Child of Destiny

Chapter 2296: The Fortress Master

......

Shin had just closed his message panel after reading the additional report Khavin had given him regarding the movements of the two Ultra Guilds under Dream Entertainment and the Hyper Guild, the Desert Sun Coalition.

"They’re finally making their move, huh?" Shin muttered before adding, "And they’re even planning to team up."

He couldn’t help but chuckle after realizing just how cautious those Powerhouse Guilds were.

"Unfortunately, they didn’t station any apex gods in this area." Shin shook his head, already aware of the situation thanks to the additional information he had obtained through their intelligence network.

Given the number of Powerhouse Guilds operating in this kingdom, he had naturally asked Mister Jiang and Miss Bunny for additional information about them.

He wanted to know how many apex experts and god-level players they had among their ranks, particularly those capable of contending with people like him who stood at the peak of the Godly Ranking Lists.

Surprisingly, he discovered that there were more than enough experts of that caliber among these guilds.

Unfortunately, none of them were stationed in this region. They were all occupied with their own operations elsewhere, meaning Shin and the others wouldn’t have the opportunity to enjoy fighting against such opponents.

Right after closing the message panel, Shin turned his attention forward.

Alucard and Diablo had just finished dealing with the remaining Commander-ranked NPCs.

Shin glanced at the digital clock in the corner of his vision and nodded. "Not bad."

He then stood up and hopped down from his elevated position.

Thud!

He walked toward the two, who were busy cleaning up the battlefield, before speaking. "Let’s go. Our friends from the Desert Bandits are about to clash with the forces of the Powerhouse Guilds in the area."

He then turned his gaze toward the command center, where Donato was currently recuperating. "We have to pick up the pace."

The two turned toward him before grinning.

"Straight to the Final Boss already, huh?" Alucard smirked as he adjusted his gentleman’s hat with the muzzle of his magic pistol.

Diablo tilted his head to the side. "I wonder how powerful a Peak Tier 3 existence can be."

...

It didn’t take long for the three to arrive at their destination, which was already in a chaotic state.

This place was supposed to be heavily guarded by the fortress’s most elite forces. However, after the chaos Shin and Diablo had caused, most of those powerful forces had already been dealt with.

Alucard had also sniped most of the Captain-ranked NPCs within the fortress, so a large portion of its commanding officers had already fallen.

The entire chain of command was now in complete disarray, leaving the fortress’s remaining forces struggling to function effectively.

Those who remained were still powerful, but they were no longer strong enough to withstand their overwhelming enemy.

The elite members of Deicide had also broken into the fortress and begun taking control of the majority of it according to Shin’s orders.

They had eliminated the sentries and seized the watchtowers, along with the cannons stationed on the fortress walls.

At this point, they essentially controlled most of the fortress.

Shin, Alucard, and Diablo watched the ongoing battle between the members of Deicide who had reached the command center and the remaining elite forces desperately defending the building behind them.

"Tsk! Tsk! Military people sure move differently," Diablo commented after watching the Deicide members for quite a while.

He had once held a command position within the Pandemonium Descendants, so he was somewhat familiar with coordinating large groups of people during large-scale operations.

However, this was his first time seeing a group of players move as a single unit without even needing to communicate actively with one another.

Alucard wasn’t nearly as surprised, given his own military background.

Even so, he was impressed by how organized and coordinated the members of Deicide were, especially after seeing how efficiently they operated.

After a while, another commotion suddenly erupted from farther away.

BOOM!

The trio turned toward the source of the disturbance and saw Samael leading another group of Deicide members toward them.

"Big Brother Sickarius! We’re here!" Samael shouted as he made his way toward them.

Bang! Bang!

However, before he could even reach them, a pair of explosions suddenly erupted from the command center.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

At the same time, two silhouettes suddenly burst from the thick smoke, rushing toward the nearby members of Deicide.

Seeing this, Samael immediately shifted his attention toward them.

He then unsheathed his sword and raised it toward the sky.

Shing!

"By the blessings of the God of Sun and Moon! Protect my allies!" he shouted as he pointed the tip of his sword toward the area where the two silhouettes were heading.

’Paladin of the Sun and Moon Skill (Tier 2): Protection of the Sun’

Swoosh!

At that exact moment, a pillar of light descended from the sky and engulfed the area where the Deicide members were under attack.

Bang! Bang!

The blazing pillar protected the Deicide members, repelling the sudden ambush from the two silhouettes.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

After their ambush failed, the two silhouettes swiftly retreated before finally revealing their true forms.

They were the two remaining Commander-ranked NPCs responsible for protecting Donato.

One wore a set of light knight’s armor and wielded a longsword with both hands, while the other was clearly an assassin-type NPC, judging from his equipment and the pair of daggers in his hands.

Seeing the two NPC Commanders, Diablo immediately commented, "Those two should be the last Commander-ranked NPCs in this fortress."

Shin tilted his head slightly upon hearing this. "Since they’ve already abandoned their posts, the Fortress Master must have recovered himself..."

He paused before adding, "...or at least he’s close to making a full recovery."

His gaze then returned to the command center.

"Should we look for him and kick him while he’s still recovering?" Alucard asked as he pulled out his sniper rifle.

Shin chuckled in response before briefly pointing his chin toward the barely intact command center, which the two Commander-ranked NPCs had just broken through.

"I don’t think there’s any need for that." He said while staring intently at the receding cloud of dust.

Diablo and Alucard followed his gaze and could barely make out a silhouette within the dissipating smoke.

The two immediately understood who it was.

Swoosh!

At that exact moment, the owner of the silhouette swung his arm, sending violent ripples through the air and dispersing the remaining dust cloud.

It was then that everyone finally saw Donato, clad in a full set of majestic armor.

There were no longer any visible signs of poisoning on his face. Clearly, he had already recovered from the poison Diablo had ’given’ him earlier.

Donato swept his gaze across the surroundings before narrowing his eyes at the countless elite soldiers lying on the ground.

He then raised his gaze and looked at the devastated fortress.

Most of the buildings and other facilities within the fortress had already fallen, revealing the extent of the destruction caused by the earlier artillery bombardment and the chaos Shin and Diablo had unleashed.

After a while, Donato finally turned his gaze toward the trio standing in the distance.

Fury blazed within his eyes, especially when he saw Diablo, whom he clearly recognized as the person who had ambushed him earlier and put him in such a miserable state.

He was seething with rage, wanting nothing more than to crush this man with his own hands and make him pay for what he had done.

...

"So~... that’s the Fortress Master, huh?" Alucard commented after observing Donato for quite a while. "He does have a terrifying presence."

He could clearly sense the overwhelming pressure radiating from the opposing side, which indicated the enormous difference in their overall Stats and combat power.

He then turned toward Diablo and chuckled. "To think you survived an encounter with such a monster and even managed to ambush him... You sure have guts."

Shin, on the other hand, activated his True Sight Ocular Skill to inspect the NPC and view his basic information.

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[NPC Name]: Donato Riggs

[Title/s]: Fortress Master, Leader of the Resistance (Silver Knives)

[Rank]: King Class

[Level]: 299

[Race]: Peak Epic Human

[Life Rating]: (No Special Bloodline)

[Health Points]: ???

[Mana Pool]: ???

[Skills/Abilities]: ???

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"Tsk! Tsk! Quite troublesome indeed," Shin muttered after skimming through the information displayed on the translucent screen before his eyes.

His gaze lingered on the HP and MP Bars, which were completely hidden because of the enormous level gap between them.

Immediately afterward, Shin turned his attention toward the battlefield, which had suddenly fallen silent following Donato’s appearance.

He first looked toward Samael in the distance. "Brat, lead the rest of Deicide and handle those two Commanders along with their remaining forces."

He then shifted his gaze toward Donato, who was now staring intently at him. "You can leave the big guy to us."

The moment Shin finished speaking, Alucard and Diablo immediately drew their respective weapons, preparing for the final battle.

......