Child of Destiny

Swoosh!

Arthur swung his spear to the side, throwing his opponent’s lifeless body toward the ground, signifying the end of the match.

Bang!

He hovered in the sky while riding his dragon mount for quite a while, seemingly showcasing his might over the other parties once again before returning to their platform.

…

Upon returning, Aoki immediately greeted him. “Not a bad fight, huh? It seems like that guy is much stronger than you had expected.”

Arthur shrugged his shoulders before collapsing on his butt. It was clear that he was somewhat exhausted from that battle.

After a while, he finally responded. “Let’s say that his methods are a bit too redundant, which made it easier for me to handle him once I got familiar with them.”

“However, his overall strength is a bit too problematic, especially that raw power of his. He also possesses decent defensive capabilities, which make it a bit more challenging to land a clean hit.”

“But in the end! I still emerge victorious!” he added with a smug look on his face.

In the meantime, the others could tell that Arthur had truly found it hard to deal with Earrusall during this battle.

If not for his taking the initiative to initiate a close-quarter combat to overwhelm his opponent with his combat talent, which pushed the latter for a final exchange with their strongest attacks, then the outcome of that match would have been different.

Moreover, they had also seen Arthur use one of his strongest moves in that final exchange, which used the unified forces of his elemental dragons and concentrated them in a single attack that almost defeated Earrusall.

They could also see that Arthur was quite spent, especially when they could tell that executing such a skill did not only consume a huge amount of power but required a lot of concentration as well.

“Enough of him already!” said Riko before continuing. “Let’s focus on the next battle and see what our friend can show us against an equally formidable opponent.”

There were only two people who were meant to face each other for the next round: Boa and Chaotic Luck.

Everyone was anticipating another intense battle for this one, especially when they could tell that Boa was equally strong as Earrusall, while Chaotic Luck was an oddity that no one could explain.

Such a matchup was truly something that they needed to watch, expecting something quite entertaining.

Unfortunately, something unexpected happened right before the match could even start.

Boa, who was supposed to represent the side of the Hydra Guild, had taken the initiative to concede.

Such a decision had taken everyone off guard, not expecting such a prideful member of the current number one guild would take the initiative to withdraw from a fight.

Others might be confused, but Earrusall and Luminous Dragon, who were old rivals with the Hydra Guild, were very clear about such a decision.

“Tsk! They have gotten us quite good on this one,” mumbled Earrusall after receiving the notification from the system that Boa had conceded.

“It is not that bad since we have also gotten quite a lot of data from Cobra,” said Tyrant Dragon, looking at the brighter side of the current situation.

Thinking about it, Earrusall shrugged his shoulders and refused to comment even further.

He was sure that Cobra was still hiding his true trump card, which could turn the result of his battle against Arthur.

Unfortunately, that cunning guy had chosen to save it from the latter stage of the trial, which would give them a slightly better edge for the final stage of this trial.

Unlike him, who had to use his strongest card trying to win against Arthur, the opposing side kept their cards close to their chests and were not willing to show anything more than what had already been shown.

“The next round is going to be a bit trickier,” he mumbled before accepting the summons from the system, which was meant to send them out of these trial grounds.

Now that Chaotic Luck and the ones from the Heavenly Resto-Bar were left on the field, there was no need to stay here any longer.

Given that those two were in cahoots, the outcome of the next round would be quite obvious.

…

“Ah! They are conceding already!? Isn’t this a bit anti-climactic?” said Ryoto in disappointment after receiving the notification from the system.

“In my opinion, they have taken such a wise decision given the current circumstances,” commented Riko, assessing the current situation.

Aoki nodded in agreement before saying. “Given the current situation at hand, that guy will have to face three people consecutively, which will not only exhaust him but will also force him to reveal more of his cards in the process.”

“Given such a condition, it is better to just give up rather than fight such an unfavorable series of battles.”

Hearing this, Ryoto nodded as well, fully convinced. “Rather than putting himself in such an unfavorable position, it is better to just take the initiative to give up and save his strength and other cards for the upcoming battle.”

“This way, he will not only have a slightly better edge for the upcoming trial but also conserve more of his energy for the upcoming battles,” added Riko, along with a slight frown.

“It is truly like them. A cunning snake will always be a cunning snake,” said Aoki while shaking his head.

“No wonder he is completely unmoved during the time our junior has taken the stage. He has been scheming something for all of us.”

“Regardless of the outcome of that battle, he has already decided to concede the next round, giving up this trail already.”

“They may lose three of their members for the final trial, given the few points that they have accumulated, but their overall strength will not diminish that much.”

“With his and Cobra’s abilities, they will have no trouble causing chaos on the battlefield, especially with their respective classes.”

“The two of them alone will give us a lot of headaches,” he added after assessing the overall situation.

Riko also nodded her head while injecting her thoughts and looking at Aoki and Arthur. “Moreover, two of our strongest members have spent quite a lot of energy on this round, which will somewhat affect their performance later.”

She first glared at the two before continuing. “One is someone filled with pride and refuses to break his façade, while the other is a showoff who knows nothing but show everyone how amazing he is.”

“You two may make a good pair,” she added along with a helpless sigh.

Arthur and Aoki, on the other hand, glanced at each other before shrugging their shoulders.

Ignoring their reactions, she continued. “He must be expecting something like this to happen, which is why he refuses to fight Junior Arthur and leave the stage for that expert from the Dragon Pavilion.”

“He let you fight with everything you have while he is silently observing and gathering as much data as possible.”

Arthur pursed his lips before nodding. “Luring others to commit such a mistake while silently watching others to destroy one another – it is a classic method that everyone from Hydra Guild is very familiar with.”

“Something that all adapted from Serpent himself,” he added. “Hah~! This is why those cunning snakes are boring~!”

The others were somewhat confused at the latter part of his words. But before they could even ask more about it, the system had already summoned them back to their original platform.

Looking at their disintegrating bodies, Aoki suddenly turned in the direction where Chaotic Luck’s platform was and said. “It seems like your friend knows his assignment well.”

“Taking the initiative to concede and give us this round? That’s quite thoughtful of him,” commented Riko from the side.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

…

Right after, everyone was sent to their respective platforms outside that trail ground.

At the same time, they swiftly moved and made their respective preparations for the fifth and final trial, which would most likely determine who would be able to seize the inheritance left behind by Dark King Tang Hyeon.

From the side of the Hydra Guild, Boa turned to Viper and the others and instructed. “Since we will only need two people for the next trial, there is no point for the three of you stay here as well.”

“It is better if you three exit the dungeon now and report everything to the higher-ups, especially the matter concerning the missing tome that has been stone years ago.”

“The outcome of this operation will be meaningless once we have gotten our hands on that tome, so this should be our highest priority right now.”

He then paused for a moment, sharply glaring at the three, before continuing. “You better not leak any news to anyone else before you deliver the news to the direct elders.”

“Once we find out that you have leaked it to others other than the direct elders, the consequences will be beyond your imagination,” he warned with a cold tone.

The three felt a shiver down their spine when they heard those words.

They then swiftly bowed while responding at the same time. “We understand, Your Highness!”

…