...

Few moments before the end of Shin and Immortal's battle, a few of the higher-ups of the Central Order were currently having an emergency meeting at their temporary commanding center.

"What are you talking about, Elrond! We can't go back on our words now. I already signed a contract with him!" shouted Legolas while standing up and slamming his hand on the wooden table.

Sitting across him was a player with a Half-elf race and seemed to be a mage given the clothes that he was currently wearing.

He smirked at Legolas after getting yelled at. "What's with the fuss, Legolas? We already told you – you don't have the right to agree with that kind of deal, to begin with. So, you can't argue with us right now."

"Are you not ashamed of asking for some help from an outsider? You are already quite shameless when you fool everyone that you defeated Immortal in a strategic battle, so you don't have the voice to complain right now."

"What's more, we even said that we are going to pay all of the compensation that you needed to pay when you break the contract with him. So, there is nothing for you to worry about," added the Half-elf named Elrond while waving his index finger at Legolas.

Legolas glared at Elrond the moment he heard those words. But from the looks of it, the latter seemed to have a much higher position than him which was why he currently couldn't do anything regardless of his displeasure.

But he still couldn't back down since his pride and dignity were currently in the line. He already gave his word to Shin that his side was going to help at defending the Ancient Ruins until the latter's quest was already complete.

But everything suddenly became a mess when these guys from the main branch suddenly appeared and refused to honor the contract that he signed.

Seeing that the argument was starting to affect the atmosphere inside the room, the guy who was currently sitting in the head seat finally decided to open his mouth. "You can't do anything now, Legolas. The upper echelon has already given out their orders, so you don't have any other choice but follow their orders."

He then took a brief pause before continuing. "You shouldn't have asked for some help from the main branch if you are going to question their orders."

Hearing that, Legolas couldn't help but clench his hands as he didn't have the right to refute those words.

Earlier, the Nameless Swordsman had already laid out a perfect plan to win this war. But unfortunately, the opposing side mobilized their most elite group to counterattack.

And since he couldn't handle the Apostles of the Undying Guild alone, Legolas had no other choice but to ask some help from the main branch.

Unfortunately, asking for some help from them indeed gave him a backslash just like what he had expected. These guys were really quite greedy and slaves of politics.

And now that they got a perfect opportunity to curry some favor from the Great Elders of the guild, he was sure that they were going to do everything they could just to steal all of the merits that he got from this war.

And what made the situation worse, he couldn't do anything about it since their ranking was much higher than him. Especially when it was true that they only managed to win the recent battle due to their help.

Seeing that Legolas was still not willing to back down, the knight sitting beside him gently tapped his back to call his attention.

Due to the sudden tap, Legolas turned his head to the side and saw the knight signaling him to go back on his seat.

In response, Legolas could only shake his head helplessly and sat back on his chair while wearing a bitter look on his face.

"There is nothing you can do right now. If you want to get back at them, then just beat them in the upcoming internal competition," whispered the knight after seeing his friend calmed down.

Hearing that, Legolas could only click his tongue before asking. "Tsk, how come can you endure all of these injustices, Aragorn?"

The knight who was addressed as Aragon suddenly smirked at him and replied. "Endure? Heh! I never endure anything. It is more like I ignored all of it after all this time."

"And if they try to mess with me, then I am just going to beat the crap out of them whenever I got a chance," he added with a voice that only the two of them could hear.

And while they were discussing it themselves, the man sitting on the head seat suddenly clapped his hand and ended the meeting. "Alright, that's all for now. You guys should start making your respective preparations."

He then trailed his words for a moment to look at Legolas and Aragorn before continuing. "As for the two of you, your positions are going to be in the frontlines against the forces of the Undying Guild."

"And remember, you are not allowed to take part in anything related inside the Ancient Ruins. If either one of you sets your feet in the inner parts of that place, then both of you are going to be charged with insubordination. Understood?"

Legolas actually didn't want to agree with that but Aragorn tugged his arm asking him to respond. "Yes, Sir!"

Thought, he was thinking something else inside his head. 'Just don't put the blame on me when you got played by him later.'

*********

Going back in the present.

Shin immediately contacted Arthur and Leonard right after he ended his call with Legolas.

"Yeah? What's with the sudden call? I'm beat tired right now, alright. So, at least, let me sleep for now before dragging me in another trouble," said Arthur instantly right after he answered the group call.

Hearing that, Leonard suddenly felt skeptical at those words and suddenly asked. "And since when did you become too busy to refuse such a troublesome offer."

Arthur suddenly cast a deadly glare at Leonard the moment he heard those words since both of them knew why he felt too tired right now. But despite seeing such a threatening glare, Leonard just smirked at him as if he was saying that he didn't care.

Due to that, the two of them were about to engage in an argument when they suddenly heard a cold yet familiar voice that sent shivers on their spine. "Since that is the case, then you two are free to get your respective time to rest."

Then Arthur and Leonard simultaneously turned their heads at the virtual displaying Shin to see what's with the cold voice. And the moment they saw the look that he currently had, both of them couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.

Shin was not wearing his mask currently, so the two were able to clearly see his face. Right now, he was wearing a serious look on his face which further intensified the anxiety that they currently had.

'Sh*t! Who the hell dared to provoke this guy? Whoever it is, I hope they already prepared to meet their ancestors in the underworld,' thought Arthur to himself when he saw that look on Shin's face.

On the other hand, Leonard also had a similar thought in mind. 'It has been a while since I saw Shin Bro act this way. Poor guys, they just awaken a sleeping demon.'

"Alright, alright. We got it, Shin," said Arthur, trying to break the tense atmosphere. Then he immediately added to calm Shin a little. "But first, take a deep breath for now and relax. Then we can talk later."

"I'm calm," responded Shin, which made Arthur immediately shut up his mouth.

And that was the signal for Leonard to take over. "How about-…"

Unfortunately, he immediately shut up his mouth when he heard the next words that Shin had said. "If you are going to continue delaying this any further, then we can forget about it."

Due to that, both Arthur and Leonard chose to remain quiet since they didn't want to be the target of Shin's wrath.

Shin waited for them to turn silent before saying. "Come to Blind Abyss Empire and go to the coordinates that I am going to send you."

"Are you sure? Big Sis will surely notice that it is something going on if we appear in there?" said Arthur while frowning his eyebrows.

"You don't have to worry about that since I don't need you to appear in the field personally; I'll handle all of the fieldwork," answered Shin in an instant.

He then took a brief pause before adding. "All you need to do is guard the inner part of the Ruins and prevent anyone from interrupting the ceremony,"

"Quite confident on your strength now, huh? Then what if some guys that you can't handle show up and we are forced to show ourselves, what are you going to do then?" asked Arthur while maintaining the deep frown that he had.

Shin was still not swayed and just shrugged his shoulders while replying. "Worst case scenario, I just need to have one of my clones disguise as my other identity while showing up with the two of you."

"After all, Big Sis is already aware of 'our' connection with the 'Nameless Swordsman'. So, we can just use it to our advantage," he added while checking out the durability of his other Equipment Set.

After that, he turned his attention back to the two and said. "If you don't have any more questions, then you guys should start preparing now since we are quite tight in time. I'll just brief you two about the specifics of the plan later when you arrive here."

Hearing that, the corner of Arthur and Leonard's mouth suddenly twitched uncontrollably as they thought to themselves. – "It's not that we don't have any more questions. Instead, you just didn't give us the chance to voice them out." –

Even though he could read what was running inside their minds, Shin just ignored them and said. "Then see you later," before leaving the group call.

Seeing the blank panel on the screen, Arthur and Leonard looked at each other before saying at the same time.

– "There is no one who can save them now." –

...…