!”

He did not care if the opposing party was powerful or not. All he needed to know was that he would not be trapped in this place helplessly.

He did not care about the so-called legacy as well. He could give it up for all he cared. So long as he could leave this forsaken place, then everything would be fine.

His ongoing quest outside had already been delayed due to being trapped here. Fortunately, there was no time limit for that particular quest, giving him enough time to clear it.

It took him quite a while to calm himself down, which also reminded him of the name of the person who had left the inheritance.

“Dark King Tang Hyeon? The Great Tang Clan? Why does it sound like an ancient family from the era of cultivators? Is it the reference that the game developers have used to design this place? This is interesting!” he mumbled with a now interested look on his face.

While he was having a time for himself, Chaotic Luck had received another notification from the system.

*DING*

System: As the first party to have reached the main stage, you have been rewarded with an additional buff for the next challenge.

*DING*

System: You have been assigned as the ’King Piece’ for the next round of the challenge! You will receive the King’s Decree.

“Eh!? An extra benefit? This is cool!” Chaotic Luck was somewhat excited after seeing the notification.

Aside from finally having other ’sounds’ after suffering alone within the dungeon, the notification itself seemed to be quite interesting.

With that, he quickly opened his status window and looked for the effects of the buff he just received.

King’s Decree: As a ruler, you will give your subjects great morale whenever you are fighting alongside them.

Buff Effects:

+300% Mana Regen

+200% Magic Power

+150% Casting Time Reduction

+100% Arcane and Elemental Affinity

+100% Elemental Damage

+500% Morale (Increase the strength and the efficiency of Summoned Creatures)

+200% Militia (Increase the size of your troops twofold: For every unit you summon, a duplicate will appear without consuming any additional mana.)

+150% Decree (For every Elite Unit you summoned, an additional buff will strengthen your army. Assigning a General or Commanding General will further increase the efficiency of the army.)

Note 1: This is a temporary buff. It will only last until all the trials have ended.

Note 2: This buff cannot be shared with other participants other than the members of the party.

Note 3: There is a chance that the inferior version of the buff will be retained after leaving the dungeon, depending on your performance. (It will be counted as a new passive skill or spell).

…

“What the heck!” Chaotic Luck could not help but curse out loud after seeing the effects of the buff.

His eyes were burning intensely due to how powerful the effects of this buff were giving him.

“Isn’t this too broken?” he mumbled after giving it another intense look.

His eyes then turned to the bottommost part of the panel and saw the third note. “I can take this buff away depending on my performance!? The better I perform, the better the version I can get?”

He ignored the note ’chance’ written on the note completely, solely focusing on the most interesting part.

“I guess I will have to do my best!” he mumbled while excitedly waiting for the other participants to arrive.

***

In the meantime, Arthur and Leonard had finally arrived at the end of the dungeon along with the members of the Heavenly Resto-Bar.

They had spent quite a lot of time clearing the entire dungeon, which lasted for a few days (real-world time). This was even with the help of the guides that Laurent and his party had created after running the dungeon a dozen times.

Despite their perfect strategies, clearing the dungeon proved to be more challenging due to the powerful monsters that they had encountered along the way.

They had even fought a few Chieftain Rank Monsters, which acted as the mini-bosses of the dungeon.

“Finally!” exclaimed Arthur while standing before the tall metal gates before them.

“This dungeon is much harder than we anticipated. I feel like we are on the losing end here, Senior. Your payment does not seem to be enough,” he complained.

Laurent clicked his tongue while standing before the metal gate. “Tsk! Tsk! You two sure live up to your reputation. Cutting the dungeon time for 4 whole days (real-world time)? Do you know that we have to spend at least an entire (real-world time) week just to reach this place?”

“That is even with the help of our strategies,” added Riko while pouting her lips.

She had to admit that adding these two to their party was a huge help in clearing the monsters. Additionally, the buffs that the little shaman that they had brought were quite fantastic as well, increasing the overall efficiency of the entire team.

She could not help but wonder how powerful the entire team of the Empyrean Talon would be when they all gathered together. The combination of the Gentle Goddess, the number one Support of the game, and this little shaman would greatly create a powerful ’chemical reaction’.

She also heard that the big brother of the little shaman was a decent paladin as well. With the three of them buffing the entire time, the overall strength and efficiency of the party would surely increase exponentially.

“Don’t change the subject! I am telling you! I will raise a complaint if you don’t compensate us properly, Senior!” warned Arthur while glaring sharply at Laurent.

Laurent chuckled and waved his hand. “Alright, alright! Don’t worry, I am not that heartless, you know? I know how you pay properly.”

“That’s good!” nodded Arthur before casting his gaze back at the metal gates before them.

Looking at the patterns and engravings drawn on them, he could not help but understand what Laurent meant when he told them that they would realize that a certain legacy within the game could be related to a true legacy in the real world.

“You understand it now, don’t you?” chuckled Laurent to the side before continuing. “If I am not wrong, beyond this gate will give us the clues where to find the true legacy in the real world.”

“It is a basic pattern that always been followed with all the real-world legacies that we have encountered. It should be the same for this one,” he added.

Arthur nodded before pursing his lips. “Is it just me, or am I just that unlucky? I have been running countless dungeons and doing a lot of quests since the launch of the game, yet I have never discovered anything like this.”

“Or we just overlooked them and failed to notice their true significance,” said Leonard.

After all, they had just been informed about the true significance of this game and the secrets that it held.

Arthur thought for a moment before nodding his head. “That must be it.”

He then turned to Laurent and the other two Transcendent Beings of the party before asking. “So, what’s next?”

Laurent then gestured to the two before answering. “Simple, we all have to stand before these gates and place our hands on them before channeling our Transcendent Powers into them.”

“What follows will be up to the system instructions,” he added.

Hearing that, Arthur and Leonard exchanged glances with each other before nodding their heads.

They then followed the instructions given to them, somewhat excited for what was waiting for them beyond these metal gates.

…