...…

The battle took a little longer than Shin and the other had expected but the result was not different from what they were thinking.

The forces surrounding them might be elites but they were not enough to fight Shin and the others. Even if they got some help from the Wingmen Tribes, those guys were not the most elite members of their respective tribes.

So, they couldn't help much, especially that Leonard and Arthur were already familiar with fighting them. They even knew what were the weaknesses of the respective tribes which was why they didn't have any trouble dealing with them.

At the same time, their lineup was quite perfect at dealing with their current situation.

The trio of Shin, Arthur, and Leonard was free to wreak havoc across the battlefield since Daulla and Archimedes were giving them some ranged supports from time to time. And the support that they were giving was not that small either. In fact, they were more than enough to put their enemies in chaos given how powerful those attacks were.

In the meantime, Cloe was able to freely give her buffs and heals from a distance without worry about any ambushes that might appear out of nowhere.

It was because of the large group of monsters protecting them. Chaotic Luck might not be as skilled as the others, but his summoned monsters were more than enough to make his opponents helpless.

His strange undeads were already strong and powerful given their high AI. So, he didn't have to manually control all of them. But adding the fact that they were immune to the holy element which was supposedly their bane, dealing with these particular undeads was now much harder to deal with than they usually were.

Moreover, their strengths were enhanced by Cloe's buffs, so their battle prowess was much stronger than ever.

Given all of that, breaking through such a blockade of undead monsters became pretty much impossible especially when Daulla and Archimedes were keeping an eye on anyone who was trying to break through it.

With those four being unapproachable alongside the trio who were wreaking havoc in the frontlines freely, the opposing side had no other choice but to retreat from this battle.

But despite that being the case, Shin and the others were quite exhausted from that battle since they needed to be always on guard against some experts who mixed themselves in the ranks of the opposing group.

"Tsk! Is that all? I'm not even starting to heat up," said Arthur while looking at the backs of his fleeing enemies.

Hearing that, Shin couldn't help but roll his eyes at him as he could easily tell that he was just putting up an act since it was pretty much obvious that he was trying to catch his breath. After that, he tapped Arthur's shoulder, telling him to regroup with the others.

"We are sorry about that. We get the two of you involved with our quest," said Shin in an apologetic tone right after regrouping with the others.

"Ah!" Daulla was about to say something but Archimedes prevented her before she could even voice it out.

Confused, she looked at him with a knitted brow but didn't complain about it since she knew that he had his own reason.

On the other hand, Shin was able to notice that and could only smile bitterly while thinking to himself. 'I guess he is still on guard.'

At the same time, Arthur finally caught up with him and immediately chimed in. "Hahaha… Don't you think that we clicked with each other? How about you guys consider joining us in the future?"

Shin's face suddenly turned weird when he heard that as he felt that Arthur was trying to take things a little fast. But before he could even say anything about it, he suddenly received a private message from the latter. – "Hey! When it comes to situations like this, it is better for us to be honest than to plot some schemes." –

Hearing that, Shin couldn't help but smile bitterly as he immediately realized his mistakes. He then looked at the two. "Anyway, we are going now. Though, we will really appreciate it if you guys are going to consider accepting our offer to be our Archer and Mage."

He was about to tell the others to leave when he suddenly remembered something. "Ah! About the guy that we captured earlier-…"

But before he could even complete what he wanted to say, Archimedes immediately cut his words off by saying "Don't worry. We no longer need him anymore."

"Eh~!? You can actually talk?" said Shin in surprise.

Fortunately, he managed to immediately regain his composure before he could even offend Archimedes. "Sorry about that. It's just you are not talking since we met earlier so I mistook you as a mute person."

Hearing that, the corner of Archimedes' mouth suddenly twitched but he immediately regained himself since he was aware that it was his fault why Shin misunderstood him that way.

After that, he nodded his head to the group before gesturing to Daulla to leave.

Meanwhile, Arthur waved his hand at them while saying. "We hope that you are going to side with us again when we see each other next time," as they watched the two left the place.

"I guess, it is quite hard to befriend them," muttered Cloe as she pursed her lips.

"Then you can just blame this idiot for his schemes," said Arthur while pointing his chin at Shin.

But instead of receiving an agreement, what he got was a sharp glare from Cloe. And when he saw that, he couldn't help but click his tongue before muttering to himself. "Tch! Such an overprotective 'girlfriend'."

On the other hand, Leonard was currently busy sweeping his gaze at their surroundings. And naturally, the others were able to notice that and unable to help themselves but shake their heads.

"Hey! Don't get too paranoid. Those guys are not going to make their moves unless they are fully confident that they could take us head-on," said Arthur chucklingly.

"They are only here as a group of observers. And they will not dare to touch us for now since they still need us," added Shin noddingly.

He then paused for a brief moment to also scan the surroundings with his own gaze before continuing. "If they are not a total idiot, then they should at least have known by now that they are only being used by a certain someone out there."

"And now that their eyes are fully opened, their pride will surely not let themselves become the puppets of that guy hiding in the dark and secretly pulling the strings from there."

Hearing that, Leonard slightly nodded his head but he still refused to take away his eyes from those groups watching them from a distance.

"Or should I say that you are on guard against another enemy?" asked Shin with a clear hint of suspicion.

This time, Leonard suddenly halted his steps before taking a deep sigh before looking at the others and explained. "To tell you the truth there is a particular group hiding in this kingdom and disguising themselves as an ordinary Adventurer Team."

Due to that, the others couldn't help but also paused their steps and looked silently at him, waiting for him to explain further.

On the other hand, Leonard inhaled quite deeply before continuing. "From what I suspect, a couple of their members are from our real 'target'."

"By target, you mean?" simultaneously asked Shin and Arthur with a deep frown.

Understanding what they meant, Leonard heavily nodded his head before confirming. "Yeah. I suspect that they are secret members of 'Pandemonium Descendants'."

This time, aside from Chaotic Luck who just joined the team not long ago, Shin and the others turned silent as they now understood Leonard's concerns.

But after a few moments, Leonard immediately took back what he said. "But it is only a suspicion. I'm still not sure if they are really from that mysterious organization."

Shin and the other two nodded their heads but the expression on their faces was still serious.

"Regardless, that is more reason for us not to let our guards down," said Shin solemnly.

"Then I guess we are talking about this going to be more problematic than it used to be," added Arthur while stretching his waist left and right.

...

Meanwhile, Archimedes and Daulla who were walking in the opposite direction were getting ready to head back to the floating castle.

And while they were walking, Daulla couldn't remain silent any longer and asked. "Dad, why did you let them take Kayne? He is supposedly coming with us so that we can now find that cunning snake! And get over with this quest already!"

Hearing that, Archimedes suddenly stopped his tracks and looked at Daulla for a moment. He then smiled at her before patting her head and explained. "Of course, I know about that. But can you see what is currently happening right now?"

"That 'Snake' and those guys are currently in a strategic war against each other. Didn't you see, that swordsman seems to be expecting everything from the very start," he added with a serious tone.

He then paused for a couple of moments before continuing. "If they are going to deal with 'him' anyway, then it is better for us to guard the Castle to make sure that no accidents are going to happen."

After that, he resumed walking and planning to leave. But he immediately paused his steps once again since he sensed that Daulla refused to move her legs.

"Why?" he asked.

"Did you remember what you said when we were in the floating castle? You said that you are going to take their side if someone manages to turn the situation on Sky Island around," asked Daulla instantly.

Hearing that, Archimedes thought for a moment before replying. "We are still not sure about that. After all, that guy is still around."

He then turned around and started walking towards the place where they came from earlier.

On the other hand, Daulla took a quick look on her back before quickly chasing after Archimedes. "Hey, dad! Wait for me!"

...