Chapter 1853: The First Collision

…

*Ding*

The system did not tease everyone watching the grand finals and immediately announced the start of the final round of this first match between the Empyrean Talons and God’s Paradise.

System: United Cup Grand Finals, First Match!

Third Round – Team Competition – Empyrean Talons (Home) versus God’s Paradise (Away)!

Empyrean Talons:

Team Commander:

‘Gentle Goddess’ Arielle (Godlike Player)

Team Members:

‘Battle God’ Sickarius (Godlike Player)

‘Dragon God’ Siegfried (Godlike Player)

‘War God’ Simba (Godlike Player)

‘Elemental Goddess Charlotte (Godlike Player)

‘Dancer of Shadows’ Diablo (Maverick God)

God’s Paradise:

Team Commander:

‘Martial God’ Ashura (Godlike Player)

Team Members:

‘Origin Cleric’ Lia (Maverick God)

‘Combat King’ Kallavan (Maverick God)

‘Storm Samurai’ Susanoo (Maverick God)

‘Dark Magician’ Kier (Maverick God)

‘Dominion Spear’ Dio (Maverick God)

…

Looking at the respective lineup of each team, which was filled with all-star players, everyone watching the match could not help but swallow hard due to the mixture of nervousness and amazement.

They were unable to take their eyes off the virtual screen projected by the system, which revealed the names of players who would represent their respective teams for this match.

The names on the side of the Empyrean Talons were filled with names of Godlike Players with high ranking in any Godly Ranking List.

All of them had a huge and stunning reputation within the virtual world, including Shin, who was just starting to gain fame after joining this game.

Even Diablo, who was the sole Maverick God within the group, was widely acknowledged after all the amazing displays that he had shown throughout the tournament.

The side of God’s Paradise, on the other hand, was a little different. It could also be said to be the complete opposite of the Empyrean Talons since everyone else within the team was top-notch Maverick God, aside from Ashura, who was elite among all of the Godlike Players.

However, the strength and reputation of these people were by no means less than those from the Empyrean Talons, particularly Kallavan and Susanoo, who were equal to most of the elite gods within the virtual world.

Not even those standing at the peak of the Godly Ranking List would dare to underestimate these two, especially when their names were almost with Ashura.

Of course, this did not mean that they were nothing without Ashura. Instead, their true strength and potential were mostly overlooked by most people due to the brightness that the latter had.

But for those who were at the peak of such rankings, they knew that it was a mistake to underestimate these guys, especially when they were working together.

…

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Right after being summoned by the system, the members of God’s Paradise immediately went into formation in a very organized manner while also sharply sweeping their gazes at the surroundings, surveying everything, and gathering as much information as they could.

Within the group, Dio was currently not present since he was chosen as the sixth man of the team.

Coincidentally, Diablo seemed to have been chosen as the sixth man as well, making the two of them wait within an isolated space.

“Void Gate Map!?” said Lia after checking on the map.

She was very surprised after seeing the specific features of the map, which were the multiple doors scattered somewhat randomly and arranged in a very disorganized manner.

These doors were more like of bunch of door frames scattered everywhere, while ‘doors’ themselves were ‘gates’ or ‘portals’ that were interconnected with each other.

These ‘void gates’ were linked together, but in a somewhat random way. The destination of each gate was always random and interchanging, making it impossible to guess which gate they would appear at or come out next.

Even if the same person entered the gate at the same time, their destination was not necessarily the same, much less when they entered successively.

But that was not the most annoying part about this map, since even projectiles and magic attacks could also travel through these gates and continue to fly until they directly hit someone or something, or if they have fully exhausted their momentum or magic.

This was one of the maps that had the simplest yet also the most complex design among all the maps within the virtual world competition.

“Don’t tell me that they have figured out something about these void gates and analyzed their patterns,” mumbled Lia, full of surprise. “That’s beyond crazy!”

Keir nodded his head solemnly as he added. “Given the tricks of the ‘Devil Strategist’ and his shameless and annoying methods, such a thing is very possible. We can’t afford to overlook such a possibility.”

“Now this is quite tricky to deal with,” mumbled Kallavan while frowning quite deeply.

This kind of map was what he hated the most, especially when his opponent would be using strategic plans utilizing such features to the fullest.

“It is not like this map has any weaknesses,” said Susanoo as he unsheathed his sword. “We can just directly destroy the gate itself by hitting those door frames.”

Lia just sighed in response and pointed at the nearby gate. “Can’t you see that the patterns of these void gates are very complex. It is very clear that they have chosen the highest level of the map.”

“Destroying these things will take a lot of time and effort, so you can forget about it,” she added, fully rejecting the idea.

“Moreover, it will also waste a lot of our stamina and mana, which will affect our combat abilities later,” added Keir as he agreed with her.

In the meantime, Ashura was studying the map quite attentively, seemingly trying to see if there were any modifications to the Void Gate Map that they were usually familiar with.

After all, Vulture had informed them about the strangeness of the Forest Park Map from the previous round, which amplified the elven abilities that Ithilien had.

They had to make sure that this map was the same as what they knew to avoid any accidents and unnecessary casualties.

After a while, he immediately issued his first order. “Keir, use Mana Sight and Spiritual Projection within the hundred-meter radius. Try to find any unique features of this map and see if there are any modifications in them.”

“Understood!” Keir immediately responded, following the command without any hesitation.

At the same time, the rest of the group quickly adjusted their formations accordingly. They were protecting Keir from any distractions and preventing form of ambush against him.

Not long after, he reopened his eyes and shared his findings. “There are no noticeable modifications with the map, but we can’t overlook the possibility of them changing the positions of the void gates.”

“After all, I am not familiar with their positions in the original version, much less in this field,” he added with a somewhat solemn tone.

His instincts as a magician were telling him that these void gates were not that simple. He could even feel some danger coming from them.

“What about the size of the map? Any estimate?” asked Ashura as he was more concerned about this matter than anything else.

It was at this moment that Keir realized what was bothering him. The expression on his face suddenly turned dark as he answered. “Huge! Extremely huge! This map is no smaller than the Starlight Passage with its length alone!”

Right after these words left his mouth, he swiftly shouted at everyone. “Something is coming! Defensive formation!”

The rest of the team did not even show any hint of hesitation as they quickly responded.

Lia and Keir were swiftly surrounded by the trio, forming a triangular formation, before raising their respective weapons.

At the same time, Lia activated a series of buffs and prayers to enhance the overall stats of the team while Keir summoned a dark dome of mana that covered the entire team.

Swoosh!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

While the magical dome was being formed, the group could see from the closing gaps that a group of elemental dragons suddenly came out from different gates and headed straight to their position.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Successive explosions immediately erupted as the elemental dragons repeatedly attacked the mana barrier by directly slamming themselves into it.

“The heck!? They have indeed found a way to utilize the void gates and use them to attack up!” said Kallavan, fully surprised.

Earlier, right before he magical barrier was formed, he could see that an ice dragon was coming out of the void gate right across him and flying straight to his position.

From the data that they had, he could instantly tell that the elemental dragon was formed through Charlotte’s spell.

It was her signature move, the Elemental Dragon Dance.

“More like they are utilizing the random feature of the gates. They let their spells directly fly through the gates and let them ‘find’ our location,” said Keir, almost figuring out the methods of their opponents in an instant.

He was able to quickly discern the logic behind their opponent’s attempt to locate them.

“After all, those spells will continue to pass through each gate until they hit something or they have fully exhausted their power and momentum,” he added, pointing out.

Recalling something, Lia suddenly giggled as she commented. “Fortunately, that strange lich from their side did not use this map against Mandos, or else he would go completely crazy.”

After all, this map was more of an RNG (Random Number Generator) type of map, which would favor Chaotic Luck by an unimaginable level.

The rest of the team could not help but roll their eyes at her for mentioning something completely unrelated to their current situation.

“Can you be a little more serious? You are our strategist, for goodness’ sake!” complained Susanoo while suppressing the twitching of his mouth.

……