...…

The Crown Prince Federith was currently sitting in the throne room and seemingly enjoying his time despite the hall being empty of people. And standing on each of his sides were his personal guards who were radiating with very dangerous auras.

Bang!

Not long after, an elven guard suddenly entered the throne room in a hurry and quickly kneeled a few meters away from the platform where the throne was. "Crown Prince, we are in trouble! There are some intruders in front of the castle!"

Hearing that, Crown Prince Federith suddenly frowned his eyebrows and asked. "So what? Can't you just take care of it?"

"B-but they are quite strong, your highness!" said the elven guard stutteringly.

"Huh? Even the Elite Knights are no match to them?" asked the crown prince with a deep frown.

The elven guard hesitated for a few moments before further lowering his head before answering. "Unfortunately, you are right, your highness. Even the Elite Knights are no match against those monsters."

Prince Federith further deepened the frown that he had when he heard those words before asking another question. "How many are they?"

Hearing that, the elven guard hesitated once again before carefully opening his mouth. "T-two. T-there are only of them, your highness."

"What? Just two? And yet you guys are having trouble with your numbers?" asked the crown prince with a heavy tone.

"I-I…" the elven guard wanted to say something but he couldn't find the right words to defend himself. After all, it was true that they had more numbers compared to their opponents. The problem was they were up against a pair of monsters that had no way of winning.

Regardless, he was not in a position to voice out those thoughts since he was going to get executed on the spot if he tried to talk back to the crown prince. So, he remained quiet and waited for prince Federith to continue.

"Tsk! It doesn't matter. Kulun, go bring some of the Royal Guards with you and go deal with those pests," said the crown prince at the Elf Knight standing on his left side.

Hearing the command, the Elven Knight named Kulun nodded his head without any hesitation and suddenly disappeared from his position.

Then prince Frederith suddenly waved his hand to send the elven guard out. "You are dismissed."

"Yes, your highness," said the elf before bowing once again and leaving the throne room.

When the crown prince made sure that the elven guard really left, he turned his head to the side and said to his other knight. "Head over to the dungeon prison and tell the guards to be on high alert. Since we have some intruders in the main gate, I'm pretty sure that their accomplices will use that distraction to save my father and his attendants."

"Make sure that none of them are going to escape," he emphasized with a heavy tone.

When his other personal guard suddenly disappeared, his personal aide suddenly emerged from the shadow behind the throne and bowed beside Prince Federith. "You don't have to worry, your highness. Messenger Thirio already predicted this to happen so everything is still under control."

"I know about that already. What I am concerned about is the 'Elder Messenger'. Are there still no words from him?" asked the crown prince while wearing a deep frown. "It has been a while since we last heard anything from him?"

Hearing that, his close attendant gave him yet another bow before saying. "I must apologize, your highness. But we still haven't heard any words from him."

"Tsk! Then forget about it! Let's just focus on the task that is left to us for the time being," said prince Federith while waving his hand.

When his attendant heard that, he quickly nodded his head before taking a couple of steps backward and disappeared within the shadows once again.

**********

In the meantime, Thirio was currently watching the battle within the Elven Palace from the highest part of the Castle.

"The Beastmaster: Akailu, huh? He sure has become much stronger since the last time we saw him. It looks like we need to update the information that we have about him," he muttered to himself while focusing his gaze at Akailu.

"But-…" he then trailed his words for a moment as he turned his gaze at another player that was accompanying Akailu. "I guess we also need to keep an eye on another individual. Alucard, huh? Another anomaly that may hinder our plans."

"First, those mysterious experts from the 'Pandemonium Troupe' are competing with us, then there go the remnants of the Dark Hero Adventurer Team. And now, even the Nameless Swordsman and his friends are seemingly creating a formidable team – I wonder how many members they have found so far."

"Tsk! It is going to be a little troublesome if the team that Siegfried and Simba are building is going to be related to these guys."

"It looks like the Council needs to make more preparations to avoid some accidents in the future," he added while continuing to stare at Alucard.

Not long after, he suddenly felt a foreign presence walking over from behind. "Oh~! So, you really come back after running for your life earlier."

"Tsk! Don't make me laugh, I only did it since my quest doesn't let me stay for long. But now that I am no longer pressed with time, I guess I can finally destroy you," said Shin as he slowly walked on the roof of one of the buildings within the castle.

Thirio suddenly smirked when heard those words and said. "It looks like your win over Immortal and fluke against Haowin get in your head a little too much. I guess I need to humble you to bring you back to reality."

Shin started chuckling a little when he heard those words before sneering. "Heh! You know what? You keep on mentioning their names since the first time you appeared. It makes me wonder if you are trying to prove that you are stronger than them. Or-… if you are just jealous of those two."

Bang!

"What do you just say?" said Thirio while releasing a powerful aura that was trying to Shin.

Bang!

Unfortunately, Shin just released his own aura and canceled out the pressure that was trying to crush him. Then he suddenly smirked and said with a provoking tone. "Heh! It looks like I hit the right mark."

"And judging from your reaction, the reason should be both of what I've said earlier," he added sneeringly to agitate Thirio even more.

Bang!

Swoosh!

This time, Thirio didn't wait for anything and just lunged forward with great speed before appearing in front of Shin in an instant. And without any hesitation, he swung his war axe in a very powerful manner, seemingly planning to crash his opponent with it.

Bang!

Unfortunately, his attack seemed to be ineffective against Shin as he easily blocked the falling blade of the war axe with his sheathed sword while also using a special combat technique to transfer all of the force that he got towards the roof underneath his feet.

'Heart of Stone sure comes in handy when it comes to this kind of situation,' he thought to himself as he thanked the new Elemental Skills that he recently got.

At the same time, Thirio was staring at Shin confusedly. 'This guy-…! How did he manage to block my attack with ease? Even if it is just a hasty move, I put quite a lot of strength on that attack.'

"Hey! You look so surprised. I thought you are much better than Immortal and Haowin, so how come you are so surprised with something as simple as this?" sneered Shin while staring straight into Thirio's eyes.

And as if he was rubbing more salt on his opponent's wounds, he suddenly added. "I guess you are just someone with a low ranking within your organization. You don't look as intimidating as those two."

Those words hit the right spot and made Thirio even more enraged. "F*cking b*st*rd!"

Then he tried to put more strength on his arm and pressed his war axe on Shin with more force. But to his surprise, the latter seemed to be unaffected and refused to budge even an inch.

'This-…! He didn't have this kind of strength earlier, so how come we are on equal terms now?' thought Thirio to himself as he became even more confused at the current situation.

"Heh! I am telling you, Haowin strikes way heavier than yours," said Shin smirkingly before doing a quick spin and throwing a back kick at his opponent.

Thirio was able to block that attack with his harm but he was still forced to take a couple of steps backward to stabilize himself. After all, he was currently in an awkward position to defend from such an expected attack due to his previous move, so losing his balance after blocking such a swift kick was inevitable.

Then he saw Shin suddenly shorten the gap between them with a simple stride. The latter was currently ducking forward in front of him and was in the middle of unsheathing his sword.

Shing!

Clang!

Fortunately, Thirio was fast enough to lower his war ax and blocked the incoming blade. Though, he was still sent flying due to not having a proper footing to block that attack.

Shin was planning to continue his assault but he immediately stopped himself and quickly swung his katana in front of him because Thirio managed to throw his war axe at him while trying to stabilize his center of gravity midair.

Clang!

The war axe bounced back in the air after colliding with Shin's sword before falling on Thirio's hand as his feet fell back on the roof.

"I don't know what happened after you escaped earlier, but I must admit that you become a little better compared to our last exchange," said Thirio after catching his war axe.

Then he raised his head and stared at Shin with a serious look on his face before adding. "But that doesn't change the fact that you will lose today."

Shin couldn't help but chuckle a little when he heard those before responding with a sneering tone. "I remember that most of my opponents have said similar things before-..."

He trialed his words for a moment to release a much stronger aura than Thirio before continuing. "But all of them suffered the same fate on my blade."

...…