Chapter 558: Joint Pursuit

Elder Yin naturally agreed with Clinton’s assessment. If it weren’t for concerns regarding the power of the Three Glorious Gods, he would have gone to the starting point in person to capture that traitor as soon as he heard the news. After all, he hadn’t expected that even after sending several golden warriors, they still failed to capture the traitor, who cunningly managed to escape all the way to the Principality of Kiev!

Considering their relationship with the Church of the Dawn Lord, Clinton and Elder Yin used a magic teleportation portal to reach the nearest border point of the Sea God Kingdom in the southwestern chaotic region before heading in that direction.

Of the five major kingdoms in the main continent, three had already accepted Dalarn’s Pan-Continental Legend Teleportation Plan and established teleportation portals in Gardrel, Kort, and Polin. Together with the newly established Sea God Kingdom, that made four kingdoms. Along with various duchies and principalities like the Sirens, Dalarn’s teleportation network covered most of the eastern, western, northern, and central parts of the main continent. Only Sendel in the southern central region, Tholon along the southern coast, and the southwestern chaotic region had not yet been covered for various reasons.

The area most likely to have a teleportation portal next was the Tholon Commercial Alliance along the southern coast, as Tholon’s merchants were eager for the teleportation network to be established, allowing them to more easily engage in trade between the two continents.

However, due to differing opinions among the various factions within the alliance regarding where to locate the teleportation point—since it affected their interests—they continued to argue and failed to reach an agreement quickly!

If a teleportation portal were set up in Tholon, Clinton and Elder Yin’s journey would be much easier!

For now, they had to cross the northern region of Tholon to reach the territory of the Principality of Kiev and head to their destination.

As for the Principality of Kiev, everyone knew it was once part of the Kingdom of Icu. But as the royal power in Icu declined over the years, a coup occurred decades ago, with several major lords rebelling. This allowed the Country of Dawn to seize large areas of land, establishing several small city-states and principalities under Sendel’s rule.

The Principality of Kiev was the largest among them. Due to its unique geographical location, it had always served as a buffer zone between the southwestern chaotic region, represented by the Fallen Tarin, and the territory ruled by the Three Glorious Gods.

After losing vast territories, the Kingdom of Icu could only defend its remaining lands around the capital. Once one of the five great kingdoms, it became a vassal kingdom under Edre, its status equivalent to that of a duchy. This was due to the interference of the other three kingdoms; otherwise, Icu would likely have been completely destroyed.
The most significant outcome of those changes was the rise of Tholon, which was then merely a commercial alliance, to become one of the five great powers on the continent!
After the former lands of the Kingdom of Icu came under the rule of the Land of Dawn, they became off-limits to those living in chaotic regions—the more powerful the entity, the less likely they were to venture there and seek trouble!
Although time was pressing, it still took some time for a Golden-tier warrior to ascend to Legendary status and gain the power of a domain. Thus, Elder Yin did not rush to the scene with Clinton, the distinguished guest from Dalaran, right away. Instead, he first headed to the heart of the southwestern chaotic region: Tower of Degradation.
A major task like setting up a magic portal couldn’t be carried out secretly by someone like Elder Yin alone, even among the other two major factions. Otherwise, the Thieves’ Guild would surely face joint condemnation from the other two factions, forcing their own organization to pay a much higher price to appease their anger.
Therefore, for the sake of the greater good, though reluctantly, Elder Yin had to invite the leaders of the other two factions to discuss the matter together.
However, Elder Yin still had important matters to attend to, so he informed the leaders of the other two factions in advance and invited two demigods from the other two major forces in Tower of Degradation—Shadow Magic City and Rosenberg—as witnesses before setting off.
Demigod warriors were already at the pinnacle of existence in the main world—how swift could their journey be?
By the time Elder Yin and his companions arrived at the scene, less than an hour had passed since the traitor Penn consumed the Fruit of Laws to strive for Legendary status. This delay was partly due to Elder Yin’s journey to Dalaran for help!
Outside this border town named Fir City, Elder Yin sent a unique signal to reunite with his powerful subordinates. After learning the exact situation, he said first, “That traitor is probably already in possession of a domain. He was originally at the peak of the Golden tier. His ability to master a domain should be much faster than that of ordinary professionals. While he hasn’t fully mastered how to use it yet, I’ll go in and capture him now!”

Sensing an unspoken domain force lurking within the city ahead, Hockin, the demi-god of Rosenberg and the chosen one of the King of Lies, spoke up: “It’s just a fluctuation related to ascending to the legendary rank, and it’s even in a border area belonging to a vassal force. I doubt Sendel will react so quickly. Even if they send someone, it should be at the legendary level, and it will take some time for them to arrive.”

Max, one of the three lords of the Shadow Demon City and a powerful demi-god, the Sage of Shadows, nodded and said, “But once we take action, the situation will likely be completely different. The enemy will surely send their own demi-gods. We must complete our mission before Sendel can react and then withdraw promptly!”

“What does Lord Clinton think?”

The Hidden Elder didn’t decide to act right away but turned to Clinton for his opinion. After all, he represented the mighty Nature Guardian and had come at his invitation.

Clinton had been in charge of the Adventurers’ Guild for years, traveling throughout the continent, and his personality had lost its initial rigidity. Hearing this, he immediately suggested, “If we can’t lure the target out, then we need to infiltrate the city and eliminate them without harming ordinary people. My opinion is that we shouldn’t fear retaliation from the Land of Dawn. As long as we don’t confront their powerful beings and leave no evidence, I believe the Lord of Dawn won’t use such extraordinary divine powers as time reversal over a minor incident at a border of a vassal territory!”

Although the other three demi-gods were stronger than Clinton, hearing his words filled them with confidence.

After all, they had come without the orders of their true gods, making this an unofficial action. If something went wrong, their true gods wouldn’t intercede on their behalf with such an extreme deity as the Lord of Dawn.

The King of Shadows was somewhat better off, as he had already changed sides. But the Lady of Shadows and the King of Lies were both true gods who were completely opposed to the Lord of Dawn. If they went there on their own, even if they perished, they could only blame themselves!

Now, with that entity behind Dalaran backing them, even if the Lord of Dawn wanted trouble, he would have to target them directly and wouldn’t affect them.

As for that Nature Guardian, though he was just a newly risen god, he had powerful allies like the Mysterious Lady and three other mighty goddesses supporting him. It was said he even had a good relationship with gods like the Lord of Elves. Even the Lord of Dawn would have to be cautious!

After instantly understanding the situation, the two demi-god warriors from Fallen Talon exchanged a glance. Initially intending to merely observe as witnesses without taking action, they too eagerly joined Elder Yin and the others in carrying out the plan. Seeing this, Elder Yin easily guessed the thoughts of his two old “friends”—after all, didn’t he himself also want to please the prince behind Dalaran? Thus, he felt little gratitude toward the two demi-gods and focused instead on capturing the traitor. The four demi-god-level warriors concealed their auras and infiltrated Firnwood City. This remote town, guarded only by a Gold Rank beginner, naturally wouldn’t detect their presence. As the four demi-god warriors took charge of different directions, encircling the location of the thief guild’s traitor, Elder Paine of the thief guild, who had just gained domain power and was overjoyed, failed to sense the approaching danger. Yet, as a legendary warrior, even with this newfound power, he had an almost intuitive sense of danger. Though he couldn’t detect any approaching presence, his vigilance grew stronger. Elder Paine, who had managed to escape step by step from the pursuit of many peers to a place beyond the thief guild’s reach, was certainly no ordinary person. Realizing that the threat approaching unnoticed must be a being beyond the legendary level, he immediately unleashed the formidable power of his legendary status the moment the encirclement was formed, breaking through the roof he was hiding under and soaring into the air. “Quite clever, but do you really think this will let you escape?” Seeing that Paine was coming from his direction, the Shadow Sage Marx said with a smile. Paine chose to break through from the side of the Shadow Sage because he hoped that this demi-god warrior, one of the three rulers of Shadow Magic City, who had no grudges against him and used far milder methods, wouldn’t resolve to kill him. If the other party hesitated, it would be his chance to escape! As a senior elder of the thief guild, he was well aware of Elder Yin’s skills as a powerful demi-god assassin—after all, he was himself a highly skilled Gold Rank apex assassin. Assassins, as a specialized class within thieves, emphasized striking once and fleeing far away; they preferred not to act unless necessary, but when they did, their attacks were the strongest and most ruthless.

So, to reach the rank of legend nowadays, he believed he couldn’t even withstand the second move under Elder Yin. Moreover, Elder Yin would surely despise him deeply for betraying the organization and would act without mercy from the start. As for why he didn’t choose Rosenberg’s demi-god Hawking or the legendary Sword Saint from another faction, it was because the former was the most fearsome demi-god among the most formidable forces in Fallen Tarin.