...

"Are you sure about this? We are practically doing their quest for them if we do this," asked Arthur to Shin as they walked along the corridor.

Shin chuckled a little when he heard Arthur's complaints before saying. "I've told you already, we are not the ones who are going to help them in their quest – it is one of our enemies instead."

"Tsk! How can you be sure about that? Forget about the Three-Headed Snake, we don't even know what Mammon is planning," said Arthur with a click of his tongue.

Hearing that, Shin couldn't help but chuckle even more before patting Arthur's shoulder. "That is why we are going to wait for him, right? Just make sure to properly beat him up when he appears and have no intention of making a deal."

"And also take those things that we need from him while you are at it. I'm pretty sure that they are guaranteed drops based on the descriptions that they had," he added while pointing at the golden horn that he got from the leader of the One-Horned Tribe.

"Tch!" Arthur clicked his tongue once again when he heard that and muttered with a soft voice. "You are always leaving the most troublesome part to me."

"Well, that is natural since you always want to be the one standing at the center of a spotlight," replied Shin nonchalantly while also shrugging his shoulders.

"Tch! F*cker!" cursed Arthur before turning silent for a moment. After that, he turned his head at Shin once again before asking. "Anyway, is it really fine to let that dude Archimedes leave? I mean, he is the so-called vessel of Garuda, and the ceremony is not going to be complete if he is not present."

"So, it is pretty obvious that he is going to be the main target of Mammon and the Three-Headed Snake," he added with a frown.

"If it is before, then you are right. But at this point in time, that statement is wrong," answered Shin in a mystifying tone.

"Tsk! Cut the crappy mystifying act already and just tell me about it!" yelled Arthur as he was starting to get annoyed.

Seeing that, Shin couldn't help but laugh at him even more before answering. "You also heard what Solus said earlier. She told us that both Garuda and the Three-Headed Snake are supposed to have their respective preparations for their next rebirth if ever they lose or die in battle."

"And that statement is basically telling us that those two already have suitable vessels prepared for their rebirth. So, Garuda has already done his preparations before he even meets Archimedes."

Arthur knitted his eyebrows as he stared at the particular Wingman standing a few meters away from them. It seemed to be guarding the huge metal door behind it.

It was the same Wingman who had a pair of golden wings that he and Leonard saw earlier before they arrived on the Sky Island. It was also the same Wingman who gave them the current quest that they had.

"So, you are telling me that this self-proclaimed leader of the Keepers is that so-called vessel?" asked Arthur while further raising his eyebrows.

"Bingo~!" said Shin noddingly. And after a quick moment of pause, he immediately added. "So, even if Archimedes is not around, this dude over here is going to be the next target of Mammon and the Three-Headed Snake."

"So, what are we going to do now? Beat him? Capture him? Or ask him to work with us? After all, he is the one who gave us our current quest," asked Arthur with a deep frown as if he was really trying to think what would be their next move.

Meanwhile, Shin just shrugged his shoulders before replying. "Simple, all we need to do is protect him from our opponents."

"Or at least not let him die at the hands of Three-Headed Snake. After all, Mammon seems to have a different reason in mind when he is collecting those parts. I suppose we at least have a similar goal in mind," he added while pursing his lips.

"Tsk! Snakes don't have hands, dumbass," commented Arthur from the side.

Shin's train of thoughts was suddenly cut off when he heard that. He then quickly glared at Arthur and said. "That is just a figure of speech, moron! A metaphor, if you have never heard of one!"

"How do you solve these kinds of quests by the way? With that brain of yours, I doubt you can solve these kinds of puzzles," sneered Shin.

But Arthur immediately gave his reply in a nonchalant manner. "Why would I bother burning my brain cells for it if I can just invite some smart-ass to join me with it? Someone like Cloe or Zero for example."

The corner of Shin's mouth suddenly twitched when he heard that before looking at Arthur with a disgusted face. "Where is that pride of yours saying that you are a Pro-gamer?"

"I'm telling you when it comes to getting a quest, I rarely receive puzzles like these. What I always get are Monster Exterminations Quests, Assassination Quests, Exploration Quests, or similar things," said Arthur with a proud tone.

"Pretty much perfect for a battle-hungry idiot like you," commented Shin smirkingly.

Arthur then paused for a moment before adding with a serious tone. "Well, my method is at least way better than Leonard who always wants to solve things with his fist. He is always brute-forcing his way on everything."

"Well, you are also right about that," agreed Shin as he remembered Leonard's suggestions when they were doing one of his quests where they were trying to siege a fallen outpost. 'Now that I think of it, he indeed says that he can destroy that place if he wanted. Though, I really thought that he was just saying things randomly during that time.'

***********

Meanwhile, somewhere below the floating castle, Leonard and Archimedes were currently observing the fight while being completely hidden behind the dense trees.

"Why do my ears feel so itchy? Tch! I guess those two are talking sh*t about me once again," complained Leonard as he picked on his ears.

At the same time, he also saw Archimedes wearing a solemn expression on his face from the corner of his eyes.

"Hey! Relax for a bit, Shin Bro knows what he is doing," said Leonard while sitting in a more comfortable position.

On the other hand, Archimedes suddenly threw a fierce glare at him. "Tsk! You are saying that because you are not the one who will suffer a major loss after failing our quest."

"Heh! At least it is way better than having your account gets deleted," said Leonard sneeringly. And immediately after, he suddenly squinted his eyes while also releasing his killing intent. "And let me warn you, my task is to make sure that you are not going to get captured by our opponents or get killed by either of them-..."

"But it doesn't mean that I can't beat the crap out of you to humor you who is supposedly the superior beast between the two of us," he added threateningly as if he was a wild beast baring its fangs.

Meanwhile, Archimedes was staring at Leonard solemnly as he was currently seeing and experiencing something different from his perspective.

From his point of view, he was seemingly being surrounded by infinite darkness where he and Leonard were currently in the middle.

At the same time, there seemed to be a massive silhouette of a lion standing behind Leonard and was currently staring at him with a pair of savage eyes. It was currently baring its fangs that were warning him not to overstep his boundaries, or else he was going to get devoured by doing so.

'Tsk! What a very crafty way of using one's Killing Intent. And by mixing it with his Aura Manifestation, he is able to create such a realistic illusion,' thought Archimedes while squinting his eyes.

'This guy must be close to reaching the Ethereal Opening Stage and entering the Ascension Realm,' he added inside his mind while steeling his mind and breaking free from the illusion that Leonard had created.

"That kind of trick is nothing in front of me," said Archimedes right after he broke the illusion.

But he immediately closed his mouth when he saw a battle-axe right beside his neck, threatening to separate his head from his shoulders.

"But it is more than enough to take your life," said Leonard before retracting his battle-axe and leaning it on a nearby tree. After that, he sat on the ground once again and leaned his back on the tree, planning to take another nap.

"Just a piece of advice – if you want to win this battle, then all you have to do is follow the plan and our desired result will immediately follow," he said while closing his eyes.

He was about to relax his body when he suddenly remembered something. "Ah! And don't worry about your daughter, our team healer is not that weak. She may be the sole female member of our group, but she is still our Commander."

"Eh!" Those words really caught Archimedes off-guard as he was not expecting to hear it. 'She is the Commander? But from what I've seen so far, I'm pretty sure that that guy with the grey hair is the team leader. What's going on?'

Little did he know that Leonard only informed him about it to lessen the tenseness that he was feeling from worrying about Daulla. 'Does it mean that she is stronger than these guys?'

...…