...…

A few moments before Akailu and Alucard arrived at Althea City, Owen and Ithilien happened to also arrive at the very same city by using the Teleportation Hall.

"Tsk! What's wrong with Brother Swordsman? First, he asked us to gather some intel regarding the two Kingdoms. And a few moments later, he is going to change his mind and recall us here? Did he know how much the teleportation fees are when traveling between two countries?" complained Owen as they walked out of the Teleportation Hall.

Hearing that, Ithilien giggled a little before quickly adding. "What are you complaining about? It is not like you are the one paying for those fees. Didn't he say that will cover all of the cost in this mission?"

"T-that...!" Owen tried to say something but he couldn't find the right words to refute her words.

Seeing the expression that he was currently making, Ithilien couldn't help but laugh at him once again before saying. "Anyway, didn't you tell me that that guy is a very cunning person? Then there is definitely a reason why he called us back."

"Tch! Of course, I know about that! It just-… I feel like we are wasting too much effort on gathering all of that intel and traveling back and forth between those two countries, then here," said Owen with a deep frown.

After that, he took a brief pause to release a helpless sight before continuing. "If we are not going to use those informations anyway, then it is better for us to forget about them in the first place to avoid wasting our time and effort," he added in a bitter tone.

They were in the middle of a discussion when Ithilien bumped into a player and fell on her butt. And when Owen saw that, he quickly picked her up from the ground and helped her stand up before glaring at the player in front of them. "What the heck?! Are you blind or something?!"

He was about to engage in battle when he suddenly recognized the identity of the player who bumped into Ithilien. "You! Aren't you the Beastmaster, Akailu?"

"Owen, the Dark Knight?" muttered Akailu as he also recognized Owen.

In the meantime, Alucard who was standing beside the Beastmaster was looking at the sight in front of him with an amused expression on his face before commenting. "This place is becoming more and more interesting as time goes by."

Both sides stared at each other for quite some time before they finally recovered themselves.

"The heck, man! Can you at least look in front of you while walking?" said Owen while maintaining the glaring look that he had.

"Is it only my fault? Why don't you ask that girl if she is also paying attention to her surroundings?" snarled Akailu while getting ready for battle.

"What did you say?!" shouted Owen back while pulling out his longsword and pointing it at Akailu. "I dare you to say it again."

On the other hand, Akailu suddenly smirked when he saw Owen's actions before taking a battle-ready position. "Looks like everyone is looking down on me just because I got eliminated at the Shadow Ranking Cup quite early. I guess I need to start baring my fangs now."

Due to the clashing auras that the opposing sides had released, the attention of every person in the surroundings was immediately attracted and started to form a crowd around them. But before the fight could break out, both Ithilien and Alucard immediately stopped the two from creating more trouble.

"Hey! Didn't you hear what the Nameless Swordsman said? We can't attract any unnecessary attention since our opponents are going to find us sooner," said Ithilien while pulling Owen's arm.

"Hiss! Alright, I get it," said Owen while sheathing back his sword once again.

Meanwhile, Alucard also grabbed Akailu's shoulder to restrain him while saying. "Oi! Don't tell me you already forget that we need to keep a low profile right now. We can't afford to get banned from entering any city in this kingdom as well."

"Tsk! D*mn those people from the Corrupted Cult!" cursed Akailu before dropping his stance.

Seeing that both sides were no longer going to fight, the spectators who gathered around also lost their interest in not seeing a good show and started to scatter.

At the same time, the two sides were also about to separate from each other when they suddenly remembered a couple of keywords that they overheard from each side's conversations.

"Wait! Did you just mention the Nameless Swordsman?"

"Are you guys talking about the Corrupted Cults?"

*********

In the most secluded map around Althea City, Shin and Charlotte were waiting for Owen and Ithilien to arrive.

"Tsk! Why are they taking so long?" complained Shin as he sat up straight from a lying position.

In the meantime, Charlotte was busily browsing on the online forums to see what were the latest updates regarding the war between the Venimuex Guild and the other powerhouse guilds of the Elven Kingdom.

Seeing that, Shin couldn't help but become a little curious and asked. "You've been browsing there for quite some time already. So, did you get anything useful for us?"

Hearing that, Charlotte suddenly threw a glare at him. But she still replied to him regardless. "From the looks of it, those guys are not going to be a problem for us since they seem to be too focused on the war-…"

"…-That you initiated," she added smirkingly after pausing for a brief moment of hesitation.

Cough! Cough!

Hearing that, Shin couldn't help but choke with some air before staring at her with a weird look behind his mask. 'This girl-… she really is someone who holds a grudge.'

"If that is the case, then that is one less problem that we need to concern ourselves with," said Shin with a stiff tone.

Then the eyes of the two suddenly turned sharp as they sensed a small group of players that were rapidly approaching their locations.

But not long after, they discovered that two of them had familiar auras with them. So, they immediately relaxed a little but still acted a little cautiously due to the powerful auras of the other two people traveling with them.

As the group got a little nearer, Shin suddenly noticed that the other guys seemed to be a little familiar to him too. "Eh!? These auras? Are they-…?"

Bang! Bang!

He was still in the middle of talking when a pair of gunshots were sounded from the distance where the group was coming from.

Clang! Clang!

But despite having the element of surprise and possessing an astonishing speed, the incoming bullets were easily blocked by Shin's casual movements of lifting his sheathed sword.

After that, he suddenly flicked his thumb and unsheathed the [Yamato]. Then he caught the hilt of his sword midair before swinging it to his other side.

Clang!

Shin's sword then collided against another sword that come out of nowhere, creating a loud metal-clashing sound alongside some metal sparks that flew in the air.

Shin didn't even bother to take a look at whoever tried to attack him as he quickly leaned forward while pushing his sword upwards.

Bang! Bang!

He did that to dodge the consecutive shots that were fired at him. And due to his actions, the magic bullets flew over his head, barely missing him.

Charlotte was about to help Shin when Owen and Ithilien simultaneously appeared on her side and prevented her from doing anything. She was about to ask them what they were doing when she saw the meaningful smile that they were giving her. And due to that, she decided to not get involved either.

In the meantime, Shin and Alucard were exchanging blows with a series of quick movements before another player appeared behind Shin all of a sudden. And obviously, it was Akailu who was currently in his Beast Form and was in the middle of throwing a powerful punch at Shin.

Seeing that, Alucard quickly coordinated with Akailu's attack and suddenly swung his sword at Shin very strongly while infusing his mana on it.

Swoosh!

Bang!

Unfortunately, their combined attack still failed as Shin blocked both of their attacks perfectly. The sheath of his sword was placed on his back as he held it in a reverse manner to ward off Akailu's huge fist while the sword on his other hand was preventing Alucard's sword from moving forward.

"Tsk! I appreciate your greetings-… but isn't this a little overboard?" asked Shin while wearing a bitter smile behind his mask.

Then he stared at the guy in front of him quite closely before saying. "So, this is your real style and appearance? Not so bad, I guess. But you should remember that you still owe me a couple of duels."

After that, he looked over his shoulder before quickly adding. "And this guy should be that 'Beastmaster', am I right? You should have used that form during our match in the Shadow Ranking Cup to make it even more satisfying."

...