Chapter 653 Empyrean Talons (Part 14): Taking Shape
……
The moment Arthur and the group joined the battle, the tides of the battle immediately made a shift and went against the Undead Army’s favor. And when Elder Zaza saw the group, he immediately knew that their reinforcements would never arrive.
The Elder stared on the battlefield for a couple of moments and watched their army get slaughtered by Arthur and the others.
Then he clenched his fist and glared at the group before turning around and entering a dark portal that teleported him out of the place. And right after he left, most of the undeads within the army disappeared all of a sudden while the rest started collapsing on the ground out of nowhere.
When the players saw that, they immediately knew that they won the battle. And to confirm their thoughts, the system made a regional announcement that the event was coming to an end with the Beast Glade Kingdom victory.
Naturally, the system also announced who were the players that contributed the most to the event. And obviously, it was Shin and the others.
…
But before that announcement was broadcasted, the system asked Cloe first whether they wanted to announce their names as a group or as individuals.
Reading the notifications, Cloe looked at Shin and the others before sharing the notification with them. “So, what are we going to do with this? Are we going to announce our names or hide it?”
“What’s the point of hiding it when everyone already knows that it is us?” said Arthur as he chimed in all of a sudden.
“Yeah! And it is all thanks to you,” said Leonard in a sarcastic manner.
“But before that, we should confirm who our members are first,” said Shin before turning silent for a couple of moments before turning to Owen and asking smirkingly. “It is time for you to confirm if you still want to join us or not.”
Hearing that, Owen rolled his eyes at Shin and said. “Aren’t you the one who keeps on delaying it by saying that I need to be tested or something?”
“Then you pass,” said Shin as he put his arm around Owen’s shoulder before saying to the other members of the group. “This is the guy that I am talking about. Our main tank.”
The other just nodded their heads casually as they seemed to acknowledge what he just said. But when Alucard, Akailu, Ithilien, and Charlotte saw that, they couldn’t help but look at Owen weirdly before turning their attention to Arthur who seemed not to care about what Shin had said.
The four couldn’t take what Shin just said about Owen being the main tank instead of a monster like the Dragon God himself.
Arthur might not be the best tank within the game but he shouldn’t have a problem being the main tank of the team if he wanted to.
Sensing the weird looks that they were giving him, Arthur turned his head at them before saying with a deep frown. “What’s with that look? Is there something if I don’t want to be a dedicated tank of our team?”
In the meantime, Shin looked at Ithilien and asked. “Ms. Ithilien, this guy asked us if you can join our team earlier. So, do you want to join us?” with a smile.
Ithilien was taken aback by his words and stood stunned on her spot while staring back at Shin. Then she turned her head to Owen who was signaling her to accept the invitation.
“B-but-…” Ithilien didn’t know what to do as she was really caught off-guard. And she also couldn’t accept Shin’s invitation as she currently had some problems with her previous team.
Seeing that expression that she was currently having, Shin immediately added. “This guy said that he can’t join us if you don’t join. He said that he can’t protect-… ugh!”
Shin was in the middle of talking when Owen suddenly jabbed his stomach with an elbow, cutting off his words. But he still managed to complete his words with a smirking tone. “You.”
Hearing that, Ithilien’s face suddenly turned red. She quickly looked to the ground so that the others couldn’t see the expression that she was currently making. Then she just nodded her head and agreed with Shin to avoid making the atmosphere awkward.
When Shin saw that, he suddenly grinned from ear to ear before extending his hand to Owen, asking for a high five. 𝙗𝒆𝒅𝒏𝙤𝒗𝒆𝙡.𝙤𝒓𝙜
Owen looked in Ithilien’s direction to make sure that she was not looking at them before high-fiving Shin.
After that, Shin turned his attention to the other three before asking them. “Ahm… as you can see, we need to announce our names, so are you guys fine with that, or do we need to hide your names?”
Alucard and Akailu exchanged glances for a moment before the former suddenly asked. “Before that, can we also-…?”
But before he could even finish his word, Arthur suddenly became excited and suddenly said. “If you want to join then you have to spare some time sparring with me.”
Hearing that, Chaotic Luck couldn’t help but comment from the side. “Sparring? More like bullying.”
His voice was silent but since the atmosphere was currently quiet because of Arthur’s words, everyone heard everything that was said which was why they simultaneously turned their heads at him.
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Chaotic Luck suddenly felt embarrassed and quickly hid behind Shin because Arthur and Leonard were currently glaring at him.
In the meantime, both Alucard and Akailu were wearing huge grins while speaking simultaneously.
“We don’t have a problem with that.”
“We also want to see how large the gap is between us and the so-called gods of the game.”
How could these two players miss such a rare opportunity like this? They would naturally accept their offer to join their team even if Arthur told them to spar with him right now.
On the other hand, Arthur suddenly smirked when he heard their words before turning his head to Shin and shrugged his shoulders. ‘These guys are not that bad. They can be useful in the future.’
Shin couldn’t help but laugh at him when he saw that look from Arthur as he was able to read what was currently running in his brother’s mind.
After that, he walked over to the two and offered his hand while saying. “Welcome to the team. We are looking forward to working with you in the future.”
The two were taken aback by Shin’s warm welcome. But what they could remember, this guy was supposed to be a rude and indifferent guy with a serious mood swing. Aside from his decent battle skills and sharp strategic thinking, these two were looking at Shin quite negatively.
“Please take care of us,” said Akailu quite stiffly as he shook Shin’s hand. It was the same for Alucard who just accepted Shin’s handshake briefly.
After that, Shin sent them the contract for joining their adventurer team. Alucard, Akailu, and Ithilien browsed on the contract, trying to see what were the benefits that the team could offer them and looking at the rules that needed to be followed.
The three nodded their heads as they could see that the contract was quite lax when it came to some things. But the penalty was also quite harsh when it came to breaking certain regulations, especially the rule that was written at the last phrase of the contract.
“Th-this-…!?”
Then the three suddenly froze the moment they read that particular phrase.
“Y-you-…!”
The trio couldn’t help but shift their gazes between Shin and the contract in front of them as they couldn’t believe what they just read.
It was even more true for Alucard and Akailu who were now looking at Shin in a different light. They were very shocked at what they had discovered and continued looking at the contract to make sure that they were not mistaken.
“What a monster!” blurted out the two while looking at Shin with a weird look on their faces.
Then they no longer hesitate at signing the contract. It was the same for Ithilien, especially that Owen was practically urging her to join.
Seeing that, Shin quickly clapped his hand and planned to wrap everything up when Charlotte, who seemed to be forgotten by the group, suddenly stepped forward and pulled his sleeves. “Wait!”
“Eh!” Shin suddenly halted his tracks and turned at her with knitted brows. “Yeah?”
Charlotte was about to open her mouth and say something when Cloe suddenly pulled Shin away from her while saying with a smile. “No, you can’t.”
“Huh!?”
Hearing that, Charlotte suddenly frowned her eyebrows while looking at Cloe. And when their eyes met midair, the others felt that there seemed to be invisible lighting sparks clashing in the air.
“I feel like I have seen this before,” said Arthur while looking smirkingly at the scene.
Beside him, Leonard was also grinning from ear to ear while watching the sight fully amused. “Are we having the same déjà vu? Because I think we really are.”
…