Chapter 353 Detour
Kelton - the Great Sage, who holds the title of High-Sage, is a level 87 Great Mage who can use 8th-tier magic along with 8th-level or higher skills.
Walton - the Great Swordsman titled Infinite Blade is an Lv.89 Swordsman who has at least 5 Sword Skills above Lv.8 of A rank and one Sword Skill above Lv.5 of S rank.
Melos - the Great Summoner, who holds the title of Beastmaster, is a level 85 summoner. Though almost the same as a mage, summoners are of a very different nature. They naturally summon beasts or monsters to fight in their stead. Melos in particular had signed deals with many strong beasts, some of which were in Lv.90s.
So these three together might have a chance to defeat Shin - at least that's what Balton thought and after much deliberation came to that conclusion.
However, Balton also mentioned to Levos that Shin had strong allies by his side. It was evident from the Clan Wars that his allies weren't pushovers. So unless he was alone, they had no chance to kill him.
This forced Levos to conclude that it was only now that they could kill Shin. That's because, the only ones around him were some Shadow Wolves who didn't seem much higher than Lv.60. Thus, he didn't see them as a threat.
'For some reason, this wolf has left the forest and is heading towards our kingdom...'
'The Supreme Celestials would not help such a tiny human Kingdom as they have nothing to gain from it, so we have no choice but to follow Balton's plan and have the Great Three fight the Wolf.', Levos concluded.
"..."
'If only negotiation was an option...', Levos sighed at the thought.
Then he clenched his fist and looked at Balton.
"Alright, the wolf will probably reach Reonoa in about ten minutes..."
"Ten minutes!?"
"Excuse me?" Balton was surprised when he heard that.
That was because ten minutes is nothing more than a few hundred metres from the outer wall. That meant the wolf was very close, which he wasn't aware of.
"Balton, I command you to gather Melos and Walton immediately and go to the starting town."
"Kelton will be there waiting for your arrival."
"Only..."
"No matter what happens, don't fail to kill the beast..." Levos said.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Balton bowed again and quickly left the castle with Wendy to immediately pass on the orders to Walton and Melos, who were stationed in the easternmost and westernmost towns of Levonia, respectively.
"Kelton..."
"I think you should depart right away..."
"Yes, Your Majesty, but what about your safety?" Kelton asked as a precaution without really caring.
"Ha..."
"Do not worry about me..."
"With all the guards here, I will be safe…", he said.
"Well, if that's what you wish," Kelton also left the castle.
"Sigh..."
"If only that stupid Balton hadn't botched the situation..."
"If only the wolf had never appeared..."
"If only the Supremes hadn't given the orders..."
"..."
'If only we were stronger than the Supreme Celestials...'
"..."
'Gemos...'
'I really miss you...'
'If only you were here, we wouldn't have anything to fear...' and having said this, Levos closed his eyes to rest a bit and recover from all the stress.
…
As the spacial distortion cleared, Shin felt a little relieved. Now there was no one spying on them, so nothing felt awkward anymore.
He turned back and looked at the shadow wolves who awaited his command.
'Hmm...'
'We're out of the woods.'
'If we walk leisurely, it won't even take ten minutes to reach their main gate...'
'However, I have no intention of going to their Kingdom.'
'Why should we go there when we can avoid them by another route?', he wondered, discovering a better route a bit off the kingdom that led to the same destination.
"Good job guys. Let's move forward.", he said.
At once, everyone stood up and walked behind him.
They had no time to waste.
Actually, Shin wanted to deal with Balton so he kind of hoped for him to be there instead of the other two generals. But things didn't go the way he wanted.
Regardless, he and the shadow wolves marched forward in a different direction.
As already mentioned, there was one main road that led directly to the gates of Levonia, but there were other roads that connected different places to Levonia.
Shin and the gang were quietly going to leave if no one messed with them, but fie, someone had to screw things up.
Balton, who was supposed to gather Melos and Walton, had reported with a magic orb and explained the situation to them.
Kelton had already left the capital and was only 20 minutes away from reaching the starting city.
Melos was on the westernmost edge, near which was the route that Shin took.
He could have taken other routes, but the said route seemed much more direct than the other curved ones.
Melos was standing by the outer wall lecturing to a couple of idiot soldiers when Balton contacted him.
"Sir Melos, His Majesty has ordered you to work with Sir Kelton and Walton to deal with the Wolf Shin," Balton said.
He then further explained what Melos had to do.
Melos, who was extremely loyal, immediately wanted to leave his post and rush to Reonoa, but even before Balton finished the message, Melos sensed the presence of several monsters, more specifically, the presence of the Shadow Wolves.
A look at the ground showed him that Shin and the Shadow Wolves were taking a detour. They had already travelled about one-fourth of the Kingdom's length.
He immediately informed Balton of the situation.
"Looks like the Wolf is taking a detour."
"He has no intention of attacking us and probably just wants to reach the other end."
"His entire concentration would be on escaping this place…"
"It would take him nearly 90 minutes to traverse the whole kingdom properly and I think we need to attack him before that," Melos said.
Balton understood the task and immediately reported it to Kelton, who now had to return and join the East Side. The same was true for Walton, who had just set off and now had to make a detour.